Add A Dash Of Salt And A Pinch Of Meebo

Earlier this afternoon, one of our Meebo patrons asked us to post some information about salt. More precisely, how much salt does it take to make water boil better? I overthought the question (as I am want to do) and learned a lot of stuff about boiling point and so forth which you are more than welcome to read about here or here. I think, though, that our patron may be looking for an answer that is a little more helpful in the kitchen area, which I found over at finecooking.com.

Salted water flavors the pasta. A generous amount of salt in the water seasons the pasta internally as it absorbs liquid and swells. The pasta dish may even require less salt overall. For a more complex, interesting flavor, I add 1 to 2 tablespoons sea salt to a large pot of rapidly boiling water. By the way, the claim that salted water cooks food faster (because of its higher boiling temperature) is exaggerated; you're not adding enough salt to raise the temperature more than about 1°F.

I hope this is what you are looking for, Meebo patron, and that all of your pots of water are perfectly salted from now on. Please be sure to let us know if you need more information!
http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cooking-pasta-properly.aspx