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Oil generally floats on top of boiling pasta water rather than coating submerged pasta evenly while it cooks.
Preventing sticking is better accomplished with sufficient water and stirring, particularly early in cooking.
Oil can also coat drained pasta later and potentially make it harder for some sauces to adhere.
The familiar splash of oil in the pot isn't doing quite what many home cooks think it is.
Sometimes a kitchen habit survives simply because everyone has seen someone else do it.
© Institute of Culinary Education