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Big news for pasta enthusiasts: MIT researchers have cracked the method for snapping a strand of spaghetti perfectly in half, as reported by New Scientist. Gone are the days of collecting the tiny shards that scatter when you break spaghetti into portions ready for cooking.
Back in 2005, French researchers discovered why spaghetti shatters into fragments: After the initial break, the strand bends in the opposite direction, triggering a ‘snap-back effect’ that leads to a second break.
Now, after breaking hundreds of spaghetti strands, MIT mathematicians have found the answer. Using a pair of clamps, they twisted individual spaghetti sticks nearly 360 degrees. Then, by slowly bringing the clamps together, the stick bent and broke perfectly. This technique worked for two different thicknesses of Barilla spaghetti—No. 5 and No. 7, to be exact.
The experiment was captured using a high-speed camera, which you can view on MIT's website. Upon reviewing the footage, researchers discovered that twisting the spaghetti is essential as it stops the strand from bending forcefully backward. Their research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
You can try this technique at home, even without any specialized equipment. It might take some practice, so make sure to have a few boxes of spaghetti ready. The method for snapping spaghetti was developed by Ronald Heisser, a former MIT student now pursuing graduate studies at Cornell University.
“I begin with my hands positioned opposite each other—one hand upside down and the other right side up—then I rotate both hands to be right side up while twisting the spaghetti, using my arm strength to do so,” Heisser explains to Mytour.
“You'll know you're twisting correctly when you feel the spaghetti trying to untwist itself. Then, you can slowly bring the ends together, being careful not to alter the twist in any way.”
He also pointed out that your hands should be dry, as oily fingers could cause the spaghetti to slip out of your grip.
It's unlikely anyone has the time or patience to snap spaghetti strand by strand. So, does this method work for a whole bunch of pasta? Dr. Jörn Dunkel, the lead researcher of the study, admits it's hard to predict how a handful of spaghetti would break, but he believes this technique would likely minimize the number of resulting pieces.
“When many spaghetti [strands] are grouped together, they can transfer energy between them, which significantly alters their bending and breaking patterns,” Dr. Dunkel explains to Mytour. “As a general rule, distributing the energy between bending and twisting should help decrease the number of fragments compared to just bending.”
If you’re aiming for the authentic Italian way, you’ll keep your spaghetti whole and unsnapped. (Longer pasta is believed to wrap around the fork better, making it easier to eat.)
However, if you're keen on trying the bend-and-snap method, pasta purists would probably let it slide.
