How To Dry Pasta (Without A Pasta Rack)

If you've ever made your own fresh pasta dough rather than using the boxed kind, you probably know the former is hard to beat. Fresh pasta tends to have a lighter flavor and is heavier on the egg than the dried version, and since it contains so few ingredients, it's easy to make at home. While you likely have all of the ingredients already in your kitchen — flour, eggs, and water — the bigger complication comes with letting the pasta dry since not everyone has a drying rack. Thankfully, there are a number of household items you can use instead, such as a laundry rack or even a coat hanger.

It's tempting to cook fresh pasta as soon as the dough is shaped and cut, but drying it is a necessary part of the process. It's one of several important steps you can't skip, and it ensures the pasta doesn't fall apart when it hits the boiling water. It helps the dough firm up and prevents the pieces from sticking together as they cook. To dry the dough without letting it lose too much moisture content, let the uncut dough sit for 15 minutes before cutting it, then another 15 minutes after cutting it and before cooking it. During those 15 minutes, hang it on whatever you can find.

Pasta dough is easy to make, but if you don't have a rack to dry it, you just need to get creative. A pasta rack is usually made from wood but can also be made from other materials. It has thin, spoke-like sticks coming out from the sides, over which you hang each pasta piece. It's designed in such a way that the pasta gets air on all sides, and the pieces don't touch each other.

To find an alternative, just use anything that closely resembles those thin wooden spokes. A laundry rack is a great alternative. It isn't shaped quite like a pasta rack but still has narrow, pole-like spokes fit for hanging clothes with enough separation for air to circulate; pasta will dry perfectly on one of these. Hangers are a great alternative as well. Opt for plastic or wood hangers with a thick enough piece across the bottom so the pasta doesn't touch as it hangs. Avoid felt hangers since they tend to collect dust that could get stuck on the pasta, as well as metal hangers because the piece across the bottom tends to be too thin.

While the laundry rack and hanger are the two choices that most closely resemble a pasta rack, there are other alternatives if neither of those works. You can even hang the pasta on the back of a chair as long as it has enough air circulation. Or, take a kitchen broom and position it between two chairs or surfaces so that it hangs openly (as if you were getting ready to do the limbo). Then, hang the pasta pieces from the broom. This technique takes a little more effort but offers great circulation.

If necessary, you can lay the pasta flat on either a lightly floured baking sheet, countertop, or towel. This isn't the best option because it means one side isn't getting the air necessary to dry, but the flour will help absorb some of that moisture. Only use this option if you don't have the means of using any of the other methods.