Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle water from boiling veg or pasta etc?

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:06:19 +0000

Starchy pasta water is precious and should be stored and reused. When the pasta is done cooking, some of the starchy water can be added to a sauce to thin it if it is too thick, to enrich and “cream” it, or to degrease a pan and create a sauce where none existed. It’s also great for dilluting pesto and stopping garlic from browning as it fries.

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:29:07 +0000

Your ideas are good, but if you let the air in your flat get steamy from the hot water, it’s going to be harder to heat up, because air with water in it requires more energy to heat up one degree than it would if it was dry. You could put some of the water in a hot water bottle to keep yourself cosy?

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:22:29 +0000

Generally, we dump it into the compost pail and then out to the compost pile when cool. I do the same thing when I rinse out a coffee cup or drinking glass.

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:44:54 +0000

Make gravy to put on those potatoes, either from scratch, or by just adding gravy granuals to the used veg water.

Don’t forget to use as little water as you can get away with to cook your veg in the first place – just as I hope everyone knows not to overfill the kettle – and chop veg as small as is practical as then it will cook quicker and use less energy.

By: Samta Kapur

Samta Kapur — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:01:28 +0000

The ideas are really gooc. However though i can use the water to other uses i feel more bad to waste the hot water. its more about energy. any ideas on wat to do with hot water.

By: Tashi

Tashi — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:44:06 +0000

I leave the covered pot of hot water on the (turned off) burner and let the heat it contains radiate into my cold Boston apartment. (I also often put the stopper in the drain during showers and leave the water in the tub till it cools before draining–I figure the heat coming off the hot water isn’t much different than the heat coming off radiators.)

By: Sierra Rose

Sierra Rose — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:54:09 +0000

First we steam our vegetables. Then use that water (adding some fresh if need be) to boil water for my bagels. Then I use the same water for cooking fresh pasta when I make it. Then I use that water for tortillas…you can’t believe how “fluffy” and flexible your tortillas are when made with this bagel/pasta water. Then what’s left goes into a soup.

By: David Booth

David Booth — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:36:38 +0000

Pour veggie water in a cup and drink it in the morning. It is a great source of vitamins and minerals. Or keep a container going in the freezer and keep adding to it until you have enough for stock. At the very least use it to cook your pasta in. My pasta water goes to the pigs or the compost when it is cool.

By: Dottie Winn

Dottie Winn — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:57:45 +0000

Water that potatoes were cooked in makes the best bread. Veggie water can be used in soups and sauces to add more flavor. Also can be used on plants or garden beds.

By: Tessa

Tessa — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:18:27 +0000

I always cook my veg in a steamer above potatoes or pasta so two things get cooked using the same energy. Veg water from non-starchy cooking is great as a stock in risotto and paella or soups, it usually needs a bit of bolstering up from a stock cube but it does use the goodness from cooking the veg. If we’ve had a roast dinner I always make a stock with the leftover bones, leeks, carrot, celery and the water from the vegetables while its still warm. PS. Always cook with the lid on, it takes less energy in the first place.

By: Lizzy

Lizzy — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:02:59 +0000

If you want to make use of the energy you put into it, pour it into a hot water bottle. (to reuse it even more, boil other stuff in it without letting it cool down, then you don’t have to use the energy to get it up to temperature, THEN fill a hot water bottle)

After that, Once it has cooled, water plants.

By: t-cakes

t-cakes — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:55:16 +0000

Boiling water generally kills plants when poured on them. I often use water that I’ve just cooked in to pour on weeds between cracks in pavers/sidewalks. It’s non-toxic and (somewhat) uses all that energy you just used to boil the water.

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:29:23 +0000

If I’m cooking veggies as well as pasta, I always cook the veg first to reuse the water and get some of those good nutrients back into the pasta. Then I always drain the water into a bowl to use on a plant on my front porch. Easy to get to it from my kitchen, and with all the good nutrients in the water, it never needs fertilized!
Once in a while, if that plant has enough water, I just drain my pasta rich over the compost bin (so the hot water doesnt cool off the composting process)- you can also dump coffee, soda, or any other waste liquids in there.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:49:52 +0000

Good way to start making stock.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:16:10 +0000

Water for plants is a good idea :)

I also save veggie water for stock in soups, and I have kept it for boiling noodles in – it adds more flavor.

Another way to save water would be to steam your vegetables instead of boiling.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:18:41 +0000

I use it in bread-making… Or let it cool down and water the plants with it.