Most standard, dried spaghetti from the store will take between 8 and 12 minutes. That’s your safe zone. Think of it like a road trip: the box gives you the highway estimate, but your taste buds are the GPS.
Start checking the pasta at the lowest time on the package. If it says “8-10 minutes,” fish out a strand at 8 minutes. Bite it. It should be firm but not crunchy—like a good handshake, not a limp fish.
That perfect middle ground is al dente. It means “to the tooth,” and it’s the difference between a meal that feels alive and one that feels like a nap on a plate. You want a little resistance, a tiny white dot in the center of the strand if you cut it open.
