Why does my spaghetti stick to the bottom of the saucepan?

[sandrajo]

Everytime!!! What am I doing wrong?

[chappie]

Sandra,

Just had a thought about how you could stop your spaghetti sticking to the bottom of your saucepan - use your neighbour's saucepan! :o)

[wee willie]

drop it in the boiling water and keep stirring like leg does lol
then reduce the heat a bit and let it simmer

[Rtaxron]

Just order a take-away from a Spag Shop.

[Ice.Maiden]

I agree with figure. Add enough water, stir, and don't over-cook.

[~max~]

No need for fancy pans or expensive pasta, and certainly no need for olive oil, that's just a waste. As the others have said, a big pot (I use a cheap one I bought for �2 from an indian supermarket), loads of water, salt, bring to the boil properly before plunging the pasta in, and immediately stir with a wooden spoon. Keep and eye on it, and pick one out with a fork near end of cooking time to taste. Easy peasy!

[chazza]

I always find it sticks if the water is not hot enough when I put the pasta in!

Make sure the water is properly boiling and then add the pasta and keep moving it about

[May1982]

Dont forget to put a bit of oil in the water when you cook the pasta.
Check out these videos on how-to cook pasta/spaghetti: http://www.sutree.com/Learn.aspx?q=+spaghetti

[Brooksy]

Mine has never stuck unless I got distracted & didn`t stir it every few minutes. Let`s face it , the stuff only takes 8 to 12 minutes to be "al dente" as the Italians say, & adding oil I find makes no odds - I add it after cooking.

[Scarlett]

You need to add a few drops of oil to the water!

[chinois]

Only thing people havent mentioned is salt. Not sure if it helps the sticking but it is one of the (few) crucial ingredients in 'cooking' pasta.
You should use maybe a tbs for a few portions. It wont taste over salty as most will be rinced out but some gets absorbed into the pasta, which changes it's composition so is probably relevant to your question.