For some, cooking pasta perfectly becomes an ordeal. One frought with perspiration and needless worry. And maybe some frustration thrown around for good measure. Pasta is easy to learn how to cook perfectly, however. Once you learn how, you’ll ace it every time. Let the great folks over at Cook’s Illustrated tell you how!

After the water comes to a full roiling boil, add salt (a generous 1 1/2 teaspoons per half pound of pasta; most of the salt will go down the drain with the cooking water) and then the pasta. Stir several times to separate the strands and, if necessary, bend long noodles with tongs to submerge them quickly.