I’ll be the first to admit that I can be a bit chaotic in the kitchen. I like to be efficient with my time, so I’m usually trying to do multiple things at once. If I’m boiling a pot of pasta, I might also be doing the dishes at the same time. This can lead to the dreaded issue of the pot boiling over, which results in a huge mess all over my stovetop. But a hack I recently came across promised to make that a thing of the past.
Instagram user @dailyoriginalvids shared an easy solution recommended by her grandma (so you know it’s trustworthy). The solution? Butter.
“My grandma would always line her pot rims with butter to help prevent boil overs in the kitchen,” the caption explained. At first, I was skeptical. But others in the comment section were just as enthusiastic. One wrote, “Yes it does work!!!” With that in mind, I decided to try it out for myself. Here’s how it went.
My Honest Review of the Butter Hack for Boiling Pasta
I first tried the hack when I was boiling water for pasta; I lined the rim of my pot as stated with a pat of butter. I added the spaghetti to the pot (this is the moment it usually boils over for me), and was pleased to see the hack had worked! Nothing boiled over and all the starchy water remained in the pot. Some of the butter itself did run down the sides of the pot, but that was it.
I was impressed, but decided to give it another go to ensure it really worked — just in case the first time was a fluke. This time I tried it out by cooking some farro. Typically for me, cooking any type of grain (be it rice, quinoa, or farro) is a surefire way to create a huge boiled-over mess. But once again, the butter trick was successful! Even with me keeping the heat on high, nothing boiled over. Turns out Grandma was right.