Your biggest mistake is used grated parm from a canister for cacio e Pepe, or anything really. The difference in quality between that and fresh grated real parm is immense, like they’re not even close to equivalent in quality. For a dish like this that is ~~Parmesan~~ cheese focused, the real thing is kind of a requirement
Second, when making cacio e Pepe even the best cheese can clump up. The problem is almost always that your heat is too high, lower it by like 25 to 30 percent and see if that helps. If it’s still clumping, lower some more and add more pasta water than you think you need. Keep stirring and eventually everything should emulsify
RickyMinaj
Pan was too hot (or you applied heat with cheese in the pan). A good emulsion for cacio e pepe is done off heat, agitate your noodle/toss your noodles off heat to emulsify into the liquid in the pan, creating a sauce. If the pan is too hot, or you apply heat to the pan after the emulsion is created, the cheese will coagulate and split your sauce.
Judging by the second picture it looks like your sauce started to scorch to the bottom of the pan. Also, you should splurge for real deal Parmesan or pecorino. Cacio e pepe is a simple a dish and you should use high quality cheese for the best result. Good luck! Creating a good pan emulsion is foundational for cooking and opens up a lot of possibility once you’re able to understand its finicky nature
uk-maleman
Too much heat.
Heat a dry pan, add lots of pepper and heat gently until it smells fragrant.
Add a ladle of pasta water and then the al dente pasta.
Remove both pans from the heat and toss the pasta really well.
Now add a little more pasta water and a lot of pecorino Romano cheese grated very finely.
Toss it all together and add some water if it gets lumpy or too stiff. It needs to creamy so more water than you think.
i-cook-my-sister
Are you following a recipe? I recommend using freshly grated cheese – it won’t clump as easily. Also freshly cracked peppercorns and a high quality cheese. Somehow it all works!
CharmingAwareness545
Gotta use real parmegiano or the original recipe pecorino. Then eyeball small amounts of water from your salted pasta pot and cheese, make sure it will continuously emulsify. Looks like you should be on youtube watching demos as much as you can for visuals understanding. Good luck, and its gonna be hard for anyone to answer you obviously a single issue here.
Raynosaurus
Is this that new “rage bait” content?
Paper plate… Kraft cheese…
DoofusMcDummy
Ohhhh too much heat on that plastic.
Apprehensive_Bee614
Kraft jar cheese. If necessary for jar cheese go Romano.
jerjerbinks90
Pretty much captured here already but your biggest problem is using processed cheese. There are some chemicals in it that keep the grated Parm from clumping that can cause this stringy texture. It’s pretty much impossible for it to turn out right with that ingredient.
It was also mentioned that you use pecorino Romano instead of Parm which is also true although I’ve seen them mixed that turn out well.
Heat control is also a big deal. If you pan is too hot you’re gonna end up with this stringy texture even with the proper ingredients.
Starch content in the pasta water is also important. You want it very starchy to help the sauce come together so don’t add more water than necessary when cooking the noodles.
Definitely watch some videos on cacio y pepe. It’s a very simple dish ingredients wise that shines with proper technique. Unfortunately that means that poor technique can very easily ruin it. Practice makes perfect!
LadyLevante
What kind of cheese do you use and how to l do you prepare it for the pasta?
QueenScarebear
I died a little inside seeing you use canned cheese
spik0rwill
The cardinal sin, you didn’t make enough!
MarthaMacGuyver
How do we feel about sodium citrate?
Impossible-Pizza-500
I’d eat it!
gjk14
I screamed when I saw the Green Can. Get an adult beverage, sit down and take some notes, serious eats, things like this, buy a truck load of pasta and real parm and,,,, practice. You’ll get it.
CheezwizAndLightning
It looked fine, until I saw that bottle of processed parmesan.
You didn’t invite me over, that’s what you did wrong
Szydlikj
That canned cheese crap is coated with an anticoagulant so it doesn’t clump. The result is that it doesn’t melt properly to incorporate in the sauce.
Sauces based on cheese should (in my personal opinion) always use the real deal. From the brick. Best texture, best taste.
Proud-Gur-2398
I’m not going to go into forensics on this one, though I could for days. USE REAL PARM. No “parmesan”. Use “Parmigiano”. If it isn’t labeled as such, move on. Kraft isn’t even cheese.
jborki2
Use a bucatini pasta! And better cheese like everyone said- pecorino romano, go easy on salt with water, cheese very salty already
Possible-Fee-5052
You might be responsible for an Italian throwing themselves into the sea for using Kraft grated “Parmesan.” Never buy that shit again. You hear me!!?? It’s like chemicals.
24 Comments
Your biggest mistake is used grated parm from a canister for cacio e Pepe, or anything really. The difference in quality between that and fresh grated real parm is immense, like they’re not even close to equivalent in quality. For a dish like this that is ~~Parmesan~~ cheese focused, the real thing is kind of a requirement
Second, when making cacio e Pepe even the best cheese can clump up. The problem is almost always that your heat is too high, lower it by like 25 to 30 percent and see if that helps. If it’s still clumping, lower some more and add more pasta water than you think you need. Keep stirring and eventually everything should emulsify
Pan was too hot (or you applied heat with cheese in the pan). A good emulsion for cacio e pepe is done off heat, agitate your noodle/toss your noodles off heat to emulsify into the liquid in the pan, creating a sauce. If the pan is too hot, or you apply heat to the pan after the emulsion is created, the cheese will coagulate and split your sauce.
Judging by the second picture it looks like your sauce started to scorch to the bottom of the pan. Also, you should splurge for real deal Parmesan or pecorino. Cacio e pepe is a simple a dish and you should use high quality cheese for the best result. Good luck! Creating a good pan emulsion is foundational for cooking and opens up a lot of possibility once you’re able to understand its finicky nature
Too much heat.
Heat a dry pan, add lots of pepper and heat gently until it smells fragrant.
Add a ladle of pasta water and then the al dente pasta.
Remove both pans from the heat and toss the pasta really well.
Now add a little more pasta water and a lot of pecorino Romano cheese grated very finely.
Toss it all together and add some water if it gets lumpy or too stiff. It needs to creamy so more water than you think.
Are you following a recipe? I recommend using freshly grated cheese – it won’t clump as easily. Also freshly cracked peppercorns and a high quality cheese. Somehow it all works!
Gotta use real parmegiano or the original recipe pecorino. Then eyeball small amounts of water from your salted pasta pot and cheese, make sure it will continuously emulsify. Looks like you should be on youtube watching demos as much as you can for visuals understanding. Good luck, and its gonna be hard for anyone to answer you obviously a single issue here.
Is this that new “rage bait” content?
Paper plate… Kraft cheese…
Ohhhh too much heat on that plastic.
Kraft jar cheese. If necessary for jar cheese go Romano.
Pretty much captured here already but your biggest problem is using processed cheese. There are some chemicals in it that keep the grated Parm from clumping that can cause this stringy texture. It’s pretty much impossible for it to turn out right with that ingredient.
It was also mentioned that you use pecorino Romano instead of Parm which is also true although I’ve seen them mixed that turn out well.
Heat control is also a big deal. If you pan is too hot you’re gonna end up with this stringy texture even with the proper ingredients.
Starch content in the pasta water is also important. You want it very starchy to help the sauce come together so don’t add more water than necessary when cooking the noodles.
Definitely watch some videos on cacio y pepe. It’s a very simple dish ingredients wise that shines with proper technique. Unfortunately that means that poor technique can very easily ruin it. Practice makes perfect!
What kind of cheese do you use and how to l do you prepare it for the pasta?
I died a little inside seeing you use canned cheese
The cardinal sin, you didn’t make enough!
How do we feel about sodium citrate?
I’d eat it!
I screamed when I saw the Green Can. Get an adult beverage, sit down and take some notes, serious eats, things like this, buy a truck load of pasta and real parm and,,,, practice. You’ll get it.
It looked fine, until I saw that bottle of processed parmesan.
My go-to recipe: https://www.cookwell.com/recipe/cacio-e-pepe-the-easy-way
Everybody’s already explained it but here’s a recipe I’ve followed successfully: https://pinabresciani.com/authentic-cacio-e-pepe-recipe/
Kraft
You didn’t invite me over, that’s what you did wrong
That canned cheese crap is coated with an anticoagulant so it doesn’t clump. The result is that it doesn’t melt properly to incorporate in the sauce.
Sauces based on cheese should (in my personal opinion) always use the real deal. From the brick. Best texture, best taste.
I’m not going to go into forensics on this one, though I could for days. USE REAL PARM. No “parmesan”. Use “Parmigiano”. If it isn’t labeled as such, move on. Kraft isn’t even cheese.
Use a bucatini pasta! And better cheese like everyone said- pecorino romano, go easy on salt with water, cheese very salty already
You might be responsible for an Italian throwing themselves into the sea for using Kraft grated “Parmesan.” Never buy that shit again. You hear me!!?? It’s like chemicals.