Product Review: Pasta Magic

Cooking spaghetti has always been a chore for me. First of all, I hate to clean pots and pans so when I have to pull out my five quart Dutch oven to boil water for spaghetti, I frown. Worst of all, some of the spaghetti doesn't cook all the way through.

About two weeks ago, my husband brought home the Pasta Magic pasta cooker set. We had seen this product advertised before. When I see these new inventions, I wonder if they ever work for anyone else besides the guy on T.V. Since he had purchased it, I decided to make spaghetti for dinner and give the Pasta Magic a try.

Before you use a new product, remember to wash everything in soap and water first. The Pasta Magic pasta cooker set comes with two Pasta Magic containers (one short and one tall), two strainer lids, two tops and a neoprene thermal wrap. I chose the taller container because I was making spaghetti.

To get the process started, boil a full kettle of water. Place the neoprene wrap around the container you are going to use. The wrap prevents the user from getting burned when they strain the Pasta Magic. I added my spaghetti to the container. When the boiling water was ready, I added it to within one quarter of an inch of the top, making sure to cover all of the spaghetti noodles. Next, I snapped on the strainer lid and then the top. That was all I had to do. The container shouldn't be moved after the boiling water is added.

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. When the time's up, remove the lid and the top to strain the pasta. When I poured the spaghetti into a bowl, each strand had cooked. The spaghetti noodles were "al dente". My family enjoyed the meal and I enjoyed the lack of messy dishware.

I also tried the Pasta Magic cooker with macaroni. My macaroni didn't fair as well as the spaghetti. When the timer buzzed, I turned the Pasta Magic upside down to strain out the water. I had to use a spoon to scoop the macaroni away from the bottom of the container. In the bowl, I noticed that the macaroni didn't fully cook. I had to finish cooking the macaroni on the stove which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place.

So what's the verdict on the Pasta Magic? It does work. I cooked and strained spaghetti noodles with no messy cleanup afterwards. While the Pasta Magic didn't cook the macaroni to my satisfaction, I give the invention the benefit of the doubt. The box recipe book says that Pasta Magic will also cook vegetables, shrimp, and hotdogs. I may even try to cook macaroni in it again. Just because I didn't like the macaroni doesn't mean the Pasta Magic is a dud. Originally, we wanted it to cook spaghetti and the cooker does that well. Whatever else that the Pasta Magic helps me to do quickly is a plus.