The Trick to Luscious and Creamy Carbonara - Kitchen Conundrums with Thomas Joseph

Spaghetti is the time-honored partner for carbonara sauce, a Roman favorite made from pancetta, garlic, Parmesan and Romano cheese, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and eggs -- which are tossed, uncooked, into the hot pasta just before serving.
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Sarah Carey is the editor of Everyday Food magazine and her job is to come up with the best ways to make fast, delicious food at home. But she's also a mom to two hungry kids, so the question "What's for dinner?" is never far from her mind -- or theirs, it seems! Her days can get crazy busy (whose don't?), so these videos are all about her favorite fast, fresh meals -- and the tricks she uses to make it all SO much easier.
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[@sarawinardi6745]

Every time I see Carbonara, I go to the comment section to see if there’s a reaction regarding cooking it with garlic. 😂😂😂

[@alec-s]

I'm gonna satify your will

[@MauriceL2006]

Me too :-D

[@heisenbergkierkegaard3982]

Same here. And i'm expecting they're Italians. Haha

[@charleshodgdon6168]

It is not added as guanciale and pancetta are both normally cured with garlic. If you use bacon, add garlic.

[@S3P7]

Why put garlic in the carbonara? Carbonara doesn't need garlic unless you don't want to sleep with your lady later. Why do Americans always put garlic in all of their style of "Italian dishes"? Let me guess, you use bolognese sause on your Spaghetti too?

[@geraldbrienza4474]

If you add a tsp of that pasta water to the egg mixture it will “temper” and prevent it from scrambling when adding it in.

[@yodiggiddy]

Gerald Brienza - Thanks for the tip!

[@allabouthelenawithgoldenwe904]

It also creams the mixture really well...nice tip Gerald Brienza

[@stephenwong6838]

Exactly 👍

[@superjoe7]

Italians Everywhere in Italy Revolted the minute he put garlic in 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@bluewaterpines8323]

Thank you very much Thomas for your time in creating this film.all is timing with this dish.perfect!

[@shoshib1971]

This looks wonderful! I am definitely going to try making it!

[@laurabrooks3076]

Never tire from watching him:) my favorite cooking /baking guy:) much appreciation.. In this world of turmoil, a good cooking recipe and good explanation.... sure is a lifesaver:)

[@aleanagoodman4607]

You know what I love, I love it when someone comes to a cooking channel, watching a professional cook, preparing a dish and proceed to give them advice.....lol

[@CalvinLimuel]

all the italian grandpas haha

[@alec-s]

No italian professional cook maked any video showing british/american dishes... We eat carbonara since We had eggs and pancetta, We italians can give advices to a professional american chef on carbonara..

I love these tutorials :) Thanx so much , learning new tricks n tips here.

[@ilovepppumm]

Wow... Thank​ you... Thats​ so​ simple.​ I​ will​ try​ to​ cook​ it.

[@user-ub8er9pe2h]

Love your videos. Each one of them. Your patience, skills, and style with your culinary skills are amazing. Thank you for teaching so much. ❤️🙂✨🌟

[@veecee3669]

I know this is blasphemy, but I used to frequent an Italian restaurant where the maître d', Lorenzo, who was born in Rome, would make Spaghetti alla Carbonara tableside, and he would beat the eggs with a little bit of cream and the pecorino Romano, crisp the pancetta in a pan, remove the pancetta, leaving the drippings, add the egg mixture to the drippings, cooking slightly to thicken the sauce (the cream kept the sauce from scrambling), add the spaghetti to the sauce, then the pancetta, toss to coat the pasta, and serve it to us. I know it's not classic carbonara, but it was one of the best pastas I've ever eaten. And by the way, I'm Italian and I do know the difference. But damn, it was delicious!

[@Anand-qb1wp]

Classic = old. Doesn't mean it can't be improved upon, or that it shouldn't be when it can be :-).

[@veecee3669]

Anand S. That's true! 😊

[@powerpopaholic876]

How is that blasphemous? Seems 90% of the classic steps

[@tacosmexicanstyle7846]

Powerpopaholic Adding cream to the sauce is seen as ‘blasphemous’ because of the reason it’s done; if you don’t add cream, you have to prepare the sauce from scratch on order and serve it immediately or the eggs will scramble. Restaurants add cream so that they can keep the sauce waiting and ready rather than make it anew every time it’s ordered. It’s a time and cost saving recipe alteration, which is why it’s looked down upon. I like it with cream as well but it’s always nice when the restaurant is cooking your order especially for you.

[@exentr]

Gennero at Jamie Oliver used cream for Carbonara. He make Carbonara in different styles. Also the classic. Personally I am going to make cream sauce meat balls pasta.

[@oldmannewman]

Fantastic tutorial!

[@GodfreyMann]

I made this today and when you factor in the time to grate the cheese and skin odd/difficult shaped guancale, then it can take a lot longer than 8 mins. Took me around 30 mins from a clear kitchen top to serving. Quite delicious...well worth trying.

[@tomsparks6099]

Pulling it off the heat also helps that it doesn;t split and get really greasy. Helps emulsify the oils into the sauce. Great video. It seems like an easy dish when it's not.

[@marialuciaseeger2656]

Love watching this guy. Super nice recipe.

[@antoniajagodic]

Thomas, this Carbonara looks so delicious 😊😊

[@gem330235]

But.. the sauce isnt thick at all.. It was dripping from the pasta when he lifted it out of the pot to plate it. Cooked it once with this method trying to replicate the one i had in italy but ended up a watery/slightly thick sauce too like in the video.. wasnt good

[@peadar-o]

In this case it’d been better if there had been 3 whole eggs and an additional egg yolk. The egg white can make the sauce a little thinner than desired. Also, I’d use a bit more pecorino romano than Parmesan, basically switching the way Thomas had his set-up.

[@keenansmith2509]

Pierre O. Park yeah he used too much pasta water also so no matter how much he kept stirring or heating it wouldn’t get to the right consistency. At that stage, you can add pasta water but not really take it away.

[@robertmcbride3]

A better method is to remove the bacon after it's cooked. Add the half cooked pasta and a half cup of pasta water to the fat. Reduce the water down while finishing the pasta in the pan. Move it around until you get a silky emulsification, adding more water as needed. Then remove from heat and add the eggs, cheese and cooked bacon. The trick is reducing the starchy water first. Also be careful not to over salt the pasta water.

[@michaelaprea8157]

too much pasta water

[@thomabb]

I don't use the additional pasta water unless I need to. You have to be able to read the pan. You should also put the pan back on low heat if you need to in order to get the sauce right. Carbonara is more art than science.

[@riyasuri5117]

Thank you for this video. Love it. Ur Fan From Taiwan

[@daehyunsong6212]

It's like you knew I would be making carbonara this week 😂 Thanks for the tips!

[@diamondneilskitchen5480]

Love your style man 👌🏼

[@giovanniwu7935]

great tips sharing with Carbonara

[@pjfuscoonthenews1693]

Thomas: Good job. I'm happy to have heard you say guanciale, if it can be found, is the classic pork for this dish. And I'm also glad you mentioned that garlic is optional. Excellent. Thanks for a great video on a classic Roman dish.

[@OfwJovyCarPatrecio]

Yummy , thanks

[@sunnysammy3944]

I finalllyyy made this yesterday. My friend from Italy and I also made the pasta by hand. She said the extra water is not necessary and it came out perfect 👌🏽 the water from the transfer was definitely enough. Will be making this from now on for myself haha.

[@TheHungarianOak]

exactly, first mix eggs with pasta, and then you will see if extra water is necessary. Otherwise the sauce maybe too runny, as in this video

[@AY-ze1fp]

I think when Thomas says pasta with a white matte exterior he means bronze die cut pasta. Bronze dies are traditionally used when extruding pasta shapes such as penne or spaghetti (traditional meaning before the invention of the many fun plastic products we have today). They operate much slower and yield a matte texture during the extrusion process. Large bronze dies also resist large temperature variations such that it leaves the pasta cold. Cheaper pastas use teflon coated dies which are very slippery such that the pasta can be made at a much higher production rate (2x to 3x faster). This gives a smooth exterior that doesn't cling on to sauce. This is the best American carbonara recipe. Thank you so so so so so much for not adding frozen peas to your carbonara 🥰🥰🥰 On a final note, carbonara is unparalleled as a "bedroom food" 😈🤤

[@ValentineLissar]

Haha, poor Thomas Joseph knows we live in a post- Italians critique carbonara world; he had to warn everyone he was adding garlic as this was NOT traditional.😅😂😂😂😂. Also always love watching thomas’ vids! Thanks for the upload

[@alessandropangia697]

@LagiNaLangAko23 Why do you want to watch us suffer? What did we do to deserve such horrific sights?

[@asamax64]

@LagiNaLangAko23 do you know why Filippino put sugar in the sauce? Well ask McDonald.

[@asamax64]

@LagiNaLangAko23 well They dont have taste but is not they fault, after McDonald in the 80 tried to sell spaghetti dishes (and They misrable went wrong) in all world, but not in the Filippine.so no pasta culture and use ketchup on it. Like pineapple pizza🤔🤔🤔

[@Custerd1]

I’m continually amazed at how many dishes are simply variations of ham and cheese.

[@powerpopaholic876]

Yup! ham and cheese sandwich, w/ a little fried egg! Sorta...

[@janikiawoods8486]

Love it

[@Joseph1NJ]

A good way to emulsify any pasta dish is to use a 3 quart short pot with rounded edges. The key is to toss, toss, toss.

[@xscitobor1233]

I love that this channel only uploads every few days so it doesn't over load my notifications and allow me to watch all of their videos with out getting only a few good videos each month then just radon videos eaveryday like Gordon ramsay

[@mhta0508]

I see Thomas, I hit like. 😍

[@beatrizsandoval4395]

mhta0508 same here

[@ConnorMalbeuf]

right?

[@dannysimion]

Oh Thomas, you got my mouth salivating here and I’m eating this bland tuna sandwich that I’m wishing would taste like carbonara pasta. Yum

[@angelroost]

I immediately started craving a tuna sandwich...been a while. Grilled. Dinner tomorrow. Thx.

[@hollygrail2964]

🥳 thanks!

[@ConnorMalbeuf]

i find this guy so endearing.

[@Passionforfoodrecipes]

Spaghetti carbonara?! Eggggggcellent!

[@gravyall0va]

Passion for food I feel like you must watch a crazy amount of KZbin like I do because I see you on nearly every video I watch commenting some type of food pun lol

[@Passionforfoodrecipes]

@@gravyall0va lol I should have named my channel *The food Pun-isher* 😋

[@Stephenrsm7600]

Thomas Joseph, you know how to fix ALL my kitchen conundrums!!!! Thank you, Love you!! Happy Pride 💛🧡💚💙💜❤️🎉🎊🍾🥂🍹🌈

[@sephirothsoul999]

6:36 "el dante"? That's like "al dente" but with the heat on max for Dante's inferno :D

[@stephenwong6838]

A lot can be said to critique his methods and approach to replicating this very traditional ROMAN classical recipe - Its crucial to remember that the historical reason why there are so few ingredients to this delicious dish is bcz of necessity - It was created during a very lean period when a lot of key proteins and spices were extremely expensive and difficult to procure especially if you were a working class and poor - To have fresh organic eggs available and a slab of GUANCIALE was a true luxury for many, so what better way to celebrate these two main ingredients than to make a dish all about the incredible flavors and textures that combining a crunchy tidbit of pork with the creaminess of whipped eggs - Mmmm - Magnifico 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@semco72057]

I like that recipe and have to get all the ingredients and go about making this dish and see how mine turn out .

[@hanharr18]

Sidney Mathious Hiii!! Did you make it!!? How was it?!

[@semco72057]

@@hanharr18 Not yet, but have to go shopping for some pasta and then make it.

[@stooge81]

1:45 Those strands of spaghetti sticking to the side of the pot are really messing with my OCD.

[@jeffinphx517]

Washing your hands twenty times might help.

[@randysvids4774]

I take it that you are a perfectionist.

[@Blacklight_Music]

That is not what OCD is.

[@PRiSiNY]

you dont have ocd

[@geraldbrienza4474]

That “texture” is from a “bronze cut” pasta. Look for it on the label.

[@enydnightshade]

Yummm 😍😍😍

[@lilybreee]

Guanciale is pancetta's cousin damn then I must be using pancetta's twice removed cousin bacon

[@liladelacruz8307]

🤣🤣🤣

[@CalvinLimuel]

bacon is just pancetta but smoked and usually you already get pre-sliced.

[@antc.4457]

@@CalvinLimuel 🇮🇹 Italian "pancetta" and bacon in common only have the cut of meat: the belly of pork. Pancetta is a cured meat, that is, a type of meat that must be prepared (with salt and various spices, different from region to region) and seasoned (at least 30 days, more often 60, in a controlled environment at 10 ° -12 ° C = 50 ° -54 ° F ). In Italy you can find different types of bacon: "tesa" (tight, straight) or "arrotolata" (rolled), sweet or smoked.

[@CalvinLimuel]

ant c. Well yea I was just trying to put in generalized term

[@youngus]

And then there's the thrice removed cousin, Canadian bacon

[@mjrussell414]

Carbonara - my new favourite pasta for when I want to splurge and have something comforting. Second fav is pasta en brodo with farfelle. Third, penne arrabbiata. I’m so sophisticated now that I know the rough surface pasta is made with authentic bronze dies. Although I love garlic and usually put extra in my dishes, but I don’t like it in this dish. Tried pancetta and didn’t like it as it had a chewy texture, so the last time I made it, I used prosciutto. I forgot to temper the egg mixture with pasta water, and it did scramble a little, but guess what? It was still delicious. Next time, I’m going to use bucatini.

[@urbanviii6557]

Al dante? Dante was a medieval writer who wrote the Divine Comedy. The word is al dente, when referring to pasta.

[@alexoh4699]

We get it, you know Dante.

[@ShouldyoumakeorBakeit]

Omg 😲😲😲😲👐👐👐👐👐🍝🍝🍝🍝🍝 fabulous!!

[@elkiepops]

I season my pasta water with garlic salt, it’s amazing xxx

[@BiggMo]

The pasta should had been cooked in a lot less water to increase the concentration of starch in the water. the high starch acts as an emulsifier to further enhance the creaminess. Other than that, nice job Thomas.

[@958fuser]

non sai di cosa parli

[@michaelmiller1215]

I was taught that cream is added to the sauce in America usually because we cannot get the rich ‘Italian triple butter ‘ that is used in Italy to make the rich sauce.

[@claudiakao5998]

Great to see you have another video out , I am going to make this dish this week. Also could you do a video on the different grind settings (fine to coarse)on the pepper mill, when to use what, thanks.

[@taylorvanbuskirk8040]

I would enter a contest whose winner would get to hang out with Thomas Joseph in the kitchen for one whole week, and PRAY I'd win!

[@rlnsoto6330]

Hey Thomas can you do a video on how to get the perfect Lo Mean Dish

[@mommam.6101]

Last week I looked at a couple videos for spaghetti carbonara and I still made scrambled eggs.

[@1973TJM]

One writer here suggested tempering your eggs by adding a small amount of the hot pasta water before adding the eggs into the big pot. Just use a bigger bowl than our Chef used for those eggs.

[@-_James_-]

Don't add the egg mixture to the pasta until any water already in there has stopped making noise on the sides of the pan as you swirl it around. I.e., that's a good way to tell when the pan has cooled enough. And keep it moving around after you have added it and don't let it sit in the pan once it's ready - pour it in, mix it around, and serve it straight away.

[@astridsallerlei5355]

Finally somebody that explains it adequately - thank you! :D

[@fishguy911]

There are plenty of videos that explain carbonara adequately, this is not one of them.

[@astridsallerlei5355]

@@fishguy911 Why do you think so?

[@fishguy911]

@@astridsallerlei5355, eggs are not tempered with pasta water, and the fat rendered from guanciale. This made the sauce to thin. I would also add more pecorino romano and fresh cracked pepper. There are plenty of good videos on KZbin that explain it being properly made. Also, never garlic.

[@fishguy911]

@@astridsallerlei5355, carbonara is not an opinion.

[@fishguy911]

@@astridsallerlei5355, kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXKklX6iZrqMkNU

[@AceHalford]

I miss this dude!

[@CalvinLimuel]

that's a really small bowl to whisk the eggs and grated cheese I'm so nervous

[@keenansmith2509]

Who has anxiety over whisking eggs

[@penkae88]

he was just showing off 😉

[@mjrussell414]

Keenan Smith Snowflake generation.

[@filomenacavallaro408]

Delizioso👌😋😋😋😋 Bravo Thomas👏👏👏👏👏😊

[@richardcassinari7026]

From zero to .55 he was talking about bronze cut pasta...the dies that the pasta is pushed through are made of bronze and it causes the rough surface that the sauce sticks to...

[@yasukok1153]

If I don’t want to use pancetta or animal based meat, what I can use to get similar taste? I know it’s dumb question but help me?

[@marilynalvarez9951]

Where can I file my application for taste tester? Thomas doesn't eat anything he cooks :(

[@Eduman1979]

I am thomas joseph fan

[@mangeof8230]

Aaahh, my favorite pasta, El Dante. XD 6:35

[@lala_bee]

I love making this dish! What's the best wine for it?

[@gonzalogca]

Lala Booboo Chianti goes great if you use just Parmesan cheese. I imagine it goes great with this recipe too.

[@lala_bee]

@@gonzalogca Cool! Thank you for recommendation.

[@dodgecoffman9794]

Dang I wish Thomas Joseph was my boyfriend. He cooks, he's intelligent and so easy on the eyes.

[@ilovebeingprecious]

omg is there a problem in my subscriptions? I just saw Kitchen Conundrums just now after like two years and I need to catch up

[@LadyOfRain1]

Same!

[@trixcereals]

Is it required to use a deep pot for mixing the pasta and egg mixture?

[@antc.4457]

No.

[@javieralvarez7396]

Finally!!! A non Italian that knows how to do carbonara!!! Yeysss!!! Pls share with the world, I'm tired of putting chefs to shame when we find cream and bacon in our carbonara!!

[@colomblanco]

I like how he was overpronouncing the "T" in "pancetta" the first five times and then at some point he just got tired of it and knocked it off.

[@rice2cu5881]

I was wondering why it looked so dry on the thumbnail but now it all makes sense

[@williamdfr1715]

What is Pawsta?

[@jongustafson3399]

Pasteurizing eggs at 160 degrees like he mentions would screw them up good no? Like , that's well within the temp range at which a white and a yolk set.

[@sjinzaar]

Pahsta. Where can I buy some PAHsta? Love the accent.

[@jeanc4178]

Can you just come over a make if for me Please!

[@timmarkowicz779]

To get pasta with that rough texture you must buy a product that is extruded with old school bronze dies instead of newer Teflon dies. De Cecco is the brand I can find.

[@ConnorMalbeuf]

take a shot whenever he says velvety

[@britoronto6628]

Also not traditional but absolutely delicious is to add fresh baby arugula.

[@basicstickfigure1087]

Mine comes out somewhat bitter. Can't figure out what's wrong

[@Hm-mn3ip]

THAT CSRBONARA LOOKS DRY AS HELLL OOOOOOHHHHH LAAAAWWWWWWRRRRDDDR

[@zhaf]

are you making carbonara or car‧bo‧nà‧ra?

[@anhmai3903]

I have a conundrum ... with the upload quality of this video. If you are going to point out details in the ingredient you are using or direct your audience to look at how amazing your dish turned out then maybe upload this video in 1080p.

[@gogozmeq]

6:24 wow wow wow grinding that pepper with the front hand what is that

[@markb6614]

A good video Thomas, I would add more cheese and let the sauce thicken more. Good to hear you mention guanciale! I must tell you carbonara is not an opinion and garlic is not an ingredient. Of course anyone can make any variation they like. @Italians mad at food

[@user-um7xs7ih8f]

At least he mentioned that garlic is not for Italians.

[@victorsantiagoasuncion8728]

al dante? as in Alighieri?

[@jolenesugarti3989]

💕❤️💕

[@citizent6999]

I love you

[@mommam.6101]

I did try to temper it before I mixed it in but evidently I used too much pasta water doing that. The older I get the worse I cook. And I'm talking old. But I still like to look at cooking videos.

[@AceHardy]

👨‍🍳

[@guypehaim1080]

I think it is better to use avocado oil for frying.

[@LadyOfRain1]

This is one of my absolute favourites to make for dinner! I initially clicked on this JUST to see if you were going to use cream....I should know you better than that by now! I also like tweaking mine a bit with carmelized red onion in the beginning and adding halved cherry tomatoes right @ the end, but every now and then I go O.G. Now, I'm hungry!

[@heresy_unfolding]

Here's the trick. Never mix the pasta and the egg mixture in a pan with a direct contact to the stove. That being said, still make sure the pan is warm enough to cook the egg mixture and add some starchy pasta water to emulsify the sauce, making it thick and creamy. You're welcome.

[@keenansmith2509]

I see you watched the video too..

[@nozopoke1782]

Cook it until it’s “al Dante” Alighieri

[@jamescahill3390]

Sorry. emulsification is the mixing of two liquids that normally do not mix together. In this case it's the pasta water and the pork fat. Not the pasta water and eggs.

[@midnitebushi7278]

My bisnonna is rolling over...

[@Engineer_Heathen]

Use less water to boil the pasta so the water is more starchy. Yours did not look starchy at all. And using egg yolks instead of whole eggs is better in my opinion. I also prefer guanciale over pancetta. Overall good video though.

[@hollygrail2964]

Engineer wow that’s a great tip! I’ll try it ! Thanks 🙏

[@Engineer_Heathen]

@UCxS0Y-cn4Sqwi_UMWlYydVw I happen to like Thomas Joseph a lot, however I gave a few tips that I was taught by my grandmother who grew up in Italy that I thought would improve on this recipe. On top of that, you don't know what my qualifications are as a cook. Just because somebody cooks on KZbin that automatically makes them better than me?

[@Electrolatino]

@@Engineer_Heathen Good point. I was wondering what kind of engineer are you?

[@Engineer_Heathen]

@@Electrolatino electrical engineer

[@supersixone7414]

do you have to use brown eggs,,,,every video recipe I seen shows everyone using brown eggs

[@collharti]

Why not name the company that made the spaghetti you said you should be using???

[@capojonesy6384]

You didn't call it 'parmeSEAN', nice one :D

[@marshallmonks9819]

who is el dante?

[@nero5869]

carbonara should not be dripping like it did when he put it on the plate