I cannot tell you how many times I have scrubbed burnt starch off my stovetop. Too many. The foam would climb, I would panic, turn down the heat—too late. Water everywhere.

Then my friend Marco—his nonna ran a trattoria in Bologna for 40 years—looked at me like I was an idiot and said: put a wooden spoon across the pot.

That is it. That is the whole trick.

Why It Works

Boiling pasta releases starch into the water. Starch creates foam. Foam rises. When it hits the wooden spoon, two things happen:

First, the wood is cooler than the boiling water, so the bubbles pop on contact. Second, the spoon breaks the surface tension of the foam layer. It literally cannot build up enough to spill over.

I tested this with three different pots and four types of pasta. Spaghetti, penne, farfalle, even those tiny stelline that turn into a foam volcano. Zero boil-overs. Not one.

What Actually Matters

The spoon does not need to be fancy. The one I use cost maybe three dollars at a grocery store. It needs to be real wood—metal conducts heat and does not pop bubbles the same way. Plastic can melt if it touches the edge of the pot.

Position it so it spans the widest part of the pot. If your pot is small, a wooden chopstick works too. I keep one specifically for this now.

The Starch Scrub I Wish I Knew Sooner

If you do boil over—it happens—do not reach for a sponge. Sprinkle salt on the wet starch while the burner is still warm. Salt absorbs the sticky layer. Wait two minutes, then wipe with a dry paper towel. It lifts right off. No scrubbing.

I learned that one the hard way after ruining a sponge that smelled like burnt pasta for a month.