I made a nice tasty crockpot full of meatballs and.......mush

[Horse with no Name]

:(
I added the noodles too soon.
Thank God I have plenty of spoons!

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Awwwww

Yep ..... macaroni has a half life!

Cook the macaroni separately and add it at the last minute.

[Tab]

2. Yeah, they're the last to go in.

The starches are easy to do, but easy to screw up.

Think of it this way:

- Starches (I'm thinking pasta here) have a bonding period while they're hot
- If you cook them with oil added, you screw up the bonding (so don't)
- When adding sauce or whatever, add it while the starch is hot. Once it starts to cool, it won't bond and the sauce will slide off.
- Starch disintegrates (as you've discovered). Thicker starch needs longer to cook, but none of it will hold up to a slow-cooker. Fresh angel hair - 30 seconds in a good boil. Rotini, lasagna noodles, more, but in none of these cases are you talking hours upon hours.

Make your stuff, boil the pasta when ready to serve. Drain. If you insist on rinsing, rinse in hot water so you don't close up the bonding. Mix immediately with the sauce.

But pasta noodles in a crockpot - well, you've discovered what happens.

On the bright side, you probably didn't use rice noodles. They have even a shorter life span.

I love trial and error. :) Hopefully it tasted good nonetheless. If not, just pick out the meatballs :)