AITA for using the same pot to make Mac and cheese after I made spaghetti?

r/

This afternoon, I made myself some spaghetti. I make the sauce the night before so I cooked the spaghetti in a pot, warmed up the sauce in another, and mixed both together in the bowl. When I was done, I rinsed out both pots, put some water in them, and put them on the burners to make sure the cats didn’t step on the burners because they’re still very hot.

I was just finishing up my lunch when my husband came out and said he wanted to make Mac and cheese but had to get ready for work. I told him I can do it for him while he gets ready. We did the usual “no you don’t have to” “let me help out!” Dance and I ended up making the Mac and cheese.

Since I just used the pot to boil water and cook spaghetti, I emptied the water I put in it, gave it a quick rinse (no soap), and filled it with hot water so I could boil it to make the mac.

He came back to the kitchen as I was straining the macaroni and asked if that was the same pot I used to make my food. I said yes, but that it was the pot for spaghetti, not the sauce. He asked if I washed it and I said no because I used it no more than a half hour before to boil my pasta.

He says that is gross, I should’ve washed it. I don’t think I needed to because no more than 30 minutes had gone by since I used it to make the same thing, but in a different shape. He thinks it’s gross I didn’t wash it with soap between uses.

So AITA for using the same pot I used to make spaghetti to also make Mac and cheese?

Comments

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    This afternoon, I made myself some spaghetti. I make the sauce the night before so I cooked the spaghetti in a pot, warmed up the sauce in another, and mixed both together in the bowl. When I was done, I rinsed out both pots, put some water in them, and put them on the burners to make sure the cats didn’t step on the burners because they’re still very hot.

    I was just finishing up my lunch when my husband came out and said he wanted to make Mac and cheese but had to get ready for work. I told him I can do it for him while he gets ready. We did the usual “no you don’t have to” “let me help out!” Dance and I ended up making the Mac and cheese.

    Since I just used the pot to boil water and cook spaghetti, I emptied the water I put in it, gave it a quick rinse (no soap), and filled it with hot water so I could boil it to make the mac.

    He came back to the kitchen as I was straining the macaroni and asked if that was the same pot I used to make my food. I said yes, but that it was the pot for spaghetti, not the sauce. He asked if I washed it and I said no because I used it no more than a half hour before to boil my pasta.

    He says that is gross, I should’ve washed it. I don’t think I needed to because no more than 30 minutes had gone by since I used it to make the same thing, but in a different shape. He thinks it’s gross I didn’t wash it with soap between uses.

    So AITA for using the same pot I used to make spaghetti to also make Mac and cheese?

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    OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:

    > I made my husband Mac and cheese using a pot I already cooked with because it was about 30 minutes after I used it to cook.

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  3. ElleArr26 Avatar

    NTA. Your husband is ridiculous.

  4. bookynerdworm Avatar

    NTA. Rinsing is a form of washing.

  5. GrizzRich Avatar

    NTA

    You don’t need soap to ensure it’s safe in this instance. It never got into the danger zone, and all you did was boil pasta previously. Which you’re doing again.

  6. Witty-Cat1996 Avatar

    So you reused a pot that was used to boil pasta to boil more pasta? NTA your husband needs some help if he thinks that’s gross

  7. Inherently_Rainbow Avatar

    NTA. It’s all pasta, why does it really matter? It’s weird that he cares so much.

  8. SalaudChaud Avatar

    I feel like hubby might be a series of problems looking for… if not a solution, then at least a pointless argument. Is this a standalone problem or is he often “helpful” like this?

    You are NTA and his behaviour is problematic.

  9. iheartwords Avatar

    Next he’ll be asking you to wash the toaster in between uses.

  10. CrazyOldBag Avatar

    Is he always this precious?

  11. Unhappy-Quail-2645 Avatar

    Not gross at all! 

  12. TheRealBeelzebabs Avatar

    Overall NTA, What you did is perfectly reasonable and most people would agree so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt… BUT if your husband has issues with cleanliness or stuff to do with food like this and you knew that and didn’t make the tiny bit more effort it would have taken to just use soap too then I’d have to say a soft y t a.

  13. OdderShift Avatar

    NTA that’s insane. you said it perfectly- it’s the same thing in a different shape

  14. CRK_76 Avatar

    NTA. But the AI that created this post is.

  15. sbinjax Avatar

    I grew up in a house where there was regular food poisoning due to mishandling food and cookware, so I’m a stickler for hygiene.

    No, it’s not gross. There was no time for bacteria to grow. Even from an aesthetic view, you rinsed the pot so there was no residual taste.

    NTA.

  16. canvasshoes2 Avatar

    NTA.

    Good grief. No lips touched the food/pan/surface/etc. And frankly, even if you had used the one with sauce it would still be fine. You had just barely used it and you not only had heated up water in it afterward but rinsed it out.

    Your husband is acting weird.

  17. CatSzmatt Avatar

    NTA, your husband is weird

  18. Possible-Tangelo9344 Avatar

    NTA. You cooked two types of pasta in the same bowl. I don’t see the issue.

    Unless I’m missing something and there was spaghetti sauce in the bowl?

  19. Zaki_242 Avatar

    Tough one here to decide. On one hand, your husband is being ridiculous. On the other hand, i have munchies and really want mac n cheese, but i don’t have that Kraft magic in my pantry.

  20. Wild_Ticket1413 Avatar

    NTA. You cooked noodles in the pot, rinsed said pot, and then cooked noodles in the pot a second time. It’s not like there would have been leftover sauce or something else in the pot, which would have contaminated the noodles or messed up the flavor.

    Not only that, but when you cook noodles, you boil the water – which sanitizes the pot and its contents. There was nothing unhygienic about what you did at all.

  21. HelenAngel Avatar

    NTA

    Don’t let your husband see how restaurants cook pasta or he’ll never go to one again.

  22. downsideup05 Avatar

    Boiling the water for the macaroni sanitized the pan what’s the big deal? NTA

  23. Vegetable_Burrito Avatar

    NTA. Let him make his own damn food if he’s going to be so precious about it.

  24. Radiant_Ad_9912 Avatar

    Next time he’s in a rush to make food, let him wash the pots first. NTA

  25. bentnotbroken96 Avatar

    NTA. Your husband is a moron. Boiling is literal sanitization.

    Kind of reminds me of an ex of mine that got mad at me because I rinsed out a measuring cup on soap…. instead of washing it with a different soap.

  26. innocentsmirks Avatar

    NTA! I do the same.

  27. SummerHill2130 Avatar

    Can you explain to your husband very slowly why it’s safe. Tell him to to really think about it.

  28. gmanose Avatar

    He could have washed it and made the Mac himself if he feels so strongly about it. NTA

  29. zeez1011 Avatar

    “You cooked pasta in the same pot you just cooked OTHER pasta?”

    NTA

  30. Interesting-End1710 Avatar

    NTA

    And you got a special snowflake there don’tcha

  31. Graflex01867 Avatar

    NTA.

    You added boiled starch to a pot that had boiled starch? What’s the problem? It got a quick rinse between uses, that’s all it needed.

  32. Foreign_Plan_5256 Avatar

    If it had been sitting out for longer, then that might be a problem depending how much starch residue was in the pot to grow bacteria. But it sounds like you were well within food safety guidelines. NTA. 

  33. Responsible_Side8131 Avatar

    NTA let him cook his own meal next time

  34. Brashear99 Avatar

    Cold water boils faster

  35. BoatMean8937 Avatar

    NTA. Why didn’t your husband make mac and cheese himself? Otherwise, he should be grateful for what’s given to him. 

  36. amberlicious35 Avatar

    NTA for boiling noodles in the same pot, but totally TA for telling such a long tale that could’ve been summed up in a few sentences. 😂

  37. Horror-Reveal7618 Avatar

    NTA

    Does he also says its gross if different foods put together in the same plate touch?

    My mother is in charge of the pasta for New Year: three different types, usually. She boils the different types of pasta, one after the other, in the same bowl.

    It’s never been an issue.

  38. Kylynara Avatar

    NTA – If he uses a clean measuring cup to measure water, does he then wash it with soap and water so it’s clean for next time? Or does he just set it in the drainer to dry like a sane person?

  39. VStarRoman Avatar

    NAH due to the small amount of time between.

    However, if he finds this method concerning, you really should let him cook his own meal next time. That way, he gets the food he wants and prepared like he prefers and you don’t have to hear about doing it in a “gross” way.

  40. DonkeyRhubarb76 Avatar

    NTA. I would have done the same thing, applying the same logic. Hubby is being a little over dramatic.

  41. Sudden_Outcome_9503 Avatar

    What about the measuring cup that you used to measure the water? Did you just leave that laying in its own filth? /s

    NTA

  42. goingloopy Avatar

    NTA. How do you sterilize things? That’s right, WITH BOILING WATER.

  43. Evinshir Avatar

    NTA. Pasta is pasta is pasta. You rinsed it out, its not going to have bacteria and you didn’t eat out of the pot. Dude would freak if he saw cooking in a restaurant.

    You rinsed that pot at least twice by my count.

  44. JenninMiami Avatar

    NTA You cooked pasta and then were going to use it to literally make more pasta! Lol

  45. CheeSupreme1743 Avatar

    NTA.

    Sometimes I put water into a measuring cup and then just put it back after I dry it. Does this also make me a heathen? If so, we are in the same boat together.

  46. bigduckmoses Avatar

    That’s the sort of thing my wife would roll her eyes at me for doing, but she wouldn’t be mad.

  47. cal_nevari Avatar

    So you had just boiled water and cooked pasta in it, then removed the pasta and emptied the pasta water out of the pot, then rinsed the pot out? So basically, you washed the pot. You didn;t put it in the dishwasher, you didn’t scrub it with soap for 15 minutes. You just drained the pasta water out, and rinsed it clean.

    If you had told him you washed it, do you think he would have then asked you if you put soap in it and scrubbed it, or just said “ok, good”? Because to me, draining the pasta water and rinsing it out is all you need to do to ‘wash it’.

    Next time, maybe rinse it out and if he asks say ‘yes I washed it’. You won’t be lying, imo.

  48. Yalsas Avatar

    You’re not TA but I have OCD and my brain works like this. Logic doesn’t matter, I understand the pot was only used for exactly what it’s going to be used for again but in my head it’s just dirty.

    But I suck it up and eat what my boyfriend cooks. If I want the dishes washed a certain way beforehand, I do it

  49. Pollyputthekettle1 Avatar

    NTA. My hubby uses the same frying pan he’s fried meat in the day before without wiping it out. 🤮
    He thinks I’m an AH for telling him that’s disgusting. I’d have no problem with a pasta pan.

  50. No-Function223 Avatar

    Nta. Imo you did wash the pot. 

  51. Commercial_Tax_7923 Avatar

    Definitely NTA, but did anyone read it to say some pot instead of same pot and expected a totally different story 🤷😂

  52. Wide_Ideal506 Avatar

    In my family we wouldn’t have even poured out the second pot of water. Would have cranked the heat back up to boiling and poured in the mac.