Bronze-cut pastas (as opposed to slick-surfaced inexpensive pastas extruded through nonstick die) have a rough surface that exudes more starch during cooking—key to making silky sauces that cling. To find the best for everyday use, we tried seven brands, first cooked simply in salted water and tossed with neutral oil, then in our recipe for pasta alla gricia.

Garofalo ($3.29/16 ounces) was our overall winner. It ranked second in the plain tasting, but was first in pasta alla gricia thanks to its golden color, balanced flavor and pleasantly chewy texture. Its starchy cooking water created a glossy sauce that clung beautifully to the noodles.

La Molisana ($3.99/16 ounces) and Martelli ($11.35/17.6 ounces) rounded out the top three. La Molisana was praised for its sweet, wheaty flavor and pleasantly chewy texture; one taster called it “almost buttery.” Martelli earned high marks for its excellent chew and freshly milled flavor. Both lost points in the gricia: La Molisana produced insufficiently starchy cooking water, while Martelli released too much starch—yielding a sauce that tasters described as “gloppy” and overly thick.