80
votes
Are there any advantages to freshly ground salt?
Not really in terms of flavor, no. Salt doesn't have a substantial number of volatile compounds that are released by grinding, in contrast to something like whole peppercorn, which releases a range of ...
- 14.9k
68
votes
Accepted
What are the tradeoffs between soy sauce and salt to pick when to use which between the 2?
Soy sauce is not just salty, it has a strong taste of its own. So, to answer your question: you would use soy sauce when you want the taste of soy sauce, and salt when you don't and just want ...
- 653
58
votes
Accepted
How can I be more frugal with salt when cooking (dried) pasta?
It's perfectly possible to cook pasta with no salt at all, so you may be able to wean yourself onto a lower salt level, reducing it gradually.
I don't know what, if anything, you're eating with your ...
- 43.7k
55
votes
What type of salt for sourdough bread baking?
This may come across as a little cynical ;)
Don't believe the hype.
Salt is salt.
The difference between Himalayan, iodised & kosher is so small you'll never taste it. They're all 98%+ sodium ...
- 29.7k
45
votes
Accepted
Is there any advantage to combining spices before applying them to meat?
If you premix to make a rub, it's easier to apply spices evenly. Otherwise, you must individually apply a small amount (for example, 1/4 tsp) of several spices evenly. With a rub, you make the spice ...
- 2,474
42
votes
Accepted
How much salt in "liberally season"?
You're not alone in being confused. Here's a few "weasel phrases" that recipe authors use:
"Liberally season"
"Season to taste"
"Season as required"
"Add enough"
"A bunch of"
"A generous quantity"
...
- 61.3k
39
votes
Accepted
What can be done with accidentaly oversalted beef?
Oversalting is best dealt with by serious dilution.
I'd make a large, not very meaty dish from it, with lots of vegetables, cooked for a while. Fry onions and other veg, add liquid, and stir in the ...
- 43.7k
37
votes
Accepted
How to dissolve salt into mashed potatoes
Until the salt is dissolved, you will always have the problem of separate grains. It seems that your potatoes are not moist enough for it to happen on its own. And salt won't dissolve in fat.
My ...
- 136k
37
votes
What type of salt for sourdough bread baking?
Any salt will do. The trick is figuring how much salt. If a formula is based on a specific salt, and you switch, you need to adjust. For example this author did a comparison. She weighed 1 level ...
- 73.8k
34
votes
What can be done with accidentaly oversalted beef?
Make a soup out of it! Dice the meat up, sweat some aromatics (onion, celery, etc.) in a pot, put in 1-2 liters of water, add the meat and let it come to a boil. Then, bring the heat down to a ...
- 831
33
votes
What are the tradeoffs between soy sauce and salt to pick when to use which between the 2?
Perhaps the most significant reason to use soy sauce is that it adds umami, a flavor that is different from saltiness. In addition to the umami, additional flavors soy sauce brings are expected in ...
- 73.8k
32
votes
Accepted
Why does salt enhance the flavor of food?
Our brains are wired to consider food more palatable if the dedicated taste receptors (one of the six basic tastes) for salt are triggered. And in a non-urban world, salt/sodium is a valuable nutrient;...
- 15.3k
30
votes
Accepted
What does "Massage with salt" mean in a recipe?
I'd argue that 'massage' is the right word in this case.
I've this technique a lot in japanese cooking -- you cut up the vegetables, sprinkling with salt as you go (so there's layers of salt in ...
- 80k
28
votes
Alternative to salt when using Mortar and Pestle
2 solutions:
I have an unpolished granite pestle and mortar: they're much cheaper than the polished granite ones and are much more abrasive then a wooden or ceramic one.
I also don't use any salt, (...
- 5,827
27
votes
Is it true that all salt is sea salt?
In a very real sense, yes, that is a true statement. Virtually all sodium chloride on earth was formed in the ocean. It’s a bit of a misnomer to consider “ocean” to be synonymous with “sea”; ...
- 58.5k
26
votes
Accepted
Can I substitute salts 1:1 by weight?
Yes. In general diamond crystal kosher salt requires about twice the amount (by volume) as table salt, but measuring by weight is best and works with any salt.
- 4,694
26
votes
Keeping meat dry after salting it
Serious Eats published a great article on how to cook, sear, and season their perfect steak!
TL;DR Salt your steak and rest it on a wire-rack for 40+ minutes (ideally in a fridge overnight) before ...
- 540
20
votes
Accepted
Good salt:water ratio when boiling pasta
More is not necessarily better, but no salt leads to a bland final dish. Some folks are fond of saying "as salty as the sea." This sounds romantic, but probably has no basis. Pasta water, ...
- 73.8k
18
votes
Accepted
When should I add the garlic to a roasted leg of lamb?
There's no benefit to putting the garlic in as slices from a flavor point of view, it's the cooking that brings the garlic flavor out. I've found that no matter how you do it the garlic flavor pretty ...
- 75.4k
17
votes
Are there any advantages to freshly ground salt?
I personally like having a salt grinder for popcorn. When I salt my popcorn, I want the crystals to be totally pulverized with a much more fine grind than is available in the box.
Finely ground salt ...
- 271
17
votes
Is there any advantage to combining spices before applying them to meat?
An additional factor is prep time. You can make a large batch of spice mix quickly, spooning tablespoons rather than quarter teaspoons and then it's made ready for many portions. Dry mixes keep as ...
- 43.7k
17
votes
How can I be more frugal with salt when cooking (dried) pasta?
If you can't get cheaper salt, or reduce the ratio of salt/water, and you don't want to compromise the finished result, then the only option I see is to use less water.
Cooks generally gauge the ...
- 3,045
17
votes
How much salt in "liberally season"?
"Liberally season with salt" means - "use more salt than you would usually think was enough".
Why anyone would advise that depends on factors unknown to us.
Here is an SE "Seasoned Advice" post on ...
- 569
16
votes
Accepted
Is it a good idea to add salt to egg whites before beating them?
There is a great deal of contrary advice on adding salt to egg whites. From my research, what I gather is that this mixed advice comes from the fact that it probably depends on how much salt is added....
- 73.8k
15
votes
What can be done with accidentaly oversalted beef?
Use raw potato. If the meat is already BBqued put in between layers of raw potato slices. Then reheat it [meat] by boiling it with whole potato, then for a short while put on preheated pan.
If you ...
- 4,121
15
votes
Accepted
Salt turned peas from creamy to crunchy
Frozen peas don't really need 'cooking' at all.
The smaller they are the less they need, too; so anything labelled 'garden peas' or 'petit pois' really all you should do is drop them into boiling ...
- 29.7k
14
votes
Are there any advantages to freshly ground salt?
Another good reason for having salt grinders is that they are FUN!
Perceived quality definitely affects our enjoyment of food and drink, plenty of research has shown this.
But another factor in ...
- 786
14
votes
Accepted
Can salted capers be un-salted?
Yes.
Brined capers also have a lot of salt, so you're not really trying to remove the salt, just dissolve it a bit. The way I've done this is to simply take out about 1/4 of the capers, add a ...
- 61.3k
13
votes
Accepted
Sauerkraut/sourkraut - ratio of grams of salt to grams of raw cabbage?
2% (20g per 1000g) would be my default recommendation based on sources local to me, but with care less salt may work if sanitation is extremely good (to minimize introduction of undesirable bacteria ...
- 15.7k
13
votes
If salt loses its flavor, how can you season it?
Salt is not a herb or a spice that loses its specific properties over time. It's a mineral and is salty since millions of years. It will still be salty if you're already gone.
No need to worry here! ...
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