Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate]
![Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - Concentrated middle aged ethnic male in casual clothes and apron adding salt while preparing delicious dish in kitchen at home](/assets/images/does_it_matter_when_you_add_the_salt_duplicate_0.jpeg "Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - Concentrated middle aged ethnic male in casual clothes and apron adding salt while preparing delicious dish in kitchen at home")
Spices create aromatics so it is important when to add them. But what about salt? Is it critical if you add salt to the flavor base instead of adding it to the tomato paste, or adding it to the finished soup?
Best Answer
Salt is very soluble in water, and during the cooking process will tend to diffuse within the liquids of the food and permeate inside. Having a salty flavor throughout the food I find tends to help curb salt usage. A good example is pasta, where if you add salt you can achieve a salty taste for the pasta and largely decrease salt you add at the table. My grandmother always said add the salt while you are cooking so you don't have to add twice as much later.
Pictures about "Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate]"
![Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - High angle of crop unrecognizable male chef adding kosher salt in pan while cooking traditional lunch in restaurant kitchen](/assets/images/does_it_matter_when_you_add_the_salt_duplicate_1.jpeg "Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - High angle of crop unrecognizable male chef adding kosher salt in pan while cooking traditional lunch in restaurant kitchen")
![Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - Thank You Signage](/assets/images/does_it_matter_when_you_add_the_salt_duplicate_2.jpeg "Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - Thank You Signage")
![Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - When Will You Return Signage](/assets/images/does_it_matter_when_you_add_the_salt_duplicate_3.jpeg "Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate] - When Will You Return Signage")
Quick Answer about "Does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate]"
You can add it 30 seconds before you take the pasta out and you won't tell any difference to taste or texture. It's also important to remember not to oversalt at the beginning.How do you know if a dish needs more salt?
A dish that is under-salted might taste flat or overly bitter. And if your food tastes salty, then it's probably over-salted. When salting, you're looking for the sweet middle ground. So you want to salt your dish at every step, and taste as you go.How does salt enhance flavor?
Salt is used as a universal flavour improver because at low concentrations it will reduce bitterness, but increase sweet, sour and umami, which is desirable for sweet recipes. But at higher concentrations it suppresses sweetness and enhances umami, which is good for savoury things.Why do we put salt on everything?
Salt tastes good\u2014and makes everything else taste goodWe like the taste because our bodies need sodium chloride. And sprinkling a bit of sodium chloride onto other foods ensures that we'll consume lots of other essential nutrients, too, because salt makes pretty much everything else taste better.Alert for Duplicate Values in the Same Row
More answers regarding does it matter when you add the salt? [duplicate]
Answer 2
Salt is sometimes used to modify how moisture is drawn from aromatics while they are being sauteed, taking advantage of the fact that salt "wants" to be dissolved in water but is insoluble in oil, eg adding salt upfront to get onions to brown more quickly.
Answer 3
Salt adds flavor and causes chemical changes in food. The sooner you add salt more time salt has to penetrate the food and the longer the chemical changes have to work. Whether that's desirable or not depends on the effect you want. Here are a few examples:
- When boiling potatoes if you add salt at the beginning of cooking the salt flavor will get through the potato, when you bite into it the center will be seasoned. If you add salt after cooking the inside of the potato will be bland and the outside salty. I always salt the water when I boil potatoes for this reason
- When sauteing zucchini I add some salt at the beginning of the cooking process as salt will draw moisture out, changing the texture of the flesh in a good way and making it cook a bit faster
- If you chop tomatoes and add salt to them they will shed a lot of moisture, which can sometimes be what you want
There are times when it doesn't really matter when you add the salt, for instance cooking pasta. You can add it 30 seconds before you take the pasta out and you won't tell any difference to taste or texture.
It's also important to remember not to oversalt at the beginning. You can put salt in but you can't take it out, so always put in less at the beginning than you think you need when making soups, stews, etc. Towards the end taste the food and add more salt if needed.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Gary Barnes, Svetlana Ponomareva, George Dolgikh @ Giftpundits.com, NOHK