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Questions tagged [salt]

Questions about the use of culinary salt in the kitchen.

Saltiness is one of the five basic flavors (along with sweet, sour, bitter, and umami). Therefore, salt is one of the most important ingredients in cooking, since it's the only way to achieve that flavor.

Use this tag for questions about using salt in any culinary application, or for other kitchen purposes (such as ).

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Why is it important to add salt during cooking?

This may seem like a silly question, but given that each persons' tastes are different why is it that salt is added during cooking? It seems better to just allow the person eating the food to add their own salt to taste as opposed to forcing the…
O.O
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Substituting garlic powder for garlic salt?

I love using garlic powder but I also see recipes call for garlic salt. I thought that you could just add garlic powder instead of garlic salt (which of course is sold separately!) and then just add some actual salt if necessary. What is the…
Kryptic
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How much salt can I safely add to bread dough?

I recently made ciabatta, which turned out very well, with a good crust and nice open crumb. However, I felt it could use more salt to give extra flavour. I'm aware that salt and yeast do not make good bedfellows (or should that be breadfellows?),…
ElendilTheTall
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Does adding salt when soaking dry beans toughen or soften the skin of the bean?

I have heard opinions on both sides of this. The the latest answer on this site, says salt softens bean skins quoted Cooks Illustrated (I can't see the article, but I trust CI), while another answer says salt hardens the beans' skins. In case is…
Clay Nichols
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Rinse the salt off a steak before cooking?

I've been trying to perfect my technique for cooking a steak indoors. It was recommended to salt the steak about 30 minutes before cooking. I used kosher salt, and cooked the steak on cast iron. Everything came out spectacularly, in fact it was the…
Colin K
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Pink salt vs regular salt

What is the difference between pink salt and more typical coarse salt (e.g. sea salt)? I know it is pink due to mineral deposits, but culinarily is it any different? e.g. does it taste different, is it used differently, etc. Since there may be more…
TJ Ellis
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Is there any way to "Salt" unsalted cashew pieces?

I picked up a bag of cashew pieces from the bulk bin last night got home and realized they were of the unsalted variety. Which are good but for a snack not quite what I was looking for. Is there anyway to "salt" those cashew pieces. I googled and…
Varuuknahl
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Why does salt enhance the flavor of food?

I eat a lot of salt. It makes almost everything taste better, including: Meat Cookies Vegetables Sauces Chocolate much more It seems to me like salt makes almost anything better, but it doesn't just make it better because now I taste salt. It…
Caleb
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Does putting salt in coffee really remove bitterness?

I have seen people claim that putting salt in coffee enhances the flavour or removes bitterness. Example. Does this really work? If it does, how does it work? Is there something chemical going on, or is it just a trick of the taste-buds?
Blorgbeard
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When cooking pasta in salted water how much of the salt is absorbed?

Most chefs recommend that you should add quite a bit of salt to boiling water which you cook pasta in (sometimes 1 teaspoon). For those watching their sodium intake, how much of this salt will actually end up being absorbed by the pasta, and how…
LeopardSkinPillBoxHat
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Is it true that all salt is sea salt?

I heard Alton Brown say that on Next Food Network Star. Is it true? What about salt that is mined, or salt from salty lakes?
Jolenealaska
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Can I substitute salts 1:1 by weight?

In a recipe where you’re dissolving salt in water or a similar mixture(not sprinkling it as a seasoning, etc.) is it possible to substitute, for example, 1 gram of kosher salt with 1 gram of table salt? I understand that you can’t do this by volume,…
shwoseph
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How much salt in "liberally season"?

I've been reading and watching content about cooking and when the instructor says, "liberally season with salt", I am left clueless as to how much I should apply. As a complete novice in cooking, I don't know how much is too much, or how little is…
hardow2011
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Is there any advantage to combining spices before applying them to meat?

Up to this point when preparing steaks, ribs, or any sort of "meat" I would apply my spices in sequence: first adding salts, followed by a pepper-based powders, and lastly some sugars (if applicable). I often see cooks combine these spices into a…
Carl Edwards
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Why add salt to the water when cooking rice?

Given the great answer to the question on adding salt to water when cooking pasta, I am curious whether the same explanation holds for rice as it does for pasta (flavor and starch gelation)? Is there more at work? Flavor is true in my experience,…
Tobias Op Den Brouw
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