“What does ‘salt to taste’ mean anyway? Just give me a measurement that works, right? After all, I am reading your recipe and need to know what works!”
– My Past Self
Salt. Alone it’s overwhelming to the senses, leaves you thirsty, and lingers on the palate. Even after a pinched taste, that saltiness just won’t go away. But, add just enough salt to any dish and the flavors come alive! Salt is like a light in the darkness that illuminates the flavors of food. But, shine a bright light in your eyes and it’s overwhelming. Add too much salt and the dish is ruined. Or, add too little salt and the recipe is mediocre. The question is: how much salt is “enough?”
That’s a very subjective question. What’s salty to me may be too salty to you; or what’s salty to you may be too little salt for someone else. The goal in this article is not to be given a volume of salt to add to a recipe but to give you the tips to know when to add salt; the quantity is up to you. Hence, “salt to taste.” When to add salt is very objective; the quantity of salt is very subjective. I can tell you when to add salt, but how much salt is up to you and your taste preferences. Hopefully this article will simplify this all just a bit.
It is worth noting that this method of salting food works with most soups, stews, chilis, and bisques. I will usually designate the salt specifics for foods that are baked, roasted, or grilled.
My salty is not your salty.”
– Chef Sulae
Almost every recipe has salt. Think about that for a bit. Almost every recipe has salt as an ingredient. From cakes to chilis, we add salt to just about everything. Some of the recipes on Beer and Iron will have a defined amount of salt like a brine mixture recipe. Other recipes will suggest “salt to taste.”
If the soup, stew, chili, or bisque recipe does not define the amount of salt, don’t add any salt initially. Prepare and add all the ingredients and have the food cooking first before adding salt. Keep your kosher salt nearby and follow these steps:
Step 1: Prepare all the ingredients and add them to the pot as suggested by the recipe.
Step 2: Let the meal get warmed up in the pot.
Step 3: Using a spoon, press down from the top of the liquid and gently let the liquid spill over into the spoon. Don’t let too many of the ingredients fall into that spoon (preferably just broth).
Step 4: “Blow” on the spoon just enough to cool it down so it does not burn you. A burned mouth will be miserable and you’ll temporarily lose the ability to accurately “taste” saltiness to some degree. Basically, don’t burn your “taste-er” or it will be “out of whack.”
Step 5: How does it taste? Initially, it will likely be lacking in saltiness. And, depending on the recipe, you’ll add a certain volume of salt. I may add a whole teaspoon during this first taste when I am making a gumbo or something similar and then add only a ½ teaspoon later on the second taste test as well as subsequent tastes.
Step 6: After adding your determined volume of salt, stir it into the recipe. Stir from the bottom. I use a wooden spoon or wooden spatula to pull from the bottom-to-the-top.
Step 7: Wait a few minutes and return to the pot. Taste test it again. How is it? If it’s spot on then rock on! If it’s lacking, add salt as you determine and return to the pot after a few minutes to check again. Eventually you’ll taste it and say, “PERFECTION!”
Step 8: About 10 minutes before your food is ready, taste test it again. Is it still perfect? AWESOME!
- Never measure salt over the food you are about to salt. Inevitably, the salt will dump into the pot of food. Whoa is any chef who measures ingredients over the preparing/prepared meal.
- If you are in doubt, ask someone to taste-test it with you. Remind them that you are not looking for a compliment on the food’s taste. You are looking for what they think the saltiness is like. Free them from the feeling that they need to offer a complement.
- Consider the ingredients you are preparing. Don’t forget that some salt is naturally found in foods we eat. And, we often add salt-brined foods to our recipes. Salting a ground beef chili is different from salting a chicken stew with previously beer-brined chicken meat. That brined chicken meat has salt already deep in the meat…some salt will “move” from the meat to the broth.
- During the meal, ask about the saltiness. If others are enjoying the meal and they think the salt is spot on, then remember how much you put into the recipe as a guide for next time. BUT, don’t use this as gospel. Next time there may be a factor that changed but you did not notice. Remember how much salt you used this time and use that amount as a guide the next time you create this recipe.
- I know it’s a pain in the rump, but jot down all the ingredients and amounts you used when you created the meal…including the salt. Replication of awesome meals is only possible this way. Otherwise you are leaving your meals to chance and luck.
- Consider the salt content of different herb and spice mixtures that are added to recipes. A liquid ingredient we love to add to our meals is very salty. We usually start “salting” with these mixtures until we get enough of the herb then we go to our kosher salt.
- Cold food will trick you. Never determine the saltiness of cold food. It may taste like it’s lacking salt. This is due to the salt being introduced to a temperature that is not warm enough for the salt to fully dissolve. Cold food may taste as if it’s lacking in salt, or the spoonful you tested has too much undissolved salt and tastes too salty.
- Never determine the saltiness of the food itself. Always taste the liquid and not a bite of the food. Let’s say that you are cooking a meal with half slices of zucchini. Your meal is on the stove and has started to bubble a bit. Tasting a bite of zucchini that is still in the cooking process will taste like salt needs to be added. Just taste the liquid; the zucchini will follow suit to the broth during the cooking process. If the broth is perfect, the food will be too.
- Add the salt during the cooking process. Don’t just serve meals that have not had salt added during the cooking process. Like our zucchini example, that zucchini will still not have enough salt “inside” the bite. Adding salt afterwards is okay (and often necessary for those of your family that love LOTS of salt vs another member who needs much less). But don’t rely on at-the-table-salting as your method of choice. Your meals will not taste consistently awesome.
- When adding salt, if you determine caution is necessary and you’ll add only ¼ and ½ teaspoons at a time, check the saltiness more often during the cooking process.
- About 10 minutes before your food is ready, taste test it again. The unsalted liquid from many of the ingredients will have been released into the food and at the same time, some of the salt will have “gone into” that food. Check a few minutes before the dinner bell to make sure it’s still okie-dokie.
- Never shake salt into the pot. Shaking salt only happens at the table. Always measure your salt (see Salt in the Palm Challenge below).
- Better to have under-salted food than over-salted food; just sayin’. But…
- At the same time, avoid the fear of over-salting but don’t let that fear cause you to under-salt. Taste it as you cook; add as you cook. You’ll get this right!
Measure a teaspoon of salt. Now, pour that teaspoonful into your palm and study it for a bit. How does it look sitting there in your palm? We’re not looking at the salt specifically. We’re looking at the way this volume of salt looks in our palm.
Next, pour the salt back into the container. With a brushed off palm, pour that same amount into your palm straight from the container. Don’t measure it with a spoon; just eyeball-it. The challenge is complete after you pour that salt into a teaspoon and see if you were short, on target, or were a bit too full.
Eventually, you’ll develop an eye for what a teaspoon looks like in your hand and you’ll dang-near get the exact amount each time you “measure” salt if given enough time to “learn” how a teaspoon of salt (or other ingredients like herbs) “looks” in your own palm. Suggestions: from now on, when you need to add a teaspoon (or tablespoon) of anything to a recipe, pour that ingredient over into your palm and study it for a second or two.
Measure a teaspoon of salt. Now, pour that teaspoonful into your palm and study it for a bit. How does it look sitting there in your palm? We’re not looking at the salt specifically. We’re looking at the way this volume of salt looks in our palm.
Next, pour the salt back into the container. With a brushed off palm, pour that same amount into your palm straight from the container. Don’t measure it with a spoon; just eyeball-it. The challenge is complete after you pour that salt into a teaspoon and see if you were short, on target, or were a bit too full.
Eventually, you’ll develop an eye for what a teaspoon looks like in your hand and you’ll dang-near get the exact amount each time you “measure” salt if given enough time to “learn” how a teaspoon of salt (or other ingredients like herbs) “looks” in your own palm. Suggestions: from now on, when you need to add a teaspoon (or tablespoon) of anything to a recipe, pour that ingredient over into your palm and study it for a second or two.
However, when in doubt, always measure for exactness.
You will likely get the “salt to taste” on the 2nd or 3rd taste test. I seldom need to add salt a 3rd time. However, initially as you get used to this process, you may need to add salt multiple times and in smaller amounts until you get the feel…the taste for it. Remember, when in doubt, too much salt is worse than too little. Go slowly. You will eventually, given enough meals, learn to know how much salt to put into a recipe as per the volume of food you are cooking.
