Phantom of the Kitchen
Assistant Cook
Where do you start? how do you know when it's right?
All I can tell is when there's too much
I'm confused
brad
All I can tell is when there's too much
I'm confused
brad
Salt & Pepper to taste
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
ironchef
Executive Chef
Phantom of the Kitchen said:
You stop when the amount you add makes the food the most appealing when you taste it. That's really all anyone can tell you since people have different levels of tolerance to each. It's trial and error and you have to constantly do it so that you'll get a feel for it. Once that happens, you'll approach the dish with an innate understanding of how it should taste, how it should be seasoned, etc. Cooking is a skill and like any skill you have to practice each and every component. Seasoning is one component. If you're having further trouble, take notes of each dish and use measurements so you have something to fall back on. Maybe 1 1/2 tsp. of salt was a bit too much, so the next time you make the dish you scale back to 1 tsp., then add salt by the pinchfull until you get the taste you want.
One tip that I can give you is that in many cases, season more so throughout the cooking process with salt only, and pepper the dish only at the end or near the end of the cooking process. If you watch Emerill, he uses black pepper on everything and at every seasoning point. By using just salt, it gives you more control over the flavors of the dish and it gives you more leeway as well. Whereas salt will draw out more flavor from almost any food, pepper can often work negatively and mask many flavors.
Claire
Master Chef
I've been cooking for 40 years, and this is a difficult one for many of us. As I've gotten older, many of my friends cannot have a lot of salt. So I went the other way and quit salting at all while I was cooking and felt I was putting pablum on the table. Now I salt until I feel it needs just a little bit more (I'm an admitted salt-o-holic), and everyone loves it. But it takes time and TASTING. Many home cooks I know simply do not taste often enough. Sometimes I arrive at my own dinner table not hungry at all, but my guests are always satisfied.
As for pepper, I keep a grinder each in my kitchen and dining room, and as far as I'm concerned there's never too much fresh ground pepper. But that's just me!
As for pepper, I keep a grinder each in my kitchen and dining room, and as far as I'm concerned there's never too much fresh ground pepper. But that's just me!
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GB
Chief Eating Officer
ironchef said it perfectly! So much more eloquent than what I was going to type 
buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
yup, well said ic.
salting is especially an ambiguous element because of individual taste. i used to be a salt-oholic. my french fries looked like they were snow covered i used to put so much on.
but for health reasons i cut way back on salt, to the point of almost not using it at all. now i can taste salt in just about everything. things like white bread and canned soups taste so salty to me now that i can't eat them. my tongue feels chemically burnt after eating them.
so, if i want to taste salt, but don't want too much in my diet, i put it in or on the food at the very end, as i'm about to put it in my mouth. maximum flavor, minimum amount of salt.
salting is especially an ambiguous element because of individual taste. i used to be a salt-oholic. my french fries looked like they were snow covered i used to put so much on.
but for health reasons i cut way back on salt, to the point of almost not using it at all. now i can taste salt in just about everything. things like white bread and canned soups taste so salty to me now that i can't eat them. my tongue feels chemically burnt after eating them.
so, if i want to taste salt, but don't want too much in my diet, i put it in or on the food at the very end, as i'm about to put it in my mouth. maximum flavor, minimum amount of salt.
BlueCat
Sous Chef
Because I like a salty taste, and because, like Claire said, not salting the dish at all while cooking made for bland food, I salt sparingly while cooking. If it tastes like it still could use a bit of salt, I leave it at that. Then I can add some more at the table since I love the taste of salt.
How long did it take you to not crave that salty taste, bucky?
BC
How long did it take you to not crave that salty taste, bucky?
BC
To me 'to taste' means it isn't really needed. That means that I leave out the 'salt and pepper to taste', because I don't like salt added to anything and pepper - well, maybe, if I think the recipe needs oomph. If other people are eating my food, and they are saltaholics, they can sprinkle on their own at the table. But it brings tears to my eyes when they do it - why ruin the flavour of foods like that??
GB
Chief Eating Officer
Salt is a very important part of cooking. Yes too much salt is a bad thing, but not enough salt is equally as bad (tastewise that is). If you do not add salt to your food and your guest then add a little at the table then they are probably not ruining the flavor of the food, but actually enhancing it.
Baking specifies the amount and usually means it. Cooking does not...season before browning, season after frying. Well start with a good pinch or two (depending on how much you're seasoning. A pinch is what you can grab between two or three fingers. Kosher salt is popular with cooks because it is flaked and easy to grab, is mild due to its shape, and a pinch or 1/2 tspn is less salt than if you used fine crystals (like morton) . It is also not iodized so it tastes better. Grind your pepper fresh and it's hard to go overboard.
Hopz
Senior Cook
Its a great question.
I agree with the answers suggested above. Well said stuff.
I notice that my personal variations of what tastes right has changed more than once...I enjoy noticing my changes over time. It is the noticing thats a bonus when you do change.
I started out fairly salty. Too much actually. Went through a 15 year peroid or so of almost no seasoniong. Have now drifted over to moderate.
I think my cooking is better with moderate seasoning, but I save the heavy lifting for the hot sauces, and steak sauces.
I agree with the answers suggested above. Well said stuff.
I notice that my personal variations of what tastes right has changed more than once...I enjoy noticing my changes over time. It is the noticing thats a bonus when you do change.
I started out fairly salty. Too much actually. Went through a 15 year peroid or so of almost no seasoniong. Have now drifted over to moderate.
I think my cooking is better with moderate seasoning, but I save the heavy lifting for the hot sauces, and steak sauces.
Phantom of the Kitchen
Assistant Cook
Claire said:
I think this is the key
thanks for all the pointers everyone. I mainly wasn't sure where to start...1/2 tsp? 1 tbsp? My soup that I made last night I put half a teaspoon in and didn't really know if it needed more so I just stopped.
Ironchef i really liked how you explained that. I always thougth of cooking as more of a process and all you have to do is follow the directions (recipe) and voila you have food. You made me realize there's quite a bit more to cooking than just that. I realized I am at the beginning of a very long journey
brad
ironchef
Executive Chef
Phantom of the Kitchen said:I think this is the key
thanks for all the pointers everyone. I mainly wasn't sure where to start...1/2 tsp? 1 tbsp? My soup that I made last night I put half a teaspoon in and didn't really know if it needed more so I just stopped.
Ironchef i really liked how you explained that. I always thougth of cooking as more of a process and all you have to do is follow the directions (recipe) and voila you have food. You made me realize there's quite a bit more to cooking than just that. I realized I am at the beginning of a very long journey
brad
The journey is half the fun, especially when you see yourself making progress.
RPCookin
Executive Chef
There are many preparations where salt is a necessity to balance the flavors of the other ingredients. When we made vinaigrette in cooking school (orange vinaigrette in this case), you mixed the other ingredients then added salt just a little at a time to balance the oil and vinegar. There was no doubt at all when you hit the right seasoning.... the sharp taste of the vinegar was suddenly gone and you had a dressing that was delicious. Without the salt, it was either too oily or too vinegary (is that even a word????), depending on how much you added of the other ingredients.
auntdot
Head Chef
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Messages
- 2,418
Am not a big user of salt, unlike my dad. He would salt salt.
I think there are two reasons why a recipe will not state the amount of salt: first, everyone's tastes vary regarding the stuff; and second, the ingredients we use do not have a guaranteed amount of salt. One can of tomatoes will not necessarily have the same salt content as another.
If I make a pot of red, the chili will be more or less salty than the previous batch just due to differences in the ingredients.
So we just try the stuff.
If the flavor seems a bit flat, will add some salt, or maybe hot sauce (that is usually very salty), or Worcestershire sauce.
Or maybe another herb altogether.
To me the art of cooking is to taste, taste, and then taste again.
As far as black pepper goes, I have overstepped the limits that a normal human would tolerate, so I don't do that anymore.
But I do usually just add a bunch.
I know this does not help a whole lot, but that is the way we cook.
I think there are two reasons why a recipe will not state the amount of salt: first, everyone's tastes vary regarding the stuff; and second, the ingredients we use do not have a guaranteed amount of salt. One can of tomatoes will not necessarily have the same salt content as another.
If I make a pot of red, the chili will be more or less salty than the previous batch just due to differences in the ingredients.
So we just try the stuff.
If the flavor seems a bit flat, will add some salt, or maybe hot sauce (that is usually very salty), or Worcestershire sauce.
Or maybe another herb altogether.
To me the art of cooking is to taste, taste, and then taste again.
As far as black pepper goes, I have overstepped the limits that a normal human would tolerate, so I don't do that anymore.
But I do usually just add a bunch.
I know this does not help a whole lot, but that is the way we cook.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
GB said:
Yes!
That's one of the first things they taught in cooking school. The instructor set out maybe 8 pints of chicken broth with differing amounts of salt added. From zero to way too much. You progresivly taste the broth and get a real sense of how much salt improves the taste of food. To a point, where it detracts by being too salty.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I'll quickly jump into the frey here. Another part about successful seasoning is timing. Let me explain. If you lightly salt a burger whle the meat is still uncooked, the salt will dissove in the liquids that concentrate on the meat surface. The dissolved salt will distribute itself equally accross the meat surface, giving you uniform flavor in each bite. However, if you salt after the burgers are cooked, on bite may have too little salt, while the next may have too much. French fries are a perfect example of this. If you spread the fries and salt as soon as they are removed from the hot oil, the salt will be fairly evenly distributed. If you just place the fires onto a platter, and salt at the table, there will be no steam to help dissolve some of the salt, and the fries at the top, and at the bottom of the pile will have an excess while those in the middle will have too little.
And unlike spices and herbs, salt distributes its flavor immediately. It is a mineral and doesn't change in nature after it's added to the food. But most other seasonings take time to release essential oils and other flavor molecules into the food. Then, it takes time for those flavors to distribute themselves. So tasting a tomato sauce immediately after adding fresh oregano will not give you a true indication of what the sauce will taste like in 15 minutes. The same is true of pepper. So remember, when seasoning, know how the seasonings react, and how fast they react. Many a dish has been ruined by cooks tasting to quickly after adding an ingredient, and thinking they had to add more because the desired seasoning wasn't potent enough. Fifteen minutes or more later, the seasoning overpowered everything else.
Seasoning truly comes from trial and error. And what is perfect for you may be unacceptable to someone else. That's just the way it is. One more thing, and I say this to new cooks often. You can always add more flavor if it's needed. But once it's added to the food, you can't take it out.
Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
And unlike spices and herbs, salt distributes its flavor immediately. It is a mineral and doesn't change in nature after it's added to the food. But most other seasonings take time to release essential oils and other flavor molecules into the food. Then, it takes time for those flavors to distribute themselves. So tasting a tomato sauce immediately after adding fresh oregano will not give you a true indication of what the sauce will taste like in 15 minutes. The same is true of pepper. So remember, when seasoning, know how the seasonings react, and how fast they react. Many a dish has been ruined by cooks tasting to quickly after adding an ingredient, and thinking they had to add more because the desired seasoning wasn't potent enough. Fifteen minutes or more later, the seasoning overpowered everything else.
Seasoning truly comes from trial and error. And what is perfect for you may be unacceptable to someone else. That's just the way it is. One more thing, and I say this to new cooks often. You can always add more flavor if it's needed. But once it's added to the food, you can't take it out.
Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
Claire
Master Chef
I agree with everyone, except those who don't salt at all or hate it when someone salts at the table. We're all different, and if you entertain a lot (I do), you have to realize that you aren't going to please all the people all the time. I do ask "new" guests if they have any serious food allergies to make sure I don't feed someone peanut oil or shellfish if it is going to kill them. But the salt thing is much like the "hot pepper" thing. What I call mild will probably burn the skin off of the next person's tongue, what I think is way too hot (I have a weird, inverted palate, so can burn the roof of my mouth very easily), is the next persons' minimum heat. I do NOT purposefully feed guests food I know they won't like. But if I'm "doing" a good sized group, I don't try to please everyone. As I said, I salt to a little less than I think it needs, then put out salt cellars and let everyone else adjust (I usually add, few of my guests do).
I really like the flaked salt as you can sprinkle it over a finished dish without getting too much. I have friends who don't like much salt at all, for health reasons, so I always go light when they're at my table. But have you noticed how some people start salting food they are served, even before they've tasted it?
For those who have to severely limit their salt, microwaving the vegetables can make a big difference.
But some things must have salt - porridge for one. And avocado.
Pat
www.cookingdownunder.com
For those who have to severely limit their salt, microwaving the vegetables can make a big difference.
But some things must have salt - porridge for one. And avocado.
Pat
www.cookingdownunder.com
Shaheen
Senior Cook
I went through some Culinary School recipes that I have and the amount of salt used is 10 grams for a 4 portion meal.
BreezyCooking
Washing Up
Due to my husband's health (& the health of many others these days, unfortunately), I rarely if ever, add salt to recipes while cooking anymore. If we feel something needs a dash of salt, we add it at serving time.
