Salt in meatballs?

[jennyema]

I am not sure I agree with this. What about preserved lemons? Also, what about using salt to draw moisture out of something. What about a brine. True part of the reason to brine something is to enhance flavor, but another reason is to introduce moisture.

Cooking.

Preserving a lemon is preserving. Drawing out salt is drawing out salt. Neither is cooking.

The only reason you add salt when you cook something is seasoning.

 

[GB]

Cooking.

Preserving a lemon is preserving. Drawing out salt is drawing out salt. Neither is cooking.

The only reason you add salt when you cook something is seasoning.

Well really if that is how you are going to break it down then the same can be true of any ingredient you add. The only reason you add anything is for flavor.

 

[jennyema]

Yes, true.

My point was to disagree with what Mav said: "Too many people think salt is necessary in cooking or that its only purpose in cooking is flavor which is just not true."

Salt's only purpose in cooking is to enhance flavor. It is not added to preserve food or for any other reason.

Salt is necessary in cooking if you want to optimize the flavor in your food. Without it, you will not have the same depth of flavors as you will have with it. That's just elementary food science.

 

[Katie H]

Salt's only purpose in cooking is to enhance flavor. It is not added to preserve food or for any other reason.

Salt is necessary in cooking if you want to optimize the flavor in your food. Without it, you will not have the same depth of flavors as you will have with it. That's just elementary food science.

Exactly, which is why even many sweets and desserts have some amount of salt in them.

 

[GB]

Salt is necessary in cooking if you want to optimize the flavor in your food. Without it, you will not have the same depth of flavors as you will have with it. That's just elementary food science.

I completely agree.

 

[GotGarlic]

Well really if that is how you are going to break it down then the same can be true of any ingredient you add. The only reason you add anything is for flavor.

Well, not always. Eggs are added to meatloaf to help bind it together, for example. And baking powder or soda is added to help a baked good rise. Sometimes ingredients are added to help a chemical reaction along.

 

[GB]

Yeah I guess you have a point GG.

 

[Maverick2272]

Yes, true.

My point was to disagree with what Mav said: "Too many people think salt is necessary in cooking or that its only purpose in cooking is flavor which is just not true."

Salt's only purpose in cooking is to enhance flavor. It is not added to preserve food or for any other reason.

Salt is necessary in cooking if you want to optimize the flavor in your food. Without it, you will not have the same depth of flavors as you will have with it. That's just elementary food science.

As you pointed out I said too many people think salts only purpose in cooking is flavor. You said salts only purpose in cooking is to enhance flavor. Not true, salt adds its own flavor to dishes as well. Which is why I pointed out that salt serves more than just adding its own flavor to the dish, it also serves as a flavor enhancer and as a preservative. Just because you cooked it doesn't mean the salt in it can't help preserve it. Dishes with sugar in them go bad long before dishes with salt in them. See also unsalted butter verses salted butter.
As for salt being necessary in cooking, no it is not. If it was, no one would have ever cooked anything until we had discovered and begun using salt. Salt is a matter of taste and for some a matter of improvement over what they had before. For me it ruins the flavors of a dish when more than a pinch is added, for others it adds to it. Has nothing to do with elementary food science, but rather individual tastes.
Elementary Food Science says salt can act as a spice, a flavor enhancer, and as a preservative in both cooked and uncooked food items.