How to properly salt dishes during cooking. All about salt: when to salt food, what to do with over-salted food, and how to eat less salt. When is it better to salt vegetables when stewing?

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Since time immemorial, salt has been a constant companion of man. It was never just a product - always something more. This valuable natural mineral has long been a means of money, a cause of quarrels and wars. Despite the fact that salt became the “enemy of humanity” in the middle of the last century, people cannot do without it.

Before the advent of canning, pasteurization and refrigerators, salt made it possible to preserve food, so our ancestors considered it a symbol of durability. Now salt is the cheapest known food additive, except for water, but there was a time when it replaced money and was so expensive that wars were fought over it.

In the 12th century in China, money was made from salt. And in Ethiopia, until the end of the 19th century, bars of salt served as monetary means along with metal coins. In Europe, “salty money” was not made, but salt played a significant role in the economy. The Romans were among the first to understand that no one could live without white spice and introduced a special tax on salt. It has become an inexhaustible source of budget replenishment, even the term “annual income from the sale of salt” has appeared. White crystals also allowed the Egyptians, and then the Phoenicians, Romans, and French, to trade in salted fish, which brought great profits. Salt was considered a great delicacy among the Papuans.

Interestingly, salt has always been considered a symbol of friendly ties, so its absence from a meal was interpreted as an unfriendly act. In Russia, the price of white seasoning was very high - under Ivan the Terrible, the cost of a pound of salt was equal to the cost of a hut. Anyone who accidentally spilled an expensive spice often got it from their household.

How to salt food correctly

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You don't need a lot of salt in your food. And each housewife decides for herself when and how much to add spices to a particular dish. After all, as you know, there is no arguing about tastes. But in any case, it is important to know at what point it is better to put it in a dish to make it tastier. Salting food correctly is an art. When cooking, you need to rely not only on recommendations for certain products, but also on your own taste and even intuition. It is important to remember: it is better to under-salt a dish than to over-salt it.

Meat

The meat broth is salted half an hour before the end of cooking, then it will remain transparent. Languettes, entrecotes, and escalopes are best salted at the very end of frying, that is, after they have formed a golden brown crust. If you stew meat, you need to salt it 10 minutes before cooking, otherwise it will be tough. The liver is fried unsalted, and it turns out soft and juicy.

Fish

To make fish with a soft consistency firmer, it needs to be salted an hour before frying. If you salt fresh fish and let it sit for 10-15 minutes, it will not crumble when fried. Fish for baking in the oven is salted 5-7 minutes before cooking. Fish soup or boiled fish is salted at the very beginning or 5 minutes after removing the foam.

How to properly salt food during cooking?

Most often, housewives salt food without thinking, “automatically.” But in order for the taste of a particular dish to fully manifest itself, it must be salted at a certain time.

Different foods need different amounts of salt. For example, fish (no matter boiled or fried) needs a lot of salt, but meat needs to be salted very moderately, otherwise it will become tasteless, and if you salt it at the wrong time, it will also become tough. Many housewives know how to properly salt food intuitively, but if you don’t yet have a “culinary sense,” our tips can help you.

Most dishes are salted at the end of cooking.. The fact is that when we salt, we focus on the volume of the dish: the larger the volume, the more salt we take. But during the cooking process, the excess liquid boils away, and the volume of the dish becomes less than we expected - as a result, we end up with oversalting. And at the end of cooking there will be no such “surprises”. In addition, products absorb salt more evenly at the end of cooking.

For example, meat broth is salted about half an hour before cooking. And it is correct to salt the mushroom broth at the very end. Some foods (for example, legumes - peas, beans, lentils, etc.) are salted five minutes before removing from the stove because they cook in salt water for a very long time. If you salt them at the beginning of cooking, you will have to wait a very long time until they are finally ready.

But in some cases salt food correctly at the beginning of cooking. For example, if you decide to cook pasta, noodles, dumplings, dumplings or any other flour products, then you need to salt the water at the very beginning. The same applies to preparing boiled fish, fish soup or vegetable broth: first salt the water, and only then add the fish or vegetables. Some housewives, however, believe that it is correct to salt the fish broth five minutes after the foam has been removed from it.

If you are preparing a pie or pies with salty fillings or stuffed vegetables, then correctly salt the filling or minced meat twice as much than if you were preparing, for example, minced meat for cutlets. When cooking, some of the salt will be absorbed into the unleavened dough or vegetables that you are going to stuff, some will dissolve in the water in which you will stew the vegetables, and the dish will turn out moderately salty.

Meat should be salted very sparingly— it already contains various salts. If you are not a fan of salty dishes, you don’t have to salt the meat at all - just add some spices to it that will highlight the taste of the dish. But if you still cannot do without salt, remember that oversalting can completely ruin a meat dish. In this case, it is better to under-salt and salt the meat already on the plate.

Meat is usually salted immediately before frying, or during the frying process itself, turning the piece over. The liver is fried unsalted, otherwise it turns out too tough.

Fish on the contrary (be it boiled, fried, or stewed), on the contrary, you need to add plenty of salt. If you are going to fry fish, then you need to salt it 10-15 minutes before cooking, then it will not fall apart during frying.

Vegetables occupy an intermediate position between fish and meat: they are salted more strongly than meat, but less than fish. Mushrooms salted a little more steeply than vegetables. It is very difficult to salt vegetables and mushrooms correctly: the slightest over-salting can completely ruin the dish, and it is almost impossible to eliminate it.

How to salt potatoes correctly? It depends on how you prepare it. If you boil peeled potatoes, you need to salt them immediately after the water in which they are boiled begins to boil. Jacket potatoes are salted at the very beginning of cooking (if salted at all). But fried potatoes are salted at the very end, then they turn out crispy and rosy.

As you can see, salting food correctly is an art. When cooking, you need to rely not only on recommendations for certain products, but also on the traditions of this or that world cuisine, your own taste and even intuition. Remember: It is better to under-salt a dish than to over-salt it, because over-salting can be very difficult to correct.

If your meat turns out rubbery, your eggplants are bitter, and your dough doesn’t rise, then most likely you’re doing something wrong. For example, you add salt at the wrong time. In fact, a lot depends on this short action in the chain of culinary events. Often salt gets into a dish being prepared spontaneously, usually after the question “Have you salted it yet?” Remembering at what point and what to salt is just as difficult as remembering, for example, how articles change according to cases in the German language. Here, the main thing is to grasp the essence, to feel it.
Mom’s universal advice to add salt when cooking at the beginning, and when frying at the end sometimes works, but very often it misfires. There are too many nuances and exceptions. To learn how to salt wisely, the main thing is to understand what properties salt has, so to speak, to comprehend its nature and essence. Therefore, let's go from the general to the specific.

Salt promotes the release of juices

Therefore, if you salt, for example, meat at the beginning of cooking, it will most likely turn out dry.
But the loss of juice for a product is not always a minus. In some cases this is a necessity. For example, salting eggplants before cooking and letting them sit salted is an excellent technique that will make the eggplants “flow” and most of the bitterness characteristic of eggplants will go away with the juice. In addition, when frying or stewing, pieces of eggplant will not lose their shape and turn into mush, because the excess juice has been removed from them and they have become denser.

When choosing the moment to salt a product, think about whether you need to preserve its juiciness/moisture or, on the contrary, get rid of it. In the first case, add salt towards the end of cooking, in the second - at the beginning or even before you start cooking.

Salt keeps the dish in shape

Scientifically speaking, salt makes the cell membranes in many products stronger and prevents the transfer of nutrients into the broth.
This means, if you do not want the product to become overcooked and lose its vitamin and mineral benefits to the water in which it is cooked, cook it in salt water. A good example is broccoli or cauliflower. These tender vegetables cook instantly; salt water will help them retain their shape and nutrients.
Another example is dumplings. Just like vegetables, salt will help them avoid overcooking and maintain their shape. Therefore, cook dumplings in salted water.
There are cases when we need the product, on the contrary, to boil faster. Peas and beans are among such products. Boil them in unsalted water.

Salt increases boiling point

Therefore, salt water takes longer to boil, but, on the other hand, food cooks faster in it because the temperature becomes higher.

Salt prevents gluten from softening

This knowledge is useful for those who love to bake. This means that salted dough will hold its shape better than dough without it. That is why it is recommended to add at least a little salt to any dough, regardless of whether it is intended for a sweet or savory dish. However, you need to know that in yeast dough, salt will affect the size of the pores of the dough, making them much smaller, in addition, yeast dough with salt will not rise as much as dough without it.

These were general settings. Now to the specifics.

Meat

Opinions vary regarding the right time to salt meat. There are 2 culinary camps: some advocate that meat should be salted at the end, others argue the opposite and salt the meat at the beginning. But both have the same goal - to ensure that the meat becomes soft and tender. Who is right and who is wrong can be understood based on the properties of salt described above.

During beating and/or cooking, the molecular bonds in the structure of the meat are broken, making it easier to chew. But as we know, salt interferes with this process, so it must be added when softening has already occurred. In addition, salt stimulates the loss of juice - accordingly, if the meat is salted at the beginning, it will be less juicy. When frying, it is better to salt the meat at the half-cooked stage, after it has already been slightly fried, in this case the meat turns out tender and juicy. If you salt the meat raw, it will immediately release juice and be tough. The same rules apply to the liver.

Meat broth should be salted 20-25 minutes before the end of cooking, when the meat is not yet fully cooked.

And one more important point that will greatly affect the taste of the meat is the degree of grinding of the salt that you use. If the salt is fine, then its crystals will dissolve very quickly, it will become salty and, moreover, only the top layer of meat will become over-salted. The inside of the piece will still remain unsalted. Therefore, coarse salt for meat is better than fine salt.

Fish

When boiling fish, the water should be salted more abundantly than when boiling meat and other products. If you are frying fish and your specimen is a tender, watery fish, one that could use some firmness, then salt it an hour before frying. This way it will become a little denser and there will be less chance that it will fall apart and turn into a fishy mess during the cooking process. And even if you are going to fry or stew fish that is not watery, it is still better to salt it not during the process, but before cooking: 10-15 minutes before. When baking in the oven, it will take a little less time - you can add salt in 5-7 minutes. This way it will keep its shape better.

Vegetables

When frying vegetables, add salt at the very end, otherwise you will end up with stewed vegetables instead of fried ones. You can cook vegetables in salt water. Pay attention to beets, unlike other vegetables, beets are not boiled in salt water, this worsens their taste. Legumes (peas, beans, beans) are salted at the end of cooking or after they become soft, otherwise they will take a long time to boil.

When boiling potatoes, you need to add salt at the end, when frying, after they have browned.

Most often, housewives salt food without thinking, “automatically.” But in order for the taste of a particular dish to fully manifest itself, it must be salted at a certain time. The Land of Soviets will tell how to salt food correctly.

Most dishes are salted at the end of cooking.. The fact is that when we salt, we focus on the volume of the dish: the larger the volume, the more salt we take. But during the cooking process, the excess liquid boils away, and the volume of the dish becomes less than we expected - as a result, we have oversalting. And at the end of cooking there will be no such “surprises”. In addition, products absorb salt more evenly at the end of cooking.

Meat should be salted very sparingly- it already contains various salts. If you are not a fan of salty dishes, you don’t have to salt the meat at all - just add some spices to it that will highlight the taste of the dish. But if you still cannot do without salt, remember that oversalting can completely ruin a meat dish. In this case, it is better to under-salt and salt the meat already on the plate.

Meat is usually salted immediately before frying, or during the frying process itself, turning the piece over. The liver is fried unsalted, otherwise it turns out too tough.

As you can see, salting food correctly is an art. When cooking, you need to rely not only on recommendations for certain products, but also on the traditions of this or that world cuisine, your own taste and even intuition. Remember: It is better to undersalt a dish than to oversalt it, because oversalting can be very difficult to correct.

When preparing almost any dish, be it fish or meat, porridge or another vegetable masterpiece, baked goods, and sometimes even dessert, it is impossible to skip one important operation - “adding salt”. Salt helps all the flavors of your culinary brainchild to reveal themselves; even a dish completely devoid of spices and seasonings ceases to be bland if it is simply in moderation salt The addition of salt is especially important when preparing fish, eggs, mushroom and vegetable dishes, and boiling flour products. Meat, oddly enough, needs less salt. Sometimes (but quite rarely) meat may not be salted at all!

The cook will certainly be faced with the question: “How and how much to salt?” It would seem that salting is so simple. But it is often quite difficult to properly salt a complex multi-component dish. It's an art to add salt in moderation. But, if you have an impeccable “sense of taste” and culinary talent, then salting food correctly will not be difficult. What should those less fortunate do? Learn, try, make mistakes and correct your mistakes, as well as arm yourself with certain knowledge. We hope our article will help you with this.

“Salt in moderation” is understood differently by different people. In the cuisines of different countries, the understanding of how to salt is very different. For example, in the Middle East and Transcaucasia it is customary to salt dishes quite strongly, but in the Baltics and Germany, on the contrary, they are accustomed to bland dishes and, Even the degree of salinity to which we Slavs are accustomed is not acceptable for these peoples. And in different families, the requirements for salinity vary. Thus, an experienced cook, accustomed to feeding only her own household, may simply not please the guests, who may be shown the food under-salted or over-salted. It is not without reason that many restaurants, as it may seem, serve deliberately under-salted food. This is done so that everyone can add salt to their own taste. And most recipes do not strictly regulate how much salt should be added. And the notorious “to taste” just indicates that the cook himself must decide on the amount of salt and please certain people - his family, his compatriots, or, conversely, guests from another country.

There are salt standards that must be observed when preparing a dish (they are usually indicated in the recipe), and there are salt standards only for adding taste. The first ones are strictly constant and mandatory, the second ones depend only on your preferences. Before you start cooking, you need to strictly determine for yourself how much salt you need and at what stage it should be added. Here are the general rules for adding salt to food.

How to salt food?

Pickling rules:

Incomprehensible “To taste.” If the recipe does not indicate salt levels, this means that the dish is salted only for taste and the housewife needs to be guided only by her taste, rely on the experience and preferences of her household.
Why do you need to add salt at the end of cooking? The vast majority of liquid and solid dishes are usually salted at the end of cooking, which helps to avoid oversalting - when the dish is almost ready, the volume of liquid (essential for soups) will no longer change (everything that should have boiled away has already boiled away), and the consistency of meat and fish dishes , as well as vegetables and mushrooms, is already such that the salt will evenly saturate the dish (and not just the surface). That is, salting at the end of cooking is very convenient and helps to avoid many mistakes. Another reason is that food will cook faster in unsalted water (cooking, for example, beets and carrots in salted water worsens their taste).
In addition, a number of foods need to be salted only at the end of cooking– beans, beans, lentils, peas, mung beans. Products that contain a lot of water - cucumbers, tomatoes, green vegetables and other vegetables, in the presence of salt, release liquid, lose their appearance and taste (these are the main ingredients for preparing salads and determine the rule - “salt the salad just before serving”).
Add salt at the beginning of cooking. Salt is added at the beginning of cooking only in two cases - if you need a medium (water, milk or broth) for cooking flour products (for example, pasta, dumplings, dumplings or dumplings, dumplings, etc.) and if you need to boil fish - cooking fish soup, kalia (fish or meat soup in cucumber brine) or simply boiled fish. Here you just need to salt the liquid before putting the listed products into the boiling medium. To cook, for example, pasta, you need to take 100 ml of water and 10 g of salt per 100 g of pasta, and 1 tsp of dumplings. for 3 tbsp. water.
Fillings. All fillings for pies, pies, cabbage rolls, kulebyak, etc. you need to salt twice as much as usual, since part of the salt during baking (frying or boiling) will be absorbed into the unsalted dough (vegetable) shell or transferred to the cooking medium - water, vegetable or other stewing medium. The cooking medium can become a waste or a sauce.
Sauces, especially if they accompany boiled fish and the meat is also cooked a little more than usual.
Taste for salt You only need to cool a small portion of the prepared dish.
When used in cooking ingredients already containing salt It is imperative to take into account that in this case you need to add less salt, or even not salt at all. This includes the following products: tomatoes in their own juice, tomato paste, tomato juice, mayonnaise, canned vegetables, olives, capers, meat and vegetable bouillon cubes, pickles and other pickles, canned fish, cheese, sausages and sausages, deli meats and so on. In this regard, it is recommended to use unsalted butter when cooking.
After adding salt to the dish, they also add spices, which can increase the feeling of saltiness. Therefore, real professionals in the art of cooking often deliberately under-salt their dishes so that after adding spices, various sauces and seasonings, they can make sure that the amount of salt is in moderation and there is no need to add salt too often.

Read the sections on how to correct over-salted dishes and how to salt fish and meat dishes, vegetable and mushroom dishes.

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