Episode 143 Let’s Talk About Salt
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If you want your food to taste delicious, you are going to need to use salt.
In episode 13, I took a deep dive into salt and talked about all the different kinds of salt, where they are harvested and how they are processed. This episode is more about how to use salt to make your food taste better.
I keep more than a dozen salts in my cabinet, but the two I must have are:
Table Salt and Celtic Sea Salt.
I use table salt for baking and Celtic Sea Salt for everything else. I buy it in a 5 pound bag from Amazon.
5 Pound Bag
2 (1 Pound) Bags
Salting Veggies
The key to making salt work for you is to add the right amount at the right time in cooking. For example, blanching veggies is super salty water before roasting helps the salt go deep into the veggies and makes the best roasted veggies you have ever tasted. You can find my blanched and roasted veggie recipe here.
Salting Sauces
When making sauces, you want to be careful with the amount of salt especially if you are using pantry items the may already have salt like canned tomatoes or chicken broth. I always recommend using reduced sodium chicken broth.
When adding salt to sauces, Kendra Adachi who was on episode 93 says to add salt “until it sings.” I like to slowly add salt until it is a “wow.” Add a little at a time and when it tastes good, add just a little more and I bet it will taste great.
Salting Meat
When salting meat, the rule of thumb is to add about 1 teaspoon of coarse salt or kosher salt per pound of meat. (Use less if you are using table salt.)
Salt plus time is the magic formula for great meat! I like to salt my meat up to three days in advance and let it rest uncovered in the refrigerator. The salt will penetrate deep into the meat and the air of the refrigerator will help dry out the surface of the meat which aids in browning. A dry surface will brown faster and easier than an wet surface.
I like to find chicken that does not have “broth solution added.” Broth solution is salt. If your chicken has broth solution added you will want to add less salt. You can find my roast chicken recipe here.
Other podcasts you may like:
Episode 93 Lazy Genius Dinner with Kendra Adachi
Episode 50 Roast Chicken – A Great Dinner for Busy Weeknights
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Marie Fiebach is a married mother of four active kids. She helps busy families plan and execute weeknight dinner so they can recapture a little calm in the crazy. You can see her every week on KAKE TV’s Good Morning Kakeland or listen to the Feed Your Family Tonight Podcast.
For a transcript click here.
