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I am always fascinated with folks that don't TASTE their food as they cook. Taste and season, taste and adjust.....

Lather, rinse and repeat. This can't be overstated.

Folks that refuse to season food properly are a mystery. Or, those that don't season it at all. What is that? Oh, the salt/sodium police have made way too many inroads into the psyche of the American kitchen and not for the better IMO.

I get really really frustrated about two big things I feel people don't really understand properly, the first being genetic engineering (because I study it) and the second being SALT, oh salt.

Both of my grandmothers had an extremely heavy hand when it came to salt. They've eased up since, but not before influencing my mom to not use much. I hit a happy medium between the two, I think. It's packaged things you mostly have to worry about as far as high sodium is concerned, but that doesn't stop friends who don't know how to cook from being HORRIFIED when I salt/taste at each step of making a dish. I thought this was basic!

The line about never having used a box of salt at the top of the article amuses me though; maybe I'm like my grandmothers after all, as I'm in my fourth year of home cooking and I'm 2/3 of the way through my first one! I'm pretty sure I'd be done by now had I not found a pretty little salt grinder that is my new favourite toy.

djgibboni-- There are taste differences between alternative salts. Table salt has a metallic taste. Other salts are astringent or sharp in their tastes. It's all in the application that separates one from another. When you apply sea salt at the end of cooking a dish it's subtle flavor becomes apparent when you taste the dish. Kosher salt's texture also allows it to draw moisture out of a food item like no other salt.

@djgibboni, I can't taste the difference between salts that are mixed into foods while cooking, but I can *definitely* taste the differences when they are finished with salt sprinkled on top at the end.

Omnom - I think the point of it all is that salt brings out the natural flavors of the food you're cooking. So in essence you still are tasting the food but salt makes it the best version of itself. You should never taste the actual salt in the dish. If you do, you've definitely oversalted. However, I can understand your point of trying a recipe as is the first time as long as you make mental notes of how to improve it next time.

I don't know... my problem seems to be different. I am very highly sensitive to the taste of salt... what tastes well-seasoned to anyone else tastes like sucking down seawater to me. I've made an effort to start using salt in cooking and do season to taste, but my partner still busts out the salt shaker every time.

Okay, I can't get over the author's name... "Sue Veed"?? :D

I go through a box of Diamond Crystal kosher salt about every 2 years... I cook at home for about 95% of my meals and use no processed foods. Anyone who doesn't salt their food or claims not to be able to tell the difference must have woefully weak tastebuds! I had some really under-salted beef last night, and it was completely obvious from first bite... Count me as one of those who thought that this was a pretty basic "common knowledge" part of cooking... salt brings out the best flavor! You don't have to dump a cup of it in, but taste and salt, taste and salt.

Some of us really do need to watch salt intake. What my fiancee and I have discovered is no salt needed if using processed foods (they add too much already) but when cooking from scratch, you actually discover that salt needs to be added. Just be sure to use the minimum necessary.

And, for those who complain that recipes are too salty, make sure that you're using "kosher" or sea salt and not 'table' salt. Table salt is much saltier that kosher because it's more finely ground and has a weird taste from the iodine, imo.

My MIL is very proud of the fact that she doesn't use salt or pepper when she cooks. And she often points out that "salt is bad for you." You know, except for the part where you need some salt in your diet, or you'd die.

On the other hand, she uses a lot of boxed and canned products, processed American cheese food product, fake margarine, bacon, ham, smoked sausages, more bacon and ham, soy sauce and cream cheese. And they love McDonalds and other fast foods, and particularly the super-salty fries.

I cook almost entirely from scratch and I salt when I cook. I'll bet that they consume a heck of a lot more sodium than we do. And my food tastes better.

It's amazing to me that there's even a debate over what salt can do for food (aside from folks who have genuine health issues). Aside from it's long historical importance, there's just nothing else that enhances a foods' natural flavor the same way. And if you think that salt 'masks' foods' flavor, chances are you're just using too much.

I had some medical treatment a year ago which temporarily impaired my taste buds. I could not taste salt, or much of anything else, for a few weeks. That was really weird, and attempting to cook under those conditions was very challenging.
Now, recovered, I have an even greater appreciation for food, my palate has become more attuned, and my cooking skills have improved considerably. I even avoid certain restaurants because they oversalt their food. But, I also have an insatiable craving for Cholula hot sauce that I never had before...

For people who really know how to cook, proper seasoning with salt (and pepper) is as natural as breathing. It's so implicit in the cooking process that it seldom ever gets highlighted for how essential it is.

As a result, clueless folk like me might fumble around in the kitchen for a long time before it finally clicks.

Dear Sue,

"Almost every home cook I know has proudly declared, 'I hardly use any salt in my cooking'!?!?!?" "...never once having made it through an entire box of salt!?!?!?"

Oh lordy, my head is spinning. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!

-The girl with twelve different salts

I am so confused. I had no idea there was a debate about salt usage. I thought salt was a basic ingredient when cooking??? I didn't know there were people out there who don't salt! Don't get me wrong, I don't go crazy with the salt but I do sprinkle it in most things I cook... Wow.

I personally embrace salt and use only Kosher. Salt works to enhance the intrinsic flavors of almost all foods, even sweets. Unless someone has a serious health related issue, salt is not the enemy that so many people make an ignorant fuss over! Having said that, when I see people automatically reaching for a salt shaker at a table BEFORE first tasting their food, that can really drive me nuts.

@Omnom - I wasn't a salt fan until I started using kosher and sea salt exclusively. I really disliked food salted with table salt. Blech. Sometimes it has it's uses and I keep it in the house. A nice sprinkling of kosher salt can really enhance your food! It's also important to salt while prepping and cooking, salting when food is done can make it taste harsh (unless you're careful and using a salt good for finishing.)

-omnomNOM :)

My SIL has a phobia for fat, salt, anything she considers unhealthy - she refuses to eat butter, cheese, coffee, salt, the list goes on. She is 5'10", weighs about 135 lbs., walks 30 miles a week and doesn't own a car - she contributes her good health to her obsessive lifestyle which is totally regimented. Lucky for her, she is husbandless and can do her own thing. She uses good, healthy vegetables and fruits, but it all tastes terrible because nothing is salted. A "beef" stew for four might have 6 oz. of beef (I am not joking) lots of vegetables, stock made from (?) - the taste is unbelievably bland, the vegetables are hunks of nothingness. The last time we went for a meal my nine year old grand daughter developed a sudden stomach ache and my 27 month old grandson took one look and quietly picked up his plate and placed it as far away as he could. Just a little shake of salt would have made it palatable but there was none. Honestly, I just couldn't live like that. I believe an increasing number of people suffer from orthorexia, although the disorder isn't well known and the salt thing is part of this disorder.

Maybe not when it's added to the cooking process, but when sprinkled on after the fact, I can taste a huge difference between table salt and kosher salt. Lucky for me, I've taught myself how to use salt in my cooking, and can't understand why some people avoid it. It is is truly a necessity when it comes to making a good dish become a great dish.

My parents stopped using salt in their cooking a long time ago, and their food has gotten so bland over the years, that I almost feel a need for an intervention. My father used to be the king of stews. Now they taste so bland, that even adding salt after the fact doesn't save it.

Salt in cookies? I've never seen a chocolate chip cookie recipe that doesn't call for a little salt. I thought that was standard practice.

It's definitely unfortunate that salt has gotten such a bad rap in this country. As many of the comments have pointed out, those that do a lot of cooking of real food understand salt's necessity. Those that tend to eat out at fast food joints or have succumbed to the overly industrialized food-like products clogging up the center aisles don't get it. Likely never will. But they will get all the sodium nonetheless.

Oh, well. My feeling is that we will do what we want in the end. So why not just eat great food that tastes yummy?!

I've moved onto sea salt from the standard salt, and it's made a huge difference.

I could never taste a difference between salts until recently when two things happened: I accidentally grossly over-salted something and ate it anyway, and I washed my hands in iodine. It's sort of sad because now I have a box of iodized salt that I know I'll never finish.

i've been taught to salt in stages. A little at each point of preparation adds up to less than a lot added at one time and has a more rounded, complete flavor to boot. For example: For a sauteed chicken breast lightly salt & pepper the breast. Then mix (again, lightly) salt & pepper into the flour, the egg coating, and then the bread crumbs (use Panko instead!). When the breast has finished lightly salt & pepper while it is resting. Restaurants do add a lot more salt & butter to their products than home cooks; that's why they taste so good. A flaked kosher salt looks like more salt but really isn't.

It's the sodium in prepared foods (condiments such as ketchup, soups, and frozen dinners) that are the worst in terms of amount & poor taste. Throw out the iodized salt.

I'll cook with it, but I won't apply it at the table, with the exception of under-salted fries.

99% of the time, is something your cooking doesn't taste good..............salt is the first thing you should try. A pinch more of salt brings out the flavors of ALL the ingredients. You will taste more garlic, more herbs, more spices, etc.

And as far as the taste of the different salts, their is a HUGE difference between table and Kosher (its easier to oversalt with talb) but after that, the differnce between Kosher and sea salts, not so much....MOST of the time.

One thing that I've not seen mentioned here is that everyone has a taste for salt according to the level of salt to which they've become accustomed.
If one eats very little salt then their taste for salt will be very light.
Those whom are accustomed to more salt on their food will find the lighter salting to be too little salt.
Your "brightening" is another man's over-salting. Or put another way, adequate salting is in the mouth of the beholder!!--LOL
I've likewise seen no mention of the tendencies to use sugar in dishes which should not have sugar. I know I'm speaking of mostly processed foods, but I've seen recipes call for sugar when the dish is one I would not even want to taste sweet AT ALL!
As abused as salt may be, sugar is equally as overdone--again due to the varying level between humans accustomed intake.
No one on here must have kids--or this would surely have been mentioned before now. When raising my 2 kids, one had to have more sugar than me or my son to consider a dish to be "sweet." My son's "sweet-tooth" was higher than mine but lower than his sister's.
So what it all comes down to is........if you want to consume less salt, then you must "train" your palate to consider something with less salt to be "salty." Then you become accustomed to the lower level of saltiness. Same/Same with sugar. You will like what you eat--if you eat foods with more salt/sugar then you will "oversalt/sugar" according to others.

@LadyW8tn41: I think there's a perfect balance of seasoning for particular foods when it comes to salt; it's just difficult for some people to find it since some ingredients require more or less salt than others. Additionally, many home cooks overseason, underseason, add it at the wrong time or not at all. Salt is supposed to accentuate the flavor of the food in question. When you salt properly, the food tastes more like that food. You can't compare this mindset with foods like potato chips because some people will enjoy it while others prefer it plain (much like the peanuts debate going on in the SE homepage). But when you take something like a roasted carrot and season it perfectly then pair it with a dish... much less people, if any, would complain about the salt being off. If you don't like the roasted carrot, then you probably just don't like carrots; I wouldn't blame the salt!

BrooklynBaker--
ahahahaha

@lacrema

yes you can. The only difference is that because of the way salt packs, the volume measurements can vary depending on the type of salt you use. For every teaspoon of tables salt, you'll need 2 teaspoons of Morton's kosher salt, or 1 1/2 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Or better yet, use recipes with weight measurements. Weight for weight, all salts are equally salty tasting.

I don't have table salt in my apartment (not because I'm a snob, but because I don't have room for that many types of salt), and my baking doesn't suffer from it.

Salt is one of our primary flavoring ingredient and food enhancer. Without salt foods taste flat. (And, no, salt has been around far longer than beginning of civilization--has been around since the first ocean water evaporated, some 3 billion years ago). And all salt is *sea salt* since all originates from the ocean (small exception is salt from brine-rich lakes like Great Salt Lake in Utah).

Use plain granular salt for all your kitchen needs except for what chef's call *finishing salt*, like sprinkling kosher salt on top of pretzels, dishes, etc.

High-priced salts are a total waste of money. Spend what you save on super-premium ice cream.

George (excerpts from my new book What Recipes Don't Tell You)

I also can't believe some of the comments. Salt and pepper are amongst the best seasonings you can use. Don't overthink things, cooking isn't rocket science!

@kenji - I think you got your Morton and Diamond Crystal kosher volume equivalents backwards. I have weighed them, and DC is 2:1 to table salt by volume for the same weight. Morton came out 1:25:1 in my tests, but 1.5:1 is surely close enough for small amounts. I use Diamond Crystal because it's crushable between fingers and has no additives (Morton kosher contains "yellow prussiate of soda").

If I'm not sure whether something I'm cooking (soup e.g.) needs more salt, I'll take a little sample out in a ramekin and add a tiny bit of salt to that. If it tastes better than the big pot, I know the big pot needs more salt. If the sample tastes "salty," I know I'm good in the big pot.

As much as I agree that there are too many people out there who don't know how to salt their cooking, please remember that there are some health issues that are best served by a severely restricted salt intake.

My grandfather is one such individual, and while it pained him initially to stop salting his cooking and look closely at the salt levels on every single grocery item (to the point of picking the pasta with no salt in it), we've been told it is one of the reasons he went twenty years between heart attacks, and lived through the second with so little adverse effects.

So, yes, if you don't have medical counter-indications, by all means learn to salt you food *while you cook it* but please everyone remember that sometimes that dinner guest who needs his entree cooked separately without salt or salty ingredients is acting on doctor's orders.