Do you salt your food?

[sdtech]

I do use salt - especially with steaks, brisket - anything beef. I can tell it does add water to my body (like my fingers swell), but has no effect on blood pressure unless you have other factors. I do almost always use rock salt instead of granular.

 

[aaronc879]

A lot of the food I eat has a lot of salt in it but I never add salt to anything, ever.

 

[folivier]

I hardly ever add any salt when cooking anything. At the table I'll occasionally add salt but more often it's a seasoned salt. Used Tony Chachere's for many years but switched to Jack Miller's brand since it doesn't contain black pepper. Never season a steak before cooking but I'll add JM's when I eat it.
BTW I enjoy my corn on the cob warmed up not cooked especially not boiled. Over cooking corn just changes the sugars to starches and takes away the natural sweetness. Same with carrots.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

My DMIL is 70 and has high blood pressure. She adds table salt to almost everything. The other day she added salt to both a McDonald's hamburger and an order of fries.

I cringed. If I eat a McDonald's hamburger, I get very thirsty because they are so salty to begin with. As are their fries.

I guess some people like their food really salty.

 

[audreyh1]

My DMIL is 70 and has high blood pressure. She adds table salt to almost everything. The other day she added salt to both a McDonald's hamburger and an order of fries.

I cringed. If I eat a McDonald's hamburger, I get very thirsty because they are so salty to begin with. As are their fries.

I guess some people like their food really salty.

There is also the issue of declining taste as you age. We haven’t noticed a change in our palates yet, but it’s very common from what I hear - 75% of 80+ and older people notice the change.

 

[easysurfer]

No. I do not add salt.

 

[MarieIG]

When cooking, depending upon the recipe, I'll sometimes add a spice blend which does have salt, i.e. Cajun Spices. I am not heavy handed with salt and very rarely add it directly to food - probably because I am no longer in the habit of so doing.

 

[Healthy Lifestyle]

I believe I am getting all the salt I need from all the food that I consume, so no added salt usually for me.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Yes, I season while cooking and sometimes finish with some, and when I say some, I mean a scant amount of large flake maldon sea salt. I cook with Morton's kosher. The only fine salt we use is for popcorn.

 

[scrabbler1]

After my 2015 hospital stay which included, among other things, repairing the kidney damage I suffered, my kidney doctor advised me to reduce my salt intake. While many foods I eat include salt, I could most control the times I added my own salt. I eliminated all of those uses, except for one. That is for the very rare times I eat (microwaved) popcorn at home. Without salt, it's like eating little bits of cardboard.

I no longer add salt to french fries and when I make meat sauce for my spaghetti. I already add garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano. That's tasty enough without the salt, too. French fries usually have a decent taste to them, too. When I eat out at Applebee's, I ask the server to prepare my french fries without their seasonings because theirs are very salty. (I checked the sodium content in their website and was stunned!)

 

[RetiredHappy]

Meat has salt in it naturally. When I make a Chinese soup with pork ribs and winter melon with a couple of cloves of garlic, it is very tasty without the need for salt.

 

[COcheesehead]

Salt is a flavor enhancer so yes, I salt my food. I also sweat while cycling and I take added electrolytes. Salt when used properly is something good.

 

[Turbo29]

I use MSG. It's lower in sodium than NaCl per weight.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Not once in 63 years.

 

[TheWizard]

I salt my food (to enhance flavor) while I prepare it but never add extra salt to my food at the table, whether I’m at home or eating out. I believe that a proper intake of sodium, potassium, and magnesium is needed for my body to function properly.

I tend to do the opposite.
Now I do season meats and chicken before they go on the grill, often with a combination rub that always contains salt.

But when a make a recipe in my Dutch oven or slow cooker, I often use very little or zero salt and then salt to taste on my plate or bowl...

 

[TheWizard]

I use MSG. It's lower in sodium than NaCl per weight.

Accent!

 

[MichaelB]

As I read through this thread DW commented on our salt intake. Scary.

I salt raw vegetables before eating them. Carrots, celery, radishes, scallions, and especially avocado. I think avocado is one of the best examples of salt bringing out and enhancing the flavor of a food, not masking it.

My BiL is a food scientist and worked his whole life developing food products. He keeps a salt shaker on the table and he begins salting his food before tasting it. I don’t recall ever seeing him eat without adding salt.

 

[rk911]

Accent!View attachment 62585

WOW! Did not realize this was still a thing.

 

[Turbo29]

WOW! Did not realize this was still a thing.

I just buy generic MSG at the Asian market, much cheaper that way.

 

[Lorenzo]

It is not like peanut butter, or beef, or eggs all of a sudden have a different flavor because salt is added: The food has the same flavor, but salty.

I disagree. That may be the perception of someone whose palate does not have the ability to perceive subtle differences. Our senses of taste and smell do generally diminish with age.

No, salt does not mask the taste of food, it enhances the food flavors.

Exactly.

I use MSG. It's lower in sodium than NaCl per weight.

Salt (sodium chloride) is a flavor enhancer, i.e., our flavor receptors perceive it as bringing out the inherent flavors in foods, though I believe the science is still uncertain of the mechanism, and salt may affect other sensations such as bitterness. Monosodium glutamate is often considered the ultimate flavor enhancer. The science is apparently complicated (my Googling reveals to me), but the one thing that seems well established is that a small amount of added salt affects our senses in ways beyond simply making the food taste saltier.

I am a salt addict, but I use it more judiciously since a hypertension diagnosis a few years ago.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

I disagree. That may be the perception of someone whose palate does not have the ability to perceive subtle differences. Our senses of taste and smell do generally diminish with age.


Exactly.


Salt (sodium chloride) is a flavor enhancer, i.e., our flavor receptors perceive it as bringing out the inherent flavors in foods, though I believe the science is still uncertain of the mechanism, and salt may affect other sensations such as bitterness. Monosodium glutamate is often considered the ultimate flavor enhancer. The science is apparently complicated (my Googling reveals to me), but the one thing that seems well established is that a small amount of added salt affects our senses in ways beyond simply making the food taste saltier.

I am a salt addict, but I use it more judiciously since a hypertension diagnosis a few years ago.

It is interesting to me that salt is viewed as some sort of inherent or special "flavor enhancer." If one Googles "citrus," "garlic," "rosemary," "chili," etc., and ask if it is a "flavor enhancer," all are noted as such. Yet, people don't generally put these liberally into or onto their food as seems common with salt. Of course, this can be culturally-dependent.

I chuckle at the comment about popcorn tasting like cardboard until one puts salt on it. I get that salty popcorn appeals to some, but I doubt that the salt brings out the umami in pop corn.

 

[Kings over Queens]

It is interesting to me that salt is viewed as some sort of inherent or special "flavor enhancer." If one Googles "citrus," "garlic," "rosemary," "chili," etc., and ask if it is a "flavor enhancer," all are noted as such. Yet, people don't generally put these liberally into or onto their food as seems common with salt. Of course, this can be culturally-dependent.

I chuckle at the comment about popcorn tasting like cardboard until one puts salt on it. I get that salty popcorn appeals to some, but I doubt that the salt brings out the umami in pop corn.

I cook with garlic almost always and rosemary with meats and salmon. Chili needs to be narrowed down. Are we talking about hot pepper flakes or chili powder, which is something altogether different. Now, citrus. Yes, used a lot in soups, stews and sauces. I use all of these ingredients to varying degrees.

I wouldn't consider garlic an enhancer, nor rosemary. Citrus and salt, yes, but it's not a hill I'd die on, you know.

The trick with seasoning (salting) is the amount used so that you avoid things tasting salty. On the other hand, the comment about popcorn is true, in my opinion, but as a bread baker, I will tell you that on the occasion where I've forgotten salt, the taste is immediate, and the bread gets fed to the birds. Terrible.

 

[Turbo29]

It is interesting to me that salt is viewed as some sort of inherent or special "flavor enhancer." If one Googles "citrus," "garlic," "rosemary," "chili," etc., and ask if it is a "flavor enhancer," all are noted as such. Yet, people don't generally put these liberally into or onto their food as seems common with salt. Of course, this can be culturally-dependent.

I chuckle at the comment about popcorn tasting like cardboard until one puts salt on it. I get that salty popcorn appeals to some, but I doubt that the salt brings out the umami in pop corn.

Consider this: Humans have taste buds that specifically taste salt as sodium is required for human life. Humans don't have taste buds for "citrus," "garlic," "rosemary," "chili," etc. When you "taste" those other flavors it's actually their aroma that you are sensing in your olfactory organs, not your tongue (as with salt). That's why food is tasteless when one has a serious cold. But one can still taste, "salty" when they have a cold.

 

[audreyh1]

It is interesting to me that salt is viewed as some sort of inherent or special "flavor enhancer." If one Googles "citrus," "garlic," "rosemary," "chili," etc., and ask if it is a "flavor enhancer," all are noted as such. Yet, people don't generally put these liberally into or onto their food as seems common with salt. Of course, this can be culturally-dependent.

I chuckle at the comment about popcorn tasting like cardboard until one puts salt on it. I get that salty popcorn appeals to some, but I doubt that the salt brings out the umami in pop corn.

People do not necessarily liberally apply salt. Garlic, rosemary, etc add different flavors to a dish. Salt by itself does not unless you deliberately use too much. A small amount of salt can bring out the flavors without tasting salty.

 

[audreyh1]

I cook with garlic almost always and rosemary with meats and salmon. Chili needs to be narrowed down. Are we talking about hot pepper flakes or chili powder, which is something altogether different. Now, citrus. Yes, used a lot in soups, stews and sauces. I use all of these ingredients to varying degrees.

I wouldn't consider garlic an enhancer, nor rosemary. Citrus and salt, yes, but it's not a hill I'd die on, you know.

The trick with seasoning (salting) is the amount used so that you avoid things tasting salty. On the other hand, the comment about popcorn is true, in my opinion, but as a bread baker, I will tell you that on the occasion where I've forgotten salt, the taste is immediate, and the bread gets fed to the birds. Terrible.

In Tuscany during the Middle Ages there was a high tax on salt, so they made their bread without salt and the traditional bread is still made without salt. It definitely tastes different!