Our bodies require salt for survival; our dinners require it to taste good. Properly salting food is one of the most important skills in all of cooking.
Two Paths to Deep Seasoning
Brine
Brining means submerging meat (most often poultry or pork) in a salt solution so that the salt penetrates the meat, increasing the meat’s ability to hold moisture. This helps lean cuts stay moist and juicy. Sometimes we add sugar or spices to the brine for extra flavor.
Dry Salt
We often salt large cuts of meat (such as roasts and whole birds) in advance. Given enough time (1 to 24 hours), the salt travels into the meat. In addition to seasoning it, salt helps the meat hold on to moisture to remain juicy throughout cooking and softens and dissolves some meat proteins to result in a more tender texture.
Salting While Cooking
Salting in stages helps prevent oversalting, as variations in ingredients (how fatty your chicken thighs are, for instance) and burner strength can impact flavor and seasoning. For the most well-rounded seasoning, salt foods early in the cooking process and then taste and add more if needed at the end. If you oversalt a savory dish, you can try adding acid or a sweetener to balance the salt; you can also add more nonsalty ingredients such as more pasta or vegetables.
Which Salt Should I Use?
The three most common types of salt used in cooking are table, kosher, and sea salt. We use table salt in baking because it dissolves into batters and doughs most readily; we usually season meats with kosher salt because its large grains make it easier to feel how much salt we’re applying. While large-flaked, crunchy, mineraly sea salt can be great sprinkled over roasted and grilled meat or vegetables, we don’t call for it in recipes because irregularities (in size and flavor) among products make it hard to get consistent results.
Sweet and Savory
Salt’s not just for savory foods: Most cakes, cookies, and other confections contain salt to help enhance their flavor. Even most fruit tastes better with a light sprinkling of salt. Skeptical? Try the pineapple challenge: Take two pieces of freshly cut pineapple, lightly sprinkle one of them with salt, and taste them side by side. The salted version should taste sweeter and more complex.
Too Much of a Good Thing?
Be conservative when seasoning stocks and broths that you are going to reduce: The salt will become more prominent as the stock becomes more concentrated. In general, home-cooked dishes contain far less sodium than processed foods such as chips, crackers, and frozen meals do.
Written by Scott Kathan in "Cook's Country", February, 01, 2019, excerpt p.24. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.