How to Season to Taste (Video)

"Season to taste."  It's the phrase you've seen in every cookbook.  It's finally time to find out what that means.


YouTube Link: How to Season to Taste
More Videos: Helen's Kitchen Channel

Now that we know HOW, let's talk about WHEN.  These are very general guidelines since every type of dish is a bit different. Normally, you salt every time an ingredient goes into a pot or pan.  If you wait till the end, the dish will be salty, but the salt won't have a chance to bring out the flavor of ingredients as they are cooking.  When seasoning during cooking aim for 80%, so that you can add that final 20% in the end.  This will give your dish a flavor boost since the salt activates the volatile flavor compounds.  That's also a time to reach for that acidic ingredient.  Don't be surprised if you need another pinch of salt after you add acidity.  They play off each other.  By "in the end," I don't mean at the table.  I mean in the very end of the cooking time.  There are some exceptions to this rule:

• Stocks are not seasoned until you are cooking with them.  In some cases, they are reduced a lot (as much as 8 times) and seasoning them in the beginning would make them too salty.
• I am sure you've seen a huge bag of spinach wilt down to 1/4 cup.  Hold off with seasoning your leafy greens (spinach, chard, kale, etc) until they wilt.
• The liquid for stews and braises is usually not salted directly.  After a long cooking time that most braises require, the liquid will reduce a lot, so seasoning it to taste in the beginning will result in too much salt.  The meat and aromatic vegetables are salted before cooking, and a lot of that salt eventually ends up in the braising liquid.  In 90% of my meat braises, I don't need to add any salt in the end.  But I always taste my sauce for salt before serving and adjust as necessary.

Related posts:

Types of Salt and Their Uses 

Soup, Salt, Acid, Heat

Salt Interview with Tony Maws from Craigie on Main