How Professional Chefs Fix Too Much Salt in Food

Adding salt to your cooking enhances its flavor, but what happens when you add too much? Professional chefs have a few tried-and-true techniques to correct overly salted dishes. Here are their go-to methods for balancing out flavors:

How Much is Too Much Salt?

Chefs must be cautious with salt because excessive sodium can negatively impact customers' health. Balancing salt is not just about taste; it’s crucial for the well-being of those enjoying your culinary creations.

According to  Harvard University, School of Public Health, for men and women 14 years and older, including pregnant women, the Adequate Intake (AI) for sodium is 1,500 milligrams a day.

Over-salting can lead to short-term effects such as water retention, increased blood pressure, and intense thirst.

In the long term, it can cause elevated blood pressure, increase the risk of stomach cancer, and raise the chances of heart disease and premature death.

Oversalted dishes are not only unappetizing, but they can also pose serious health risks.

Now, let's explore the methods professional chefs use to remedy these salty mishaps.

How Professional Chefs Fix Oversalted Dishes:

Tip # 1: Dilute it!

Chefs often start by diluting the dish. Adding more water or broth can reduce the saltiness. This method works particularly well for soups, stews, and sauces.

Thomas Keller, a celebrated culinary expert, and author of "The French Laundry Cookbook”, frequently emphasizes this technique. He explores the art of balancing flavors and textures in soups and sauces, detailing various methods for adjusting consistency.

Here's how you can recreate this technique:

• Combine one tablespoon of cornstarch with one to two teaspoons of cold water, stirring until fully smooth.
• Slowly incorporate this mixture into your simmering soup, adjusting until you achieve your preferred consistency.

Tip #2: Incorporate Acidic Ingredients

Acidity can help neutralize saltiness. Professional chefs commonly add ingredients such as:

• Tomato products: tomato sauce or paste
• Citrus juices: lemon or lime juice
• Vinegar: apple cider vinegar

Chef Julia Child frequently advocated for incorporating acidic ingredients to create harmonious flavors in her dishes. Acidity effectively mitigates saltiness while enhancing overall complexity, a technique thoroughly demonstrated in her renowned book, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

Tip #3: Adding in Starch

Though some chefs debate its effectiveness, incorporating starchy ingredients can occasionally help offset excess salt.

Chef Michael Symon has mentioned using potatoes to absorb excess salt in soups and stews in various cooking shows.

Here's how you can recreate this technique:

• Potatoes: Add diced raw potatoes to soups or stews. Once cooked, they can be discarded after absorbing some salt.
• Grains: Cooked, unseasoned rice, pasta, quinoa, or couscous can be added to dishes to help reduce saltiness.

Tip #4: Add Sugar

Add a small amount of white sugar or brown sugar to counterbalance the salty taste. Due to its sweet taste, the sugar can balance out the saltiness in foods.

Chef Alton Brown often discusses the role of sugar in balancing flavors in his recipes and shows, such as in "Good Eats."

Tip #5: Add Dairy or Fatty Ingredients

You may add dairy products such as heavy cream or sour cream. Dairy products contain sugars, which help to cut down the taste of salt. Oat or coconut milk has enough creamy components which make it interchangeable with dairy products.

Tip #6: Add Creamy Condiments

You can incorporate creamy condiments such as sour cream, avocados, or ricotta cheese to remedy excessively salty dishes. These ingredients not only help to mellow the saltiness but also distribute the flavor more evenly across your palate, making it less intense and more palatable.

Celebrated Chef Ina Garten frequently incorporates creamy ingredients to elevate and harmonize the flavors in her culinary creations.

Tip #7: Serve Salty food with Mild or Unseasoned Sides

If serving your main course has proven to be more challenging than expected, serve it with less salty side dishes to counteract its saltiness.

Here are some side dishes that can be served along with a salty main course:

• Serve unseasoned rice with salty protein dishes
• Mildly seasoned or bland mashed potatoes with salty meat.
• Unseasoned baked potato, bread, rice, or pasta,
• Avoid butter and cheeses that may give excess sodium to the dish

Tip #8: Manually Remove Excess Salt

For solid foods like meat or vegetables, a pastry basting brush can help remove excess salt.

Gently brush the surface to dislodge salt granules, then wipe with a damp cloth to pick up the remaining particles.

If the salt is concentrated on a piece of meat, rinse it under running water. For a heavily salted steak, let it soak in cold water overnight to draw out the excess salt.

Tip #9: Serve Salty Dishes with a Fizzy Drink

If all else fails and you're out of ideas, offer your guests a refreshing glass of fizzy drink with their meals. Fizzy drinks can help clear out the taste buds and neutralize the saltiness left behind by salty foods.

You can try serving one of these drinks:

• Prosecco
• Champagne
• Sparkling Rose
• Seltzer Water

Now, let’s delve into the specifics! Here are effective methods for remedying oversalted dishes, tailored for various types of cuisines:

Added Too Much Salt On Soup? Here's What You Should Do:

Imagine you've made a soup that’s too salty because you added too much salty broth or seasoning. Here’s a step-by-step approach using a simple colander:

1. Separate the Solids: Pour the soup through a colander into a large bowl to separate the liquid from the solid ingredients (vegetables, meat, etc.).
2. Rinse the Solids: Run cold water over the solid ingredients in the colander to wash away some of the salt.
3. Adjust the Broth: Taste the remaining broth. If it’s too salty, dilute it with water or unsalted broth. You can also add ingredients like unsalted tomatoes or other vegetables.
4. Recombine: Put the solid ingredients back into the pot with the adjusted broth and heat until everything is well combined and cooked through.

How to Avoid Adding Too Much Salt: Tips for Seasoning Your Dishes

To avoid a salty situation altogether, consider these steps:

• "Add Later!". While it's easy to add more salt during cooking, reducing it afterward can be quite challenging.
• Taste your dish regularly as you cook: Incrementally add seasoning at each stage of the recipe, and sample your dish after incorporating each new ingredient to determine when to stop.
• Use Kosher Salt: Consider switching to kosher salt; its larger grains make it easier to measure compared to finer table salt.
• Adjust the salt quantity based on the other ingredients in your recipe: If your dish includes salty elements like soy sauce, olive oil, pickles, or Parmesan, reduce the amount of salt you plan to add, and save any final seasoning adjustments for the last.

The Bottom Line

By understanding and applying these techniques, you can transform a potential kitchen disaster into a delightful dish. Embrace these tips from the pros, and you'll be well-prepared to handle any seasoning slip-ups with confidence and finesse.