Salting water to boil vegetables

[Ms T]

I have consulted my encyclopaedia of kitchen science (McGee on Food and Cooking) and it appears there is a reason for adding salt to boiling water when cooking vegetables. Apparently it will speed softening and minimize the loss of cell contents to the water.

He says that if water is unsalted the cooking water will draw salts and sugars from the plant cells.

However, when cooking starchy vegetables such as potatoes, salt should be omitted from the cooking water because it encourages the outside of the potato to soften before the inside is cooked.

There's your answer.

 

[mr steev]

I never use salt in cooking - especially not for boiling veg. I think this has lowered my salt threshold and now, like mr kitten I actually dont like salty food.

Same here. Dahl, boiled eggs and cheese and tomato sandwiches are about the only thing I use it in.
I've never really been a salty person. Don't like crisps and salt on chips just ruins them... lots of vinegar and ground black pepper please

 

[salaryman]

if you add it, make sure it's maldon sea salt

 

[Callie]

Same here. Dahl, boiled eggs and cheese and tomato sandwiches are about the only thing I use it in.
I've never really been a salty person. Don't like crisps and salt on chips just ruins them... lots of vinegar and ground black pepper please

mmmmmm pepper

 

[reallyoldhippy]

if you add it, make sure it's maldon sea salt

I've never understood this sea salt craze. I'd rather have salt from the unpolluted water of a million years ago than todays cess pools.

 

[geminisnake]

a 200gram packet of sea salt in our kitchen lasts over a year

I had to start buying salt when I bought a breadmaker. I have never really eaten salt and have very low blood pressure(ie below normal)

 

[zora]

In some healthy-food-book I was looking at yesterday it said that adding salt to the water would actually result in the veg losing some of its 'goodness' (my unscientific term) by drawing it out?

Re: keeping the colour, that same book recommended plunging broccolli etc in a bowl of cold water after briefly boiling/steaming (if later used in salads/stir-fries)to stop further cooking and softening and loss of colour.

 

[moose]

tbh, my idea of cooking vegetables (apart from spuds) is to show them a picture of a kettle from the far side of the kitchen, so I don't suppose it matters whether I use salt or not. I'm much more likely to use other flavourings (garam masala on carrots - mmmmmmmmmm!) because they're more interesting. Thanks for the science, anyhow

 

[tom k&e]

Pasta without salt is disgusting. You need a lot of it too, like a tablespoon per litre. Same for cooking veg. Salt is goooooooooood.

 

[quamp1]

The sad thing is here in Texas, if you add anything to water from the tap, it just sinks to the bottom or floats. The water here doesn't appear to mix with anything.(Either that or it's already supersaturated with everything else.)

 

[salaryman]

I've never understood this sea salt craze. I'd rather have salt from the unpolluted water of a million years ago than todays cess pools.

salt is a flavour enhancer, which explains why chefs chuck a fair old amount in when cooking. it really does make it taste better. try mashing some spuds with unsalted butter and compare it to some mashed with salted butter and extra maldon sea salt added. absolutely NO comparison.

maldon salt (now certified organic!) is a particularly good salt hence it's v popular with chefs

http://www.maldonsalt.co.uk/howitsmade/

 

[reallyoldhippy]

maldon salt (now certified organic!)

WTF? It's still produced from mega-polluted seas.

And salt is as much a "flavour enhancer" as monosodium glutamate. You can fuck off with both of them.

 

[Stobart Stopper]

I've never understood this sea salt craze. I'd rather have salt from the unpolluted water of a million years ago than todays cess pools.

I always try to use sea salt, it just looks nice on the grinder!

Don't add salt to vegetables either, but I always add a bit of sugar to carrots, after I have boiled them, loads of butter and a spoonful of sugar then fry them up a bit.

 

[poet]

maldon salt (now certified organic!) is a particularly good salt hence it's v popular with chefs

http://www.maldonsalt.co.uk/howitsmade/

What the fuck is organic salt, or non-organic salt for that matter? It's all NaCl, innit, whether evaporated, mined or synthesised.

 

[Stobart Stopper]

What the fuck is organic salt, or non-organic salt for that matter? It's all NaCl, innit, whether evaporated, mined or synthesised.

It's just a way of making more money out of people IMO> Load of crap, salt is salt.

 

[tom k&e]

WTF? It's still produced from mega-polluted seas.

And salt is as much a "flavour enhancer" as monosodium glutamate. You can fuck off with both of them.

Mmmmm MSG is delicious. How can you cook without wonderful unami?

 

[gentlegreen]

Mmmmm MSG is delicious. How can you cook without wonderful unami?

I'm off up the Chinese supermarket in a bit but I suspect I will stick to buying soy sauce and seaweed for my glutamate fix
(though I could really use an appetite suppressant at the moment )

 

[tom k&e]

I'm off up the Chinese supermarket in a bit but I suspect I will stick to buying soy sauce and seaweed for my glutamate fix
(though I could really use an appetite suppressant at the moment )

Buy a big bag of pure MSG! It's so much fun. Good on chips too.

 

[gentlegreen]

Buy a big bag of pure MSG! It's so much fun. Good on chips too.

I have to confess I was tempted - maybe next time