When to add salt to cooking water?
Is it better to salt cooking water, for vegetables for example, at the beginning when it is cold or when it boils?
I always heard that one should salt "after", when water is boiling, because if it is salted "before" it will take longer to boil.
True or false? Let's try the experiment...
I always heard that one should salt "after", when water is boiling, because if it is salted "before" it will take longer to boil.
True or false? Let's try the experiment...
137K 22 4.2
Last modified on: July 25th 2017
Keywords for this recipe:How long does it take?
Time required for this recipe:
| Preparation | Cooking | Start to finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2 min. | 10 min. | 12 min. |
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 2 min.
1 litre of water is put in a pan and 1 tbs coarse salt is added.
Stage 2 - 10 min.
The water temperature is measured in the same way, every minute, until it boils.
Stage 3
Let's compare times and temperatures in this diagram: the unsalted water in green, the salted water in red.
Conclusion
At the start of heating, the temperature of the salted water rises more slowly: after 3 minutes 30 seconds the unsalted water is already at 040°C (100°F), while salted water is still at 025°C (80°F).
But then the two catch up and they take the same time to reach 100°C (210°F).
Another point: it seems, but I'm not really adamant about it, that salted water starts to boil at a lower temperature than unsalted, i.e. around 90°C (190°F) rather than 100°C (210°F).
But then the two catch up and they take the same time to reach 100°C (210°F).
Another point: it seems, but I'm not really adamant about it, that salted water starts to boil at a lower temperature than unsalted, i.e. around 90°C (190°F) rather than 100°C (210°F).
Other recipes you may also like
Chestnut cake
This delightful cake is doubly chestnutty: it contains chestnut flour, and sweet chestnut purée.313K5 1 hour 13 min. May 8th 2020
Fruit crumble
A fruit pudding: very easy to do and delicious: just a layer of fruit with a golden crunchy topping.340K4.0 1 hour 11 min. February 21th 2011
Caramelised apple pie
Apple pie made with caramelised apples.243K4.3 1 hour 55 min. September 11th 2018
Toasted almond cake
A layer cake, with toasted almonds in the chocolate part.227K4.4 2 hours 2 min. July 5th 2016
Nanou's chocolate cake
A moist melting cake, very very chocolaty...266K4.6 1 hour 45 min. June 22th 2013
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2023-10-01)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post your comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.