When should you salt?


When should you salt?
In the kitchen, we salt very frequently, almost all the time, and we must be careful because this salt can influence the texture of what you are cooking.
I'm not going to talk about the amount of salt here, that's for another time, but rather about : When do you salt?
14 K 4.5/5 (22 reviews)
Grade this page:
Keywords for this post:SaltSaltTimeCooking
Last modified on: August 13th 2019
For this post: Comment Follow Send to a friend
When should you salt?
Let's imagine that you are going to prepare leeks. There are thousands of ways to do it, but one of the most classic is "sautéed".

poireaux sautés


How do you do it?
  1. You peel, wash, dry and slice your leeks
  2. You do the same thing with a shallot
  3. In a saucepan or a frying pan, you heat a littleoil or butter or clarified butter
  4. Once it's hot, you pour in the shallot, stir a little and add a little salt and pepper

    sel et échalote

    Here is the first salt shaker, note that it is light, and concerns (for the moment) only the shallot, we continue...
  5. Cook the shallot, 1 minute maximum, it must not colour or turn brown (we say"without colouring")
  6. Add the leeks, stir well to mix, and do not add any salt.
    Why not? Well, because the salt with its hygroscopic side, if you add it now, will "pump" the water out of the leeks, water that will end up at the bottom of the pan, and that you will have to remove later by overcooking.

    Moreover, if the water is extracted from the leeks, they will become excessively soft and less appetizing, losing their beautiful green colour more easily. Let's continue...
  7. You cook/sauté the leeks like this, uncovered, stirring from time to time, until they are soft to your taste, but still green
  8. And finally, off the heat, you add salt and pepper to taste

sel et poireaux

You will have understood, it is just a question of timing, we will salt anyway, but we will also try to do it late, so that the salt is not too much in contact with raw vegetables. This is valid for "soft" vegetables, but also for mushrooms.

By doing so, you will have a cooking that preserves the structure of the vegetable, and you avoid the excess of liquid at the bottom of your pan.


To sum up: When cooking vegetables or mushrooms, it is best to add salt only once the cooking is finished, to keep your vegetables in good condition.

Lasts posts
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...
May 19th 20251,715 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".
April 25th 20251,7845
The thermometer is your friend
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...
April 10th 20252,0785
Travel cakes
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27th 20253,549
The aromatic power of sugar
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...
December 25th 20243,9935

Other pages you may also like
Should I believe my oven?
Should I believe my oven?
Can you really trust your oven? This is an important question as we are always tempted to take the temperature indicated as gospel truth and, unfortunately, this is rarely very precise. .
July 4th 201130 K4.6
The 3 kinds of meringue
The 3 kinds of meringue
Meringue – what could be simpler? Just beaten egg whites with sugar added. This makes a fairly stiff mixture which can then be cooked in a cool oven to create those lovely, light confections. But in the world of professional patisserie, meringue comes in three different kinds. Even if the...
June 14th 201360 K4.5
How to zest a fruit?
How to zest a fruit?
You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” of...
November 5th 201344 K3.8
Steam for baking bread
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...
June 16th 2021140 K4.5
Artichoke stalks
Artichoke stalks
When preparing artichokes for cooking, you may well already know that we often need to remove the first round of leaves, if they are tatty or dirty, as well as the inedible stalk. The operative word here is “remove” , rather than “cut off”.
October 25th 201650 K4.3
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
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.

Back to top of page