Removing salt from recipies

[Clay J]

Many of my cooks seems to be way too salty.

Today I tried my hand at grinding, stuffing, and smoking some fresh Kielbasa. It has a great taste, but again, it's too salty (and I usually sprinkle salt on everything).

I have 2 questions.

1) I understand that when using table salt I should use about 1/2 as much if the recipe calls for kosher salt. But often a recipe fails to state what type of salt to use. Should I assume it's kosher and use less all the time?

2) Would I be safe in completely removing or greatly reducing salt in recipes?

 

[Konrad Haskins]

It's not just the saltiness Kosher Salt is also Gourmet salt and all the best chefs either use Kosher salt or Sea salt. Kosher Salt is a buck and change at cash and carry do yourself a favor and try it.
~Konrad

 

[Guest]

Hi Clay,
I haven't done all that much in the way of homemade sausages, but it has been my experience that cutting back on the salt works just fine.
I use kosher salt when I use salt, but I often scale it back or eliminate it when I make rubs.
My main use of salt is when I brine fish or poultry, and I usually don't use as much as most recipes call for.
The best part of this hobby is experimentation. /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif
Jim

 

[Tony Weisse]

Like Jim said, go ahead and experiment with less salt. Kosher salt works well in most cases. I use it in rubs, but the grain size can be a problem. I find that kosher salt tends to separate from the rest of the dry ingredients as I shake my container. I also tried using a big shaker to put rub on one time, and all the salt got left behine since it didn't fit through the holes. Not a big deal.

Now in sausage I would think twice. It would depend on how dry the sausage mix is and whether the salt would actually dissolve or not. Most recipes I've used for kielbasa call for some additional liquid (water or milk) so that may not be a problem. You can easily cut back on the salt in fresh sausage, but watch it in any cured sausage. You need to have enough to aid in the curing process there!

 

[Russ Hazzon]

I've used kosher salt for years and find the taste much more palatable than table salt. The biggest problem is the size of the grain, but it's fairly easy to fix.

One of the things I do when I make the BRITU rub is to dry my brown sugar in the oven on low and then combine all of the ingredients. I place it in a coffee grinder and grind the whole mixture up to a fine consistency. I then place it in a shaker and apply. Works like a charm!