The overuse of salt


 
~Mark~

~Mark~

TVWBB Pro
KenB's post about his pastrami being to peppery got my wife and I talking about the overuse of both salt and pepper. I've been cutting back on my use of salt the past year or so, almost to the point of not using it at all. Sure I'll salt my burgers or steaks just as they hit the grill, but that's about it. Now about an hour after we go to a restaurant I'm like a camel at a watering hole. It seems to me that like fresh ground pepper, food is more often than not over salted.

Just a quick kind of rant, but I was wondering if this is just me or if anyone else noticed this.
 
Prepared foods especially. I sometimes laugh at how much salt I throw in a 2 gallon pot of soup a lot of times (a palm full, maybe 1-1.5 Tbsp)....I get it to where I like it.

I used to watch it a lot, tried to cut it out completely (vinegar tastes salty but has no sodium), but I don't watch my intake so much anymore....probably should. I tend to oversalt my popcorn - that gets old quick.
 
I agree Mark. I quit using table salt in January of last year. I still cook with salt, Kosher Salt, so I've not gone cold turkey. We also use a lot of unsalted butter now, where we never bought the stuff before. You might say what's the big deal, but it was a big deal, to us anyway. I used to salt everything on my plate once we sat down to the table. I would even salt ham. It was just automatic. Now it's almost comical the foods that taste "salty" to me without even a slight sprinkling from the shaker, foods that never used to seem salty at all. It wasn't easy, but now I hardly even think about salting my food at the table. Certain things are still not the same, like mashed potatoes, eggs cooked any way and popcorn. No, it's not just you.
 
I get what your saying Mark, esp at weddings or buffet lines. I salt everything to taste as I'm cooking it, but some root vegs like taters or cabbage can handle a light sprinkle on your plate.
I love fresh ground pepper so the more the merrier for me.:)

Tim
 
I'm on a low sodium diet due to heart problems and gave up table salt and adding salt to my recipes four years ago. The biggest issue I have is that we can't go out to eat as everything is so D*** salty, although we do go out once in a while and I plan ahead and totally restrict and salt intake other than what I'll have when we go out for that day.
Also it's hard to buy any processed food that isn't a salt bomb too!
But I've learned to use spices in my cooking instead of salt and it's to the point I don't mess it at all now.
And that's my rant and I'm sticking to it.
 
My wife likes food more salty than I do, but with her BP being a little higher than it should be I cook low salt, and she adds Morton's salt substitute.
I guess it's like some of the sugar subs and an acquired taste.

salt-substitute-three-point-one-two-five-ounce-shaker.png
 
I used to put salt on KFC. :rolleyes:

Now, I don't put salt on anything (except in my bread recipes and on popcorn and corn on the cob) and I don't eat KFC.
 
I put non-iodized salt (kosher salt in a grinder) on popcorn. Wife asks where is the salt? It definitely tastes less salty.

Try mixing your regular table salt (use less than you normally do) with kosher. Wean yourself off that way till you don't need any.
 
We use Sea Salt, Himalayan Pink, and Kosher Salt because SWMBO had to limit iodine due to a thyroid issue. She definitely likes stuff saltier than I do. If she ever over does it, it's too salty for the rest of us.
 
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