Salt Tips and Facts

[Team-Chefs]

Salt Tips and Facts

The average American eats more than 25 times as much salt as is necessary for good health.

Cream will whip better better if you add a pinch of salt.

Egg whites will beat faster and higher if you add a pinch of salt.

Rub your hands with salt and lemon juice to remove fish odors.

One pound of salt = 1 5/8 cups 1 tablespoon = 1/2 ounce

Salt is an excellent cleaning agent, by itself or in combination with other substances. A solution of salt and turpentine restores the whiteness to yellowed enameled bathtubs and lavatories. A paste of salt and vinegar cleans tarnished brass or copper. a strong brine poured down the kitchen sink prevents grease from collecting and eliminates odors.

Salt helps destroy moths and drives away ants. A dash of salt in laundry starch keeps the iron from sticking and gives linen and fine cottons a glossy, like-new finish. A thin paste of salt and salad oil removes white marks caused by hot dishes or water from wooden tables.

A box of salt is an important item in many bathrooms. In mild solutions, it makes an excellent mouthwash, throat gargle or eye-wash; it is an effective dentifrice; it is an effective antiseptic; and it can be extremely helpful as a massage element to improve complexion.

To test eggs for freshness, place the egg in a cup of water to which two teaspoonfuls of salt has been added. A fresh egg sinks; a doubter will float.

Apples, pears and potatoes dropped in cold, lightly salted water as they are peeled will retain their color.

Soaking pecans in salt water for several hours before shelling will make nut meats easier to remove.

Salt and soda water will clean and sweeten the inside of your refrigerator. It won't scratch enamel either.

Salt tossed on a grease fire on the stove or in the oven will smother flames. Never use water; it will only spatter the burning grease.

To improve the flavor of poultry, rub the fowl inside and out with salt before roasting.

Remove bitterness from percolators and other coffee pots by filling with water, adding four tablespoons of salt and percolating or boiling as usual.

Removing onion odors from hands - Rub fingers with salt moistened with vinegar.

Fixing oversalted soups - If soup has been oversalted, cut up a raw potato or two and drop into the soup. The potato will absorb the salt.

Preventing mold - To prevent mold on cheese, wrap it in a cloth dampened with saltwater before refrigerating.

Whipping cream and beating egg whites - By adding a pinch of salt, cream will whip better and egg whites will beat faster and higher.

Salt preserves foods by creating a hostile environment for certain microorganisms. Within foods, salt brine dehydrates bacterial cells, alters osmotic pressure and inhibits bacterial growth and subsequent spoilage. Salting fish made long-range explorations possible in the age of sailing ships.

[osan]

I can add one.

If you store the rice with a handful of salt it will prevent insect or pest attack.

The salt will remove easily if you wash the rice before cooking.

[karenlyn]

I love that this starts off by stating how much more salt we eat than we ought... then goes on to suggest ways to incorporate MORE into our diet. Making this tasty seasoning harder to resist than ever. :P

-Karen

[Little Nikita]

OK,

I'm a bit confused!
According to the e-mail on March 7th, "Cooking Myths Debunked" you posted this:


True or false? A raw potato added to an overly salty soup or stew
will soak up the extra salt and save the meal.

Answer: False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work,"
says professor of chemistry Robert Wolke. "Potatoes are not
particularly absorbent" says Wolke, who conducted his own
soup-and-potato experiment for his book. "There is no reason they
would attract salt." If you remove the potato from the soup, the
potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge -- it has simply
soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty
stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the
saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

?!?!?!?