Experiment: Cook stuff in salted water

[skyhskyh]

Reason and Curiousity:

My theory and quite common sense that when food is being cooked, water comes out from the food. For example, when we pan fry vegetables, very obvious that water came out. Lots and lots of them too.

Accordingly, I was thinking if the food is being cooked, nothing goes in because water is being pushed out. But some basic cooking recipes, like boiling vegetables, they are cooked in salted water. So, I would like to check if saltiness really does go in or no.

Goal:

Wanted to see if salted water will put saltiness into the food.

So:

Cut some chicken pieces from chicken breasts. Cooked some in just water. Some in highly salted water (very very salty taste)

Process and Results:

1st experiment:

Cut some slices. Cooked in salted water. After cooked, rinsed the chicken with running water to make sure no salted water at surface of food. Checked taste. Not much salty taste can be noticed.

2nd experiment:

Then cooked one in just water. Cooked another one with similar size in very salty water. Rinsed the chicken with running water. Compared the two.

Could tell the difference but only slight. The one cooked in highly salted water has saltiness in the chicken. Comparing to the bland chicken piece that was cooked in just water, not much difference though.

(However, this may still mean that saltiness didn't really go in but some of the salted water went between the meat muscles, then when rinsed through water after cooked, the running water didn't rinse through the muscle spaces, because cooking time in salted water was longer than rinsing time).

Nevertheless, not sure the science behind this, but practically speaking, even after rinsed, could taste salt but slightly.

3rd experiment:

Cooked one bigger chicken piece in highly salted water. Just drained by flicking it. No rinsing with water.

Surely could tell it has salty taste. Not as much as the salted water. This make sense since I flicked drained it, meaning not the whole food surface is covered with the salted water. Only some is attached on the surface, so in theory, and logically, it had slightly lower slaty taste.

Theory. After Thoughts:

1. This is different to cooking pasta, dried mushrooms, rice since these are dried, and they rehydrate during the cooking process.

2. If the food needed to be rinsed with water after cooked, then if the desired goal is to have the food tasted as a well salted food, then this means the water needed to be very very highly salty. (meaning waste of salt, and will be costly, alternatively, just less water to increase salt concentration)

3. Flavour may be different. So have to experiment with cooking liquid with just flavours, no salt.

Just 2 photos of the experiment I took:

More Thoughts, experience, theories, opinions welcome.

Edited December 8, 2012 by skyhskyh (log)

[SylviaLovegren]

I've never "experimented" with this but I can tell you from experience that salting the water absolutely results in salted food and forgetting to salt the water results in unsalted food. And if you add other things to the water -- garlic, herbs, meats, etc., -- those flavors go into the food as well.

[Icanmakeit]

• First - I am never crazy about chicken breasts. No fat or flavor
  
• I would have brined the breasts rather than cooking them in hot salty water.
  
• I boil whole chickens or parts for soups or stews etc, not to empart a flavor note from salt. However, I do add salt even if I don't reuse the boiling water.
  
• I really don't think salt saturation would make much of a difference unless there is a lot of it to the point of dehydrating the meat.
  
• I'm not quite sure of your goal, but I would focus more on the end product of the food that this chicken is to become, rather that salty water.
  

[skyhskyh]

I've never "experimented" with this but I can tell you from experience that salting the water absolutely results in salted food and forgetting to salt the water results in unsalted food. And if you add other things to the water -- garlic, herbs, meats, etc., -- those flavors go into the food as well.

I understand. But I was thinking whether the salty taste came from the water that is left on the food surface after cooked or it actually went inside the food.

And from the experiment I did, it seems it's more frim the salted water that still coating the food.

[jsmeeker]

I know that when I cook potatoes in well salted water to make makes mashed potatoes, I don't need to add much salt after they are mashed up and I add my un-slated butter and dairy.

[skyhskyh]

I know that when I cook potatoes in well salted water to make makes mashed potatoes, I don't need to add much salt after they are mashed up and I add my un-slated butter and dairy.

Thanks.

I assumed the potatoes are cut pieces when they are cooked in the salted water?

How much salt did you need to add afterwards (approximately... maybe 50% more to complete it to be a well-seasoned?)

[jsmeeker]

I know that when I cook potatoes in well salted water to make makes mashed potatoes, I don't need to add much salt after they are mashed up and I add my un-slated butter and dairy.

Thanks.

I assumed the potatoes are cut pieces when they are cooked in the salted water?

How much salt did you need to add afterwards (approximately... maybe 50% more to complete it to be a well-seasoned?)

Yes.. They are peeled in cut into large pieces. (usually, quartered). But I have to add very little salt to the mashed potatoes. A lot less than 50% of what I added to the water.

[HowardLi]

Could be that meat and vegetables behave differently in salted water. Or, vegetables absorb more salt because they are "thinner" and cook longer than meat does.

Edited December 9, 2012 by HowardLi (log)

[Smithy]

You raise an interesting series of questions, but I think that the results may need a very narrow interpretation. I think it's likely that protein fibers (as in meat) will react differently than starchy carbohydrates (as in potatoes) and that the non-starchy carbohydrates in things like green beans may react still differently. Therefore, your chicken tests might give results that apply to poultry but not be helpful for vegetable cookery. I'm not sure that boiling chicken - or any meat that isn't commonly boiled during cooking - is a fair test. What about trying this same series of tests with green beans, peas, squash, carrots? Vegetables that might be boiled but don't need to be dehydrated (such as dried beans) to be edible.

Hmm. It would be nice to work out a way to visualize the extent to which salt penetrates the food during cooking. Colored salt? Food color in the water? Food that changes color when it reacts with table salt? Then you could cook something and slice into it to see how deeply the salt penetrates.

Hmm. What an interesting line of questioning!

[skyhskyh]

Yes.. They are peeled in cut into large pieces. (usually, quartered). But I have to add very little salt to the mashed potatoes. A lot less than 50% of what I added to the water.

Did you rinse with water after they are cooked? or just drained?

Edited December 9, 2012 by skyhskyh (log)

[skyhskyh]

Did another experiment on cooking some chicken in just water VS cook some in flavoured liquid.

The flavoured liquid was made by boiling and simmering water from dried bay leaves, dried star anise, dried sichuan pepper, dried cloves.

The results:

The chicken cooked in just water. Obviously, bland, only chicken taste.

The chicken cooked in flavoured liquid. Basically, only outside, food surface has taste.

(both were rinsed with water to get rid of any flavoured liquid that may stick on the surface of the food.)

the bottom is the one cooked with flavoured liquid, the colour of the liquid is stuck on the surface, cannot be washed off.

I just think salt and flavours is different. (this experiment is not something I wanted to back up any theories, just something I did to see if flavours can go inside the food if the food is cooked in a flavoured liquid medium)

Edited December 9, 2012 by skyhskyh (log)

[skyhskyh]

2 more experiments:

Poach eggs in salted water: Yep.

I have also tried poaching egg with highly salted water.

After cooked, rinsed with running water. Taste check: it has salty taste (not as strong as the salted water though, but can taste saltiness)

Hard Boil eggs in salted water: Nope.

Another experiment I did was hard boil eggs in salted water.

Basically, the result was no salt taste.

Edited December 9, 2012 by skyhskyh (log)

[jsmeeker]

Yes.. They are peeled in cut into large pieces. (usually, quartered). But I have to add very little salt to the mashed potatoes. A lot less than 50% of what I added to the water.

Did you rinse with water after they are cooked? or just drained?

drained. then back on the burner to drive out excess water.

I never taste the potatoes until they get mashed and I add the butter in dairy. That's when I adjust seasoning.

[Bjs229]

Boiling, poaching, braising in a flavorful liquid absolutely penetrates into the product. IMHO Salting water properly is one of the most important steps in cooking. In most cases Salting food after the fact is too late. The salt just rides the outside and doesn't bring out optimum flavor.

When I hard boil eggs I heavily salt the water. The shell is porous and the egg actually takes in the salt. When blanching vegetables salted water is crucial!

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