[0 - 1] - You might think that after cooking with salt
[1 - 3] for thousands of years,
[3 - 4] we wouldn't have all that much left to learn,
[4 - 6] but that is not the case.
[6 - 7] The more we tinker with salt,
[7 - 10] the more we stumble upon its seemingly boundless potential.
[10 - 11] I personally love all things salt,
[11 - 13] but there are five unique uses for it
[13 - 15] that I think every cook should know.
[15 - 16] We're gonna talk
[16 - 17] about how salt can make vegetables cook faster,
[17 - 19] preserve fresh herbs so you never waste them,
[19 - 21] chill foods rapidly,
[21 - 23] make the creamiest, best beans you've ever had,
[23 - 26] and perfect your morning coffee and your evening cocktail.
[27 - 30] Man, salt has a pretty impressive resume. You're hired.
[30 - 33] (light mellow music)
[33 - 36] The salt we know and love and sprinkle on steaks, popcorn,
[36 - 39] and, well, everything, is sodium chloride,
[39 - 41] one of the most abundant and vital minerals on Earth.
[41 - 43] But while the two halves of the ionic compound
[43 - 45] might seem inseparable, they can and do split
[45 - 47] when salt is dissolved back into water,
[47 - 49] and each has special powers of its own.
[49 - 51] Chloride ions do most of the work
[51 - 54] when it comes to tenderizing lean meats during brining.
[54 - 55] And sodium ions,
[55 - 57] well, let's get right to one of their superpowers.
[57 - 59] One of the first lessons I learned in culinary school
[59 - 61] was that if you're blanching vegetables,
[61 - 63] you want the water to be as salty as the sea.
[63 - 64] But here's the thing.
[64 - 68] The sea is really salty, between 3 and 4% salinity.
[68 - 70] Almost no one uses that much salt
[70 - 71] when it comes to cooking vegetables,
[71 - 73] but it turns out, they should.
[73 - 75] As food science writer Harold McGee explains
[75 - 78] in his indispensable tome, "On Food and Cooking,"
[78 - 80] blanching vegetables in super salty water,
[80 - 81] not only seasons them thoroughly,
[81 - 83] but also makes them cook faster.
[83 - 85] That's right, the intense salty water
[85 - 87] actually tenderizes them more quickly,
[87 - 89] which means they take less time to cook
[89 - 91] and retain their bright green color.
[91 - 92] Check out this experiment.
[92 - 95] I cooked two batches of green beans until they were tender
[95 - 97] in two different salt water concentrations.
[97 - 99] This first batch took about 12 minutes to turn tender
[99 - 101] in water with about 1% salt.
[101 - 104] And as you can see, the bean is olive green drab.
[104 - 106] But this bean from the other batch,
[106 - 108] which I cooked in a 4% salt water solution
[108 - 110] for about seven minutes is equally tender
[110 - 112] and so much brighter green.
[112 - 115] And no, this bean is not too salty.
[115 - 117] Because it cooks faster, it has less time to absorb salt,
[117 - 119] and some of the salt washes off
[119 - 121] when we shock the beans in an ice bath.
[121 - 123] They really just taste more green beany.
[123 - 124] Here's why this works.
[124 - 126] Cell walls and plants are held together by pectin,
[126 - 128] which acts like a sort of glue.
[128 - 131] And that glue is strengthened by calcium ions,
[131 - 132] which are also in the beans.
[132 - 134] When we cook beans or other vegetables in salt water,
[134 - 137] some of the sodium ions in the salt displace some
[137 - 140] of the calcium ions, so that the vegetables soften easily.
[140 - 142] The saltier the water, the faster they'll soften,
[142 - 144] and the more beautifully bright green they'll be
[144 - 145] when they're done.
[145 - 147] Here's our handy salt water formula.
[147 - 150] For every quart of water, add two tablespoons of table salt.
[150 - 154] That's 960 grams of water to 46 grams of salt.
[154 - 157] This trick will make blanched vegetables shine
[157 - 158] on a crudités spread.
[158 - 159] But one of my favorite ways
[159 - 162] to show off perfectly crisp-tender, bright green beans
[162 - 164] is this vibrant salad with cherry tomatoes and feta.
[164 - 167] We'll toss our blanched beans with half cherry tomatoes,
[167 - 170] chopped fresh mint and parsley, lemon juice,
[170 - 171] and a little salt and pepper.
[171 - 173] Then we just transfer it to a serving platter
[173 - 175] and sprinkle it with crumbled feta.
[175 - 178] The grassy sweet beans, tangy tomatoes, fresh herbs,
[178 - 179] and that ripe dairy richness
[179 - 182] of the feta work so well together.
[182 - 183] Yum, yum, yum.
[183 - 185] Okay, next up, we tackle food waste.
[185 - 188] I love fresh herbs, and I hate how often they turn wet
[188 - 190] and soggy in my fridge.
[190 - 192] It's a bummer on every level.
[192 - 194] And salt can make it a thing of the past.
[194 - 195] Enter herb finishing salts.
[195 - 198] Making them is an easy way to use up heaps of herbs
[198 - 201] and preserve their lovely flavor in one fell swoop.
[201 - 202] And there's such a treat to have on hand
[202 - 204] for topping popcorn, meat and fish,
[204 - 206] or even rimming a cocktail glass.
[206 - 207] And they make great gifts too
[207 - 208] if you pack them into pretty jars.
[208 - 211] I love this method because it's almost entirely hands off.
[211 - 215] Salt and time, that's T-I-M-E, not the herb,
[215 - 216] do pretty much all of the work,
[216 - 219] drawing moisture out of the herbs via osmosis.
[219 - 220] It doesn't even require heat,
[220 - 222] so the herbs become shelf stable
[222 - 224] without losing their volatile aroma compounds.
[224 - 225] Check out how easy this is.
[225 - 227] I've got one cup of fresh dill here
[227 - 229] and half a cup of Maldon flake salt,
[229 - 231] which we love for its delicate crunch,
[231 - 232] but any nice sea salt
[232 - 234] or even Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt works fine.
[234 - 237] All you do is finally chop the dill, mix it with the salt,
[237 - 238] and spread the mixture out
[238 - 240] on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
[240 - 243] We'll let it sit for 36 to 48 hours at room temperature
[243 - 244] out of direct sunlight.
[244 - 246] Every 12 hours, you wanna stir the mixture
[246 - 248] so that the herbs dry evenly.
[248 - 250] And when it's done, you rub the mixture
[250 - 252] between your hands to break up any clumps.
[252 - 253] And that is, that's it.
[253 - 255] They keep for two months.
[255 - 256] So think of these around the holidays
[256 - 259] when you wanna get your DIY gifting prep done early,
[259 - 262] or just keep them around for movie night popcorn like I do.
[262 - 264] Nothing goes better with herby popcorn
[264 - 266] than a chilled glass of wine, right?
[266 - 267] Look, just say, yes.
[267 - 268] I need help with this transition.
[268 - 269] We've all been there.
[269 - 270] You invite friends over
[270 - 272] and realize you forgot to chill your wine.
[272 - 274] You all end up tossing ice cubes in the glass,
[274 - 278] and we all laugh about it, but deep down, we're sad
[278 - 280] because we know the wine is suffering big time.
[280 - 281] But what's the alternative?
[281 - 282] Stashing the bottle in the freezer
[282 - 284] can take the better part of an hour
[284 - 287] to drop the wine's temperature down to the 50-degree target.
[287 - 288] An ice bath works faster,
[288 - 290] but we can do even better than that.
[290 - 292] Enter our main character, salt.
[292 - 295] Adding salt to an ice bath will make it significantly colder
[295 - 297] as it lowers the freezing point of water.
[297 - 299] And you can harness that additional cooling power
[299 - 300] for faster chilling.
[300 - 301] Check out this experiment.
[301 - 304] The formula I use is one pound of ice,
[304 - 306] 1/2 a cup of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt,
[306 - 308] and 1/3 of a cup of water.
[308 - 311] If you're using grams, that's 450 grams of ice,
[311 - 314] 80 grams of salt, and 80 grams of water.
[314 - 316] And I've tripled the formula to fill this bain-marie.
[316 - 317] In the other, I've got an equal amount
[317 - 319] of unsalted ice and water.
[319 - 322] We pop identical bottles of room temperature white wine
[322 - 324] with temperature probes in each,
[324 - 325] and we'll see how long it takes
[325 - 327] for the wines to hit our target of 50 degrees.
[327 - 329] Notice that I'm agitating the bottles,
[329 - 331] which constantly refreshes the water
[331 - 333] that is touching the bottle with colder water.
[333 - 334] With or without salt,
[334 - 336] agitation will always speed up chilling.
[336 - 338] Okay, this bottle in the salty ice bath got down
[338 - 340] to 46 degrees in about 10 minutes,
[340 - 343] and the bath itself hit 18 degrees.
[343 - 344] That's very cold.
[344 - 346] Look how frosty the bain-marie itself got.
[346 - 347] Now, compare that to the regular ice bath.
[348 - 350] After 10 minutes, the wine is still 60 degrees,
[350 - 352] and the ice bath itself is 32 degrees.
[352 - 355] Now this is just for demonstration purposes,
[355 - 357] and you can actually chill wine even faster.
[357 - 359] Our senior science research editor, Paul Adams,
[359 - 362] has gotten the job done in seven minutes flat
[362 - 363] without salting the ice water
[363 - 365] by laying the bottle down on its side
[365 - 368] in a long storage container filled with an ice bath
[368 - 370] and circulating the water with an aquarium pump.
[370 - 372] But if for some strange reason,
[372 - 373] you don't have the tools for that set up,
[373 - 375] salting the ice bath is the way to go.
[375 - 377] A salted ice bath is a great way
[377 - 379] to rapidly lower the temperature of other beverages
[379 - 382] like iced tea, soups or stews destined for the freezer,
[382 - 385] and raw meat that you wanna freeze as quickly as possible
[385 - 388] to prevent the formation of large ice crystals
[388 - 389] that could damage its texture.
[389 - 391] And there you have it, my favorite party trick.
[391 - 393] Now, nothing goes better with chilled wine
[393 - 395] than a pot of lovely creamy beans.
[395 - 396] Okay, even I'll admit that one
[396 - 397] was a little bit of a stretch.
[397 - 399] But I love this tip.
[399 - 401] Now, this is similar science to our first lesson
[401 - 402] on blanching green vegetables
[402 - 405] in that sodium ions are replacing calcium ions
[405 - 406] in the bean's skins.
[406 - 409] This weakens the pectin, so the skins are more tender,
[409 - 411] but with dry beans, we come at it from a different angle.
[411 - 413] And that angle is brining.
[413 - 415] First, I just wanna make clear that salt
[415 - 417] does not make beans tough.
[417 - 419] That's a myth that needs to go away right now.
[419 - 421] On the contrary, brining dried beans,
[421 - 423] instead of just soaking them in plain water,
[423 - 426] helps them cook up intact, but still tender and creamy.
[426 - 428] That's because the brined, more tender beans skins
[428 - 432] can stretch as the bean's starchy interior absorbs water
[432 - 433] and swells during cooking.
[433 - 435] Think of it like giving your beans stretchy pants
[435 - 436] instead of jeans.
[436 - 437] Without that stretchiness,
[437 - 439] the skin's rupture like little water balloons
[439 - 440] that burst when you fill them up too much.
[440 - 441] Check out this experiment.
[441 - 444] I've got two pounds of dried red kidney beans
[444 - 445] that I soaked overnight.
[445 - 447] Anywhere from eight to 24 hours is great.
[447 - 449] One pound soaked in a brine
[449 - 450] that I made with two quarts of water
[450 - 452] and 1 1/2 tablespoons of table salt.
[452 - 456] That's 450 grams of beans, 1.9 kilograms of water,
[456 - 457] and 34 grams of salt.
[457 - 460] The other soaked in an equal amount of unsalted water.
[460 - 462] Then I simmer each batch until the beans were tender.
[462 - 465] You can see a lot of these unbrined beans ruptured
[465 - 467] and blew out, while the brine ones are intact,
[467 - 468] but still super creamy.
[468 - 470] These are the beans that I want.
[470 - 471] You know what?
[471 - 473] It's time for our final salt magic trick
[473 - 476] and a cup of coffee, or maybe prefer a cocktail?
[476 - 479] We humans are hardwired to recognize bitterness
[479 - 480] as a signal for danger.
[480 - 482] In plants, for example,
[482 - 484] bitter tasting compounds called alkaloids
[484 - 487] are chemical defenders meant to deter predators like us
[487 - 488] from eating it.
[488 - 491] And our taste receptors are extremely sensitive to it.
[491 - 493] That bitterness on its own is pretty unpleasant
[493 - 494] to most of us,
[494 - 496] but when we soften its edges with elements like sugar,
[496 - 498] fat, acidity, and salt,
[498 - 501] bitterness reads as pleasant depth and complexity.
[501 - 503] Salt doesn't just balance or cover up bitterness.
[503 - 505] It limits the ability for bitter messages
[505 - 506] to make it to our brains.
[506 - 507] And when that happens,
[507 - 509] we can taste other less prominent flavors.
[509 - 512] Two of my favorite examples, coffee and cocktails.
[512 - 513] If you're a coffee drinker,
[513 - 517] try adding a pinch of salt to your morning cup, hot or iced,
[517 - 519] and give it a quick stir to dissolve the salt.
[519 - 521] Or if you're brewing a full pot,
[521 - 524] you can add 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt to the ground coffee.
[524 - 526] I also love what salt can do for a negroni,
[526 - 527] the iconic Italian cocktail
[527 - 529] that features the citrusy bitterness of Campari.
[529 - 531] In this case, I like to make a saline solution
[531 - 534] so the salt is precisely measured and completely dissolved
[534 - 537] and add it directly to the glass with a dropper.
[537 - 538] It's a 20% solution that you make
[538 - 541] by mixing 80 grams of water with 20 grams of salt.
[541 - 543] You start to dissolve the salt
[543 - 545] and add one to three drops per cocktail like this.
[545 - 547] This just makes the flavors pop,
[547 - 549] and it also balances out that bitter edge.
[549 - 552] You can also keep the bottle of saline solution right there
[552 - 553] with your other bar supplies,
[553 - 554] so you always have it at the ready.
[554 - 555] At the negroni ready.
[555 - 557] You can also use the saline for your coffee.
[557 - 560] Wow, I have so many nice salty options to choose from,
[560 - 562] but I think I'm gonna stick with this negroni
[562 - 566] because this is one of the finest ways to eat salt.
[566 - 568] (light mellow music)
[568 - 569] Thank you so much for watching.
[569 - 570] I wanna know what did I miss.
[570 - 572] Let me know your favorite lesser known uses for salt
[572 - 574] in the kitchen in the comments.
[574 - 576] And if you just learned a new trick from this video,
[576 - 578] I'd love to know which one or which ones.
[578 - 580] Don't forget to hit like, subscribe,
[580 - 581] and check out the link below to grab recipes
[581 - 584] from this episode and every episode of the show.
[584 - 587] Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time.