# Too salty - ideas please!



## lulu (Feb 7, 2007)

I made a lovely split pea soup but its simply too salty, I presume this is the commercial powders stock as there is no meat or anything esle in there that could have made it salty and I have not added salt.  Its not aggressively salty, just more that I personally like and was wondering how anyone else would deal with it.  

FYI Ingrediants were:  red onion, carrots, celery, yellow split peas, powdered vegatable stock and thats it!  Simple huh?  

My first instinct is to add a little milk..


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## StirBlue (Feb 7, 2007)

You probably know that celery is full of natural salt.  My flour based sauces and gravies usually scream for salt, so you might mix some flour with cold water and add it to your soup.  (I would only add 1 tbsp of flour and then taste after about 15 min.  Give it time to work.)  Of course any other starch product might work the same I suppose like the instant potato that people are using as a thickener.


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## JDP (Feb 7, 2007)

StirBlue said:
			
		

> You probably know that celery is full of natural salt. My flour based sauces and gravies usually scream for salt, so you might mix some flour with cold water and add it to your soup. (I would only add 1 tbsp of flour and then taste after about 15 min. Give it time to work.) Of course any other starch product might work the same I suppose like the instant potato that people are using as a thickener.


 
I'm afraid that this will cause more thickening to what is already a thick soup, plus cause some texture changes an may not solve the saltiness problem. My suggestion is to cook off some more peas in plain water and add it to the other soup, this is the only real way to dilute the salt flavor. There other urban legends about puting potatoes in, adding sugar and many more, but for the most part they don't work.

JDP


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## Chopstix (Feb 7, 2007)

Add some lemon juice in the salty food.  Works for me!  Good luck!


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## boufa06 (Feb 7, 2007)

You can add some yoghurt to it.


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## JDP (Feb 7, 2007)

Before you try adding anything to your soup and changing your intended flavor or potentially ruining it. Try the ingredient with plain salt on your finger tip. Or mix up a glass of salt water tase it and then add your ingredient to that. If it doesn't take away the salty flavor there, it won't take it away from your soup. Like is said earlier just cook off a few more peas with plain water and add it to the original soup it will be delicious.

JDP


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## lulu (Feb 7, 2007)

Problem solved (thanks).  I had no more split peas so have diluted the soup with a heap of carrots, frozen peas and some water rather than stock.  I thyink the saltiness was this new brand of stock (I find the celery gives me just the amount of saltiness I like and this is a new brand for me, simply because I am out of my own stock today )  So now it is a two pea and vegetable soup, and tastes great.

Yoghurt would have been yummy but I didn't haver any in the fridge and lemon I would have tried but I want something less fresh tasting!


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## YT2095 (Feb 7, 2007)

I`m with JDP on this one also, add more unsalted peas and other things that you used that don`t contain it, it`ll be a Larger portion when done, but if it tastes nice after, there`s always Seconds


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## Toots (Feb 7, 2007)

I've always added a potato to soak up extra salt.  Has anyone else heard of doing this?


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## GB (Feb 7, 2007)

Toots that is actually an old wives tale. Check out this page.


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## Toots (Feb 7, 2007)

Thanks GB -


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## karadekoolaid (Feb 7, 2007)

lulu said:
			
		

> I made a lovely split pea soup but its simply too salty,... Its not aggressively salty, just more that I personally like and was wondering how anyone else would deal with it.
> FYI Ingredients were: red onion, carrots, celery, yellow split peas, powdered vegatable stock and thats it! Simple huh?


 
Lulu - I think the problem was the powdered veg. stock. I also do not know how much water you added, but that is secondary; you can always evaporate the water. 

Try this method: 

Melt some butter in the pan. add the onions, and fry gently until the onions wilt. Add the carrots and celery, and cook for 2 minutes. Now add the split peas, cook for another minute, and add a 1/2 tsp sea salt, and the water - cover the vegetables and add another 2 inches  of water, at least. Bring to the boil, and simmer for about 20 minutes. The split peas will have absorbed lots of water, so you can add more, half a cup at a time. Cook for another 6-8 minutes, then taste. You'll probably need more salt, so add a little more. Add more water, because you don't want a solid soup! When the peas are cooked (a wild guess would be 30-40 minutes), taste again. Look at the texture, too - if it's too thick, you'll need more water. Keep going AND tasting until your soup is the right texture and saltiness. 
The vegetables will release their natural salts, so the veg stock is irrelevant, for me. Taste again, then, just before serving, add a knob of butter, which will add a velvety texture to the soup. 
Now you can add a few fresh, chopped herbs, ( I love coriander with this soup) or a pinch of curry powder, or a "tarka" - quick fried, thinly sliced onions in butter, with a 1/2 tsp mustard seeds. 

Let us know, ok?


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## auntdot (Feb 7, 2007)

I agree the culprit is probably the vegetable stock powder.  Learned the hard way always to taste any type of powder, cubes, or base before adding it to anything.

Again all you can do is dilute it.

Good luck.


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## mudbug (Feb 7, 2007)

I pretty much make mine the way clive does, but I'm more impatient and add more water sooner.  

I also like a nice smoked ham hock in there to liven things up.


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## lulu (Feb 7, 2007)

Thanks all, yep, having made a cup of the stock powder up to taste it was that that was the culprit, and Clive, I'll try your methed next time.  I usually make mine with ham too, but wanted something non meaty today, just to be awkward.

In the end, padding it out with carrots and lots of frozen peas did the job quite well and had I been bread dunking it would have done even better, but the whole point was to have a non meat non bread comforting food meal!  Thanks everyone, I love it so much that there is always someone to help on the spot here


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## kitchenelf (Feb 7, 2007)

Well, I would have been on the list of those people that would have suggested add lemon.  It may have brightened the flavor in the beginning but eventually it would have toned down.  Glad you could salvage it lulu - that's the most important thing!


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## Robo410 (Feb 7, 2007)

the only thing to do is what you did, add more plain unsalted stock or water and veggies.  Potato doesn't "soak up salt" but if unsalted it helps mitigate saltiness as would any vegetable added to the soup base (assuming you chop it up and cook it in the soup etc.)


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## Katie H (Feb 7, 2007)

GB said:
			
		

> Toots that is actually an old wives tale. Check out this page.



Don't know about this.  Regardless of research/testing, etc.

Recently I had a bit of a problem with too much salt in my broth.  I peeled some russet potatoes and cut them into 1/4-inch slices and added them to the pot.

I'm a raw potato eater and had a couple of bites before I added them to my broth.  No salt taste at all.  After about 20 minutes in the pot, I removed the potato slices.  They were very salty-tasting and my broth was noticeably less salty.  Just my experience for what it's worth.


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## GB (Feb 7, 2007)

Yes the potatoes do soak up salt _but not selectively_. Think of what would happen if you put a sponge in the soup and tasted the sponge. It would taste salty as well. It soaks up salt, but it does not _only_ pull salt out. The concentration of salt in the soup remains the same. 

The only way to make something less salty is to dilute the mixture.

That being said, if it works for you Katie then keep doing it


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## Mrs. Cuillo (Feb 10, 2007)

GB said:
			
		

> Toots that is actually an old wives tale. Check out this page.


 
That was pretty interesting!!  It makes sense now that I read it!!  Thanks for the link!!


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## GB (Feb 10, 2007)

My pleasure Mrs. Cuillo. If you enjoyed reading that then check out his books. That was an excerpt for one of them. The rest of the books are just as fascinating.


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## Mrs. Cuillo (Feb 10, 2007)

Does he only work with food myths or does he do other things as well??


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## mudbug (Feb 10, 2007)

Mrs. Cuillo said:
			
		

> Does he only work with food myths or does he do other things as well??



_ Robert L. Wolke (www.professorscience.com) is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. His latest book is "What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions" (Dell Publications, $11.95). Send your kitchen questions to wolke@pitt.edu.

_He has a column every Wednesday in the _Washington Post _Food section.


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## GB (Feb 10, 2007)

And just to continue on what Mudbug said, his first book was "What Einstein Told His Cook". They are all about food science.


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## cookmaster69 (Feb 16, 2007)

you put a piece of bread into the soup and it soaks up a lot of the salts
then you ad a tsp of pepper and it evens things out


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## jennyema (Feb 16, 2007)

cookmaster69 said:
			
		

> you put a piece of bread into the soup and it soaks up a lot of the salts
> then you ad a tsp of pepper and it evens things out


 
Bread is the same as a potato or a kitchen sponge-- it just soaks up liquid.  It does not selectively absorb salt.  Just removing some of the liquid with a ladle is faster and more effective than using bread or a potato or a sponge.


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## luvs (Feb 16, 2007)

you could cook another batch & combine them.


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