SC - Pomegranite Chicken

[Phil & Susan Troy]

LYN M PARKINSON wrote:
> 
> I was always taught
> that salt will toughen meat; don't salt the meat when you first put it on
> to cook.  I would have waited with the salt until the chicken was brown,
> by which time it would also have made a little liquid with its juices and
> the oil, then salted.  The salt would dissolve in the ;iquid, helping it
> to penetrate the partially cooked chicken.
> 
> What do others do?  What do our professional cooks learn is the right
> way?  Salting first is easier, if you're doing a 'toss it all together'
> dish. or doing things to prep your meat before cooking--washing off the
> chicken bits and drying, etc.

Given that you can always adjust the seasoning by adding more salt at any
stage of the game, when cooking for large numbers it would seem sensible to
add it no earlier than midway through the process. One thing that occurs to me
is that if you're doing an assembly-line type of thing, where you're browning
something in fat and then finishing cooking the browned pieces in another pan,
to reuse the browning pan, salt will eventually cause the fat to deteriorate,
which can lead to off flavors and a decreased smokepoint. I was taught to
avoid using salt in marinades, as a general thing, except for various cures
and brine pickles.

For small batches of browned or sauteed items, salting first is probably
harmless. And, as has been mentioned earlier, the addition of each subsequent
ingredient to the pan changes the total mass of the cooked food, so you'll
need to adjust the seasoning at least once before serving. 

Adamantius
Østgardr, East
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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