How to desalt food: practical and simple tips

Who never had trouble in the kitchen, right? And it would not be an exaggeration to say that salt is responsible for many of them: whether in the food that has become too salty, or in the ingredient that needs to have the excess salt removed before consumption.

And it’s exactly to make your days in the kitchen a little easier that we’ve brought you some techniques on how to desalt food. Check out!

1. With hot water

When we buy jerky and jerky, they are quite salty. Thus, it is necessary to desalt it before use and consumption. That’s why we selected this technique especially for you to desalt meat in a practical way.

Step by step: The first step is to clean and cut the jerky or jerky into the desired size. Then you must put the meat in a pan and cover it with water. After approximately 10 minutes, carefully discard the water and repeat this procedure two more times. Then just prepare your meat normally – usually people cook it under pressure for about half an hour, to make it more tender.

2. With ice water

When we talk about preparing a recipe with cod, the first thing that comes to our mind is how to desalt this meat. Thinking about it, we brought you this technique that uses cold water.

Step by step: Place a bowl of water in the fridge and wait for it to freeze. Put some ice cubes in this cold water and then put the cod to soak in it. Leave it in the fridge. After approximately 4 hours, repeat the procedure. Remember to change the cod in the bowl (with cold water and ice) and not just change the water in the bowl the cod is in. This process must be repeated every 4 hours for smaller pieces and every 8 hours for larger pieces until the cod is desalted, which can take from 6 to 72 hours, depending on the height and cut of the pieces.

3. With running water

Has it ever happened to you that, when you see the point of the pasta, you notice that you used too much salt at the time of cooking? Well, it can happen and the solution to this problem is much simpler than we think!

Step by step: Wash the noodles in cold running water and that’s it! Because it is a thin mass, the sodium does not penetrate as much, remaining in the outer layer – which makes it easier to eliminate it during the “washing”.

4. With salt

It may seem strange to suggest desalting a food using salt, right? But calm down, science explains: it is the physical process of osmosis, in which the saturated water (with salt) causes the moisture of the food to leave, bringing with it the excess salt.

Step by step: First, for 10 minutes, place the food in a bowl and leave it under a stream of running water. After that, drain the liquid and place the meat in a pan with water until it covers it. Add 3 tablespoons of salt for every 1 kg of food and place the pan over medium heat. When the foam appears, turn off the oven, set it for 1 minute and then throw the water out and wash the meat until all the foam is removed.

5. With potato

Who has never “missed the hand” in preparing lunch and exaggerated when salting the rice, for example? Well, it can happen and, before you think about discarding your preparation, try the technique that uses potatoes.

Step by step: To correct the amount of excess salt in a stew or broth-based preparation, we can put a whole potato in it (well washed and with the skin) that will absorb some of the salt. When the potato is cooked, just remove it, and it will have already accomplished this “task”.

6. With milk

Using milk to desalt cod, for example, is one of the most practical ways to do this.

Step by step: First, soak what you want to desalt in a bowl of cold milk and soak in it for 3 hours. Drain the milk and that’s it, your food is ready to be prepared. It is worth remembering that there are people who do not discard, but use this milk later, in the preparation of the chosen recipe.

7. With cabbage leaves

Cabbage leaves to desalt beans? That’s right! The leaves “suck up” the excess salt.

Step by step: Put the cabbage leaves inside the preparation (beans, broth, soup) and take it to the fire. When it boils, remove the leaves and that’s it!

See how, sometimes, the solution to what we consider a “culinary problem” can be simpler than we think? Phew, food is much tastier when we season it with salt in the right amount, free from excesses – as in many things in life.