Peel a large potato and put it in. It will soak up the salt like a sponge.

Yea, Teresa.....thanks.

There really isn't much you can do, short of diluting your broth.

It is an old wives tale that a potato will remove salt from liquid. Actually all the potato will do is absorb some of the liquid.

Ann

Try the potato - what have you got to lose?

Teresa

I sense a soup coming on.

I guess I thought that everyone knew that the potato trick was an old wive's tale.

But hey go for it. All you have to lose is a little of the broth that the potato will absorb.

The remaining broth will be just as salty as before.

If you don't believe me read this:

Can you Save a Salty Soup

asolo - and soup may be what you have in the end. And what would be wrong with that?

Teresa

Thinking vegetables and other additions....we'll see.

ann t.....you are relentless!

And thanks for all.

You, too, Teresa. Thanks for checking in. I will not enter into the dispute other than my appreciation.

Make a wonderful beef based soup, maybe a minestrone. Add tomatoes along with all the other vegetables. Just make sure that you don't add anything that has more salt.

Here is a basic outline:

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Minestrone Soup
===============
Very Rich Beef Broth, preferrably homemade, but canned will work

Olive oil
Garlic
Onions
Celery
Carrots
Green beans
Spinach
Zucchini
Canned tomatoes
Parlsey
Basil
Oregano
Chick Peas
Kidney Beans
Small pasta
Homemade pesto
Parmesan Cheese

(optional)

I like to add some broccoli and cauliflower to my minnestrone soup as well.
. Make Beef broth or use canned

saute onions, celery, carrots in olive oil, add garlic and add beef
broth and canned tomatoes and parsley. Season with basil and salt and
pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes and then add green beans, zucchini and
simmer for another 20 minutes.( if using broccoli or cauliflower add
now as well) Add kidney beans and chickpeas and spinach.

Cook the pasta separately.

To serve laddle soup into bowls, add some of the cooked pasta and a
dollop of pesto and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Excuse me? Relentless? I thought you were looking for accurate advice on how to remove salt from broth?

Ann

asolo - there was no dispute going on. You asked a question and two people gave their opinions.

On another note - Ann's recipe looks much like the way I cook - especially soup. When people ask me for a recipe I cringe. I don't use exact amounts particularly when it comes to aromatic things like celery. You can buy celery that is very fragrant or some with no smell at all. I had 30 celery plants in pots on my deck this summer. Neighbors 2 houses away came over to ask what smelled so good.

There is no definitive answer when it comes to "how much" of some ingredients.

The photo of the soup is fantastic.

Now I know how I'll use my bones from yesterday's dinner. DH said, "I know you'll come up with something yummy". He doesn't know that CF is my secret weapon.

I have to admit, I've heard the rumor so many times but haven't tried it enough to prove one way or another. I will say that when I overseason something I haven't found a way to remedy it short of recreating a recipe. For instance, overly spicy sloppy joes, adding more sauce to dilute isn't a cure, makes too much slop. Adding more meat then you have to add more other schtuff. I usually live with or toss the mistakes and chant a "ohhhhh-don't-overseason...ohhhh-don't-overseason" chant while cooking.

Thanks Ann. Interesting reading. But I'm still in disagreement on seasoning pasta water. I prefer to season the pasta when it comes out of the water. For me, and it's unscientific, seems I have better control over the salt. And I guess I like to season potatoes afterward too. I don't feel like I have much control when I have it in the water. Although it seems like it does season it better according to the link. Maybe I need to experiment a bit more

Ann t & Teresa

Relentless.....dispute.....etc.....

Thought I was being cute. Obviously didn't work. In any event, didn't mean anything bad by any of it. I appreciate your responses.

Ann is relentless when it comes to a search for the truth about a cooking method.

And frankly saying you don't salt the pasta water or the water for boiling potatoes is rather like saying you never add any seasoning to something cooking because youa re afraid you will add too much.
Pasta or potatoes are extremely bland without salt...and salting the cooking water gets flavor to thec enter of the food rather than sitting on the outside.
As someone....think it was Julia...but maybe Alton....said. "don't forget to salt your cooking water, because it's the only chance you will get to get flavor throughout the pasta...anything you add later just site on the outside."
Linda C

I think it depends on how much sauce vs how much pasta.

If you are heavy with the sauce, so that every bite will have plenty of sauce, then salting only the sauce is sufficient.

If you are light with the sauce, so that some bites will be mostly pasta, then it is nice to have some salt in the pasta. And you can use less salt in the sauce.

I also think it is hard to ''over-salt'' the pasta by salting the cooking water. Even when I've dumped what seemed like a large amount of salt into the water, after draining, the pasta was only faintly salted.

FYI.....no waste in this household!

Diluted slightly with water (still too salty) added celery, peas, onion, carrot and noodles and cooked to al dente. Cooked potatoes separately, diced and added at the last. The overall dilution/absorption worked quite well. Individual flavors popped right out and the broth retained its richness and character while, apparently, giving up the over-salt to the additions. I wouldn't start a restaurant with my hodge-podge soup but it was actually quite good. My 98-year-young mommy certainly gobbled it and smiled.

The balance will be strained and saved for my next rib-poaching.

Asolo, glad your soup turned out well.

Johnliu, I don't agree about not needing to salt the pasta water if you are heavy on the sauce. The only way to get pasta well salted is to salt the water so it can cook "into" the pasta. I hear what you are saying though and think it does make "some" difference if the sauce is heavy.

Beverly

It's possible to oversalt the cooking water when making pasta....really it is! LOL! It can happen when the lid falls off the huge kitchen salt shaker into the boiling pasta.
But if you don't think ti matters whether you salt your pasta or not...try it both ways....side by side.
One pot of water salted so it tastes about as salty as the ocean and the other with no salt. Cook the pasta and add the same sauce to both and taste. Unless your sauce is over salted, I think you'll agree, salted pasta water makes tastier pasta. That's why cook books and chefs on cooking shows recommend you salt the pasta water.
Linda C

Actually, I agree with both. I suggest carefully tasting the main dish before hand and leaving the pasta prep until last. Unsalted or barely salted pasta can really help tone down an over-salted or over-spiced main dish or sauce at the plate. Embarrassed to say I've been compelled to rescue more than one meal that way. Kinda leaves your taste buds someplace to run.

Looking forward to the time when I make everything correctly the first time. The day has not arrived.

I'm glad you were able to make something of the broth.

asolo, I'm glad your soup turned out well, I've tried the potato trick and it did not work for me.

Ah, but I never salt the water for potatoes or pasta either, I prefer to salt after they are cooked.

Annie

Yo, annie1992.....apparently we're on the same page.

Thing is, salt's easy. Getting out from underneath too much of it is the problem. That's where I was.

We have trained our taste buds to not like salty things, for the most part. I don't salt pasta water or rice and we like it fine. No table salt either. A lot of restaurant food is typically too salty for us, though not all.
With Dad on blood pressure medicine and DH who needs to be on it desperatly, salt is a luxury not a necessity.

Many moons ago, I thought Rice a Roni (fried rice particularly) was delicious. Now, if I make it ( yes, I do make it once in a while! Get over it) I use 1/4 of the seasoning package and think it has plenty of flavor.

bumblebeez, Dad had high blood pressure and so I stopped salting the potato and pasta water and I got used to it and even like potatoes better that way. I don't care for pasta either.

Now that I'm on blood pressure meds myself, I keep trying to back off the salt, so I guess I'm glad I learned to cook things that way for Dad.

Annie