With a few notable exceptions I prefer salt “in” my food not “on” it. Salt is never on my table unless it’s an intentional finishing salt. I find oversalting far more off-putting than undersalting. If I had to make a rule of thumb, it would be about half the salt called for in a recipe, less if there are other salty ingredients. I often find myself thinking about how many servings I’m making, and decide if dividing the salt amount by that number sounds excessive. (I do that with fats, too.)

Pepper, now for some reason I tend to over-pepper. I try to remind myself of that when I cook.

Herbs I’ll try to add, or re-add, towards the end of cooking so that there’s some bright flavor. Esp if it’s a long-simmering sauce or something.

Pepper will do that. I've started making a pepper seasoning fresh ground 80% with a bit of coriander, cumin, red pepper flake, spice grinder together after toasting. Almost a fine grind. No salt. And just a pinch in most things while cooking. Other seasonings per the dish requirements. I've been salting pasta and beans but not too much. Salt at the table but rarely need it. Nice though to have a finishing salt where one bit of salty mixes with non-salty.

I suppose I could add to the list oils, fats, and butter. Dressings and marinades. Sugars. Salty condiments like soy sauce. Anything extreme I see in recipes.

I can tell in a recipe when any of the above has a 1/4 cup or more, I have to cut it down to ONE Tbsp. I can always adjust later. As well as amounts needed.

I made a sauce last week for cod cakes, A dressing for a slaw. Royally messed up the cod cake mix by adding too much of the 'moisture' dressing mix. The slaw/kimchi I just added more cabbage. Cod cakes I saved by adding a slice of chopped up boule from the freezer and an egg.

We prep ahead Saturday or Sunday morning, then again Wednesday or Thursday night. Soak some grains and/or a few beans varieties. Dressings, sauces. Asian, Peruvian, Korean, etc. Constantly restraining myself to add dressings slowly, then stop when it seems right. (they all keep for a week at least)

Don't care for oily or tooo buttery food. Don't do the classic salad dressing with 2/3rd oil and 1/3rd vinegar/citrus. More citrus and less oil and less of it overall. I like to enjoy fresh food not smothered in oil.

My BIL, (adorable, giant heart, 30yrs teaching special needs elementary) visited after some summer work in kitchens and used 2 lbs of butter in 10 days. Qrt of olive oil.

Only family member that cooks and such a treat but eggs and steak and potatoes and fresh caught fish....sooo much butter I don't care for. Not about calories...I like pure food, I like an egg, a fresh caught fish, a garden veg, fresh greens, a simple potato, without a half pound of butter. Oily fresh salad greens. No thanks.

When I lived in Italy way ahead of 'dressing-on-the-side', lovely fresh greens were so oily the greens were lost. Boat-loads of large grain salt.

I agree with FOAS...salt in the food vs on it. I season food with s&p as I move along being careful not to overdo it. With the exception of dried herbs, I agree fresh ones are best added toward the end. I love Ina Garten but she tends to be heavy handed with salt.

OTOH, I do think certain items just require more salt, such as pasta and potatoes. Most potato salads I taste are way under seasoned. I season the boiling water for the potatoes pretty heavily, then taste when they're done. I almost always have to add more salt. I also add a generous splash of white wine vinegar when the potatoes are still hot.

Just thinking of something else for adding later. I often add a tablespoon or two of red (or white) wine vinegar to soups at the end for a little more zip of flavor. Just depends on the soup I'm making.

Ditto ... salt in the food, not on it. The one exception would be popcorn.

How do you get salt inside a baked potato? Or do you eat them without salt? I sometimes eat potatoes without salt, and the same for squash and corn. I find that salt on these (and a few other vegetables) detracts from the natural sweetness of the vegetable. I do not consider it a flavor enhancer.

I like to add herbs at the end (such as parsley and basil) or else the flavor gets cooked out. I also often cut the salt in a new recipe in half, as I find that most people like more salt than I do. I pretty much never add salt at the table, but I will add pepper. The flavor of pepper changes when it is cooked, and sometimes I want that change and sometimes I do not. I often prefer to add olive oil at the end also. When I sauté mushrooms, I add pepper (and sometimes dried thyme) while cooking, but I never add pepper to cooked mushrooms. I also do not add any salt to mushrooms, but I will often add a bit of white wine at the end and allow that to evaporate.

If I want salt on a baked potato, I have no problem with the salt being on the food instead of in it. I sometimes add sumac to rice after it is cooked but never before, and I have some za'atar that I add to some dishes at the table. Other spice mixtures I add during the cooking process. I made pita bread last night and added za'atar to the pita before baking it, and I did not remember that I had pepper or chili powder in the za'atar, as I store it in the freezer, since it has sesame seeds in it. I also made hummus, and I often add extra ingredients to hummus after it has been made, particularly olives and maybe a bit more olive oil.

When I make fresh pasta, I add salt to the dough and none to the cooking water.

I wonder if I’ve had a baked potato in the past decade? Probably not. But I pretty much mash them up with butter (and yes salt) to where at that point it’s “in” for all intents and purposes. Come to think of it, that’s probably why it’s not a food I care for much - have to play with it too much to enjoy it!

How do you get salt inside a baked potato? Or do you eat them without salt?

I only eat baked sweet potatoes and add salted butter when done.

Like I said there’s times it’s fine sprinkled on. I wouldn’t care much for an unsalted soft pretzel. Or perhaps worse, unsalted fries. I do like salt bagels. But what all these things have in common is that they are intentionally vehicles for salt. I’ll sprinkle some Maldon salt on my eggs, and other things. But again, that is to have the salt be a pronounced flavor. It’s not to make up for poorly executed cooking.

LOL, FOAS, you could take chocolate from me with no problem. Baked potatoes??? NEVER!!! Actually, potatoes in general.

Obviously certain things, like baked potatoes, have to be cooked before seasoning. As FOAS said, you just mix the salt "in." There's always mashed or twice-baked you season well during prep. With twice-baked, I also season the inside of the skins before adding the potato filling back in.

Due to a nasty sore throat many years ago, my taste buds were fried and EVERYTHING tasted extremely salty for over a year! I completely gave up salt, and have been slow to re-introduce it into my diet! In fact I checked my last purchase of salt and it was dated 2004! LOL

I still have to request no finishing salt when eating out!

Hubby got used to it and added salt as needed. We used a lot of home grown herbs to flavor our food. When I cooked for others I explained that I don't use salt in cooking and always had it available.

We watch a lot of the cooking shows and wonder about many of these chef's blood pressure! RR literally uses handfuls in every level of her dishes!

Yeah, I can understand that dishes need some "seasoning", but I think the pro's go overboard!

It seems also that west coast chefs use a lot less salt than east coast chefs. I don't think--but don't know--that our vegetables are that much saltier. It's just that they love salt! I never salt or pepper at the table except for red meat. I really dislike chops or steaks that are seasoned before cooking. It requires finishing salt (if it requires salt at all) and I hate it when the outside is salty and the inside is bland and wan. So I'm definitely with the salt in crowd. But not much of it!

Re adding at the table, I agree with most of Lars's examples, though I haven't tried the sumac on rice thing. A little lemon squeezed on basmati improves it greatly (unless it's Persian flavored rice which should already be mighty tasty). I'll have to try the sumac. I do like condiments and sauces, however, whether in or on. The right addenda can make the same ol' something new and exciting. Sometimes, I'll use a dry spice in place of a condiment, but that's ad hoc.

I simply don't understand the incredible amounts of salt big name chefs put on steak prior to cooking. YES it does all get absorbed. I once made hangar steak the Gordon Ramsey way - thinking maybe I should try it - and it was barely edible.

YES, add SOME prior to cooking. Any extra can be added at the table by the diner.

The only food I add an excess of salt to, is most potatoes (an exception is Yukon golds), and yes I do that at the table so as not to put everyone else out. Russets otherwise taste like cardboard, IMHO. I joke that if I ever develop high blood pressure, I'll have to give up potatoes.

Things I NEVER salt: omelets, scrambled eggs, chicken. (Okay some of the condiments I cook with MAY have salt in them, but having that salt is no means necessary for my enjoyment.

Other seasonings: Some, as in the Indian ones, work best when cooked in the foods, to bring out their flavors. Others, such as ground pepper, can be incorporated before, during, or after. I'm fine with upending the oregano shaker over my pizza slices when served - most pizzerias around here only seem to cook with a smidgen. So I'm happy to add more at the table.

As with so many things: It Depends.

I can't have additional salt as it makes my migraines and cramps go crazy! I never add salt to any food and I am cooking but I do add salsa to my veggie dishes often and that has salt in it.

There are people who have no tolerance for salt, people have great tolerance for salt and it's hard to figure out how to serve the food so no one feels there are missing flavours. I think salt lovers often don't mind the salt flavour sitting on top of the other flavours in the food as opposed to married to the food.