The Rule of Salt
Too little salt is always better than too much salt. You can always add more salt later; you can't take it out once it's in.
When serving guests, it's always a good idea to go with less salt in the recipe. Let your guests decide how much salt they want to add. Besides, some of your guests could also be on a sodium-restricted diet.
Many restaurants have a No Salt rule. The steakhouse where I cooked only added a little seasoned salt to one meat item, the breaded pork chops. Otherwise, almost all of the menu items, except for maybe a half dozen signature dishes and house sauces, were plated and presented without added salt.
The reason I never eat at an Outback Steakhouse is because I can't get them to serve me an unseasoned steak; I've asked, more than once. See, when my Dad would grill steaks, he never salted them, reasoning that the folks eating them would know how they wanted their steaks seasoned. Not having any other preference, I ate my steaks without any flavor "enhancers." So now, seasoning added to a steak ruins the taste for me. I may be polite and suffer in silence when I'm a guest at someone's house, but I'll be darned if I'll lay out good money for it.
On the other hand, I've never had an ear of fresh, buttered sweet corn that had too much salt on it—and you can bet I've tried.
Let the guest decide.
Note: Food safety advice is offered as handy guidelines and may not represent authoritative or current standards (see Disclaimers). Your county or state health department can provide the “official rules.”
Too little salt is always better than too much salt. You can always add more salt later; you can't take it out once it's in.When serving guests, it's always a good idea to go with less salt in the recipe. Let your guests decide how much salt they want to add. Besides, some of your guests could also be on a sodium-restricted diet.
Many restaurants have a No Salt rule. The steakhouse where I cooked only added a little seasoned salt to one meat item, the breaded pork chops. Otherwise, almost all of the menu items, except for maybe a half dozen signature dishes and house sauces, were plated and presented without added salt.
The reason I never eat at an Outback Steakhouse is because I can't get them to serve me an unseasoned steak; I've asked, more than once. See, when my Dad would grill steaks, he never salted them, reasoning that the folks eating them would know how they wanted their steaks seasoned. Not having any other preference, I ate my steaks without any flavor "enhancers." So now, seasoning added to a steak ruins the taste for me. I may be polite and suffer in silence when I'm a guest at someone's house, but I'll be darned if I'll lay out good money for it.
On the other hand, I've never had an ear of fresh, buttered sweet corn that had too much salt on it—and you can bet I've tried.
Let the guest decide.
=^)
Note: Food safety advice is offered as handy guidelines and may not represent authoritative or current standards (see Disclaimers). Your county or state health department can provide the “official rules.”
Food Storage
Temperatures
Temperature of “hazardous” food. Hazardous foods are products that, if not properly handled, cause risk of food-borne illness or toxicity for example, meat, root vegetables or eggs. Without attempting to define such foods exactly, you could probably think of them as any food that can become “spoiled” if not kept refrigerated.
 |
| 40o F - 4 Hours - 140o F |
The rule I learned back in the day in two different states was “40 to 140 for 4.” In other words, certain foods had to be held either below 40o Fahrenheit or above 140o F, and could accumulate no more than 4 hours between those temperatures. More simply put, keep it cold or hot, if not, then after four (total) hours, into the compost or trash it must go. I know those temps have been revised in some places, but not by much and, as far as I know, not any stricter, so it’s still the rule I use because it's easy to remember.
IMPORTANT: This means the temperature of the food itself, not just the ambient temp around it. A big bowl of warm chili placed in the 'fridge is still going to take quite a while to come down to 40o.
IMPORTANT: This means the temperature of the food itself, not just the ambient temp around it. A big bowl of warm chili placed in the 'fridge is still going to take quite a while to come down to 40o.
=^)
