Took me 12 years to stop salting stock before tasting it

I learned to cook in a diner in Cleveland where the old guy running the line always threw salt in the pot first thing, so I did the same for over a decade. Last spring I was doing a tasting menu event and the chef I was assisting grabbed my wrist when I reached for the salt shaker on a veal stock, saying "you haven't even checked the reduction yet, that's rookie crap." He let me taste it and sure enough, it had already concentrated enough salt from the bones and mirepoix that adding more would have ruined it. Now I taste every batch at least twice before touching salt, and I still catch myself reaching for it out of habit. Anyone else have a kitchen reflex that took forever to unlearn?

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elizabethhayes3d agoMost Upvoted

Ditch the habit by setting a rule for yourself: if the stock's been simmering over an hour, taste before you even look at the salt. I did the same thing with pepper and it took a solid two years to break, but now I just keep the shaker on the counter across from the stove so I physically can't grab it without moving. Also, buying a tiny tasting spoon that hangs on a hook near the pot helps, you're forced to dip it in first before your hand goes anywhere near the seasoning.