I put too much salt in my green chili chicken and beans. Is there a solution?

Susan is a recipe tester for Food52.

added 4 months ago

I've heard, but never tried, that if you put a piece of peeled, raw potato in a salty liquid that it will help to absorb some of the sodium. Give it a shot and let us know how it works out!!

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Put in a raw peeled potato. It works

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ChefOno added 4 months ago

I know a lot of people believe it but it's a culinary myth that a potato will absorb excess salt. Robert Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, author of What Einstein Told His Cook, explains (edited for clarity):

Potatoes will soak up salty water but they don't selectively extract salt out of the water. Would you be surprised if a sponge placed in salt water came out tasting salty? Of course not. The concentration of salt in the water -- the amount of salt per quart -- is not affected.

http://www.washingtonpost...

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ChefOno added 4 months ago

But I guess that doesn't directly answer your question. The only thing you can do is dilute the mixture down with something that doesn't have salt in it.

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bugbitten added 4 months ago

I'm probably too late, but I'd try adding more beans, even canned beans to the pot. Then before you serve, take out the extra beans. I was once successful in counteracting a bitter flavor from a shrimp stock by judiciously adding sweet, sour, salty and peppery flavors. But you're on your own, as I was. Do you have "bitters" on hand? Good luck!

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ChefOno added 4 months ago

[Sigh…] Extra beans won't do anything more than a potato (which is exactly nothing). And canned beans would be adding salt! A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down but there's no analogue for salt.

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bugbitten added 4 months ago

So certain?

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ChefOno added 4 months ago

Apparently the link I posted above doesn't work anymore. Here is Wolke on the subject and his proof:

http://books.google.com...

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bugbitten added 4 months ago

Gotta go with proof.

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ChefOno added 4 months ago

I think the reason this myth is so prevalent is we all know potatoes (and beans for that matter) require a good deal of salt so it seems intuitive that they'd absorb it -- as indeed they do. It's just that they also absorb water at the same time so the ratio of salt to cooking liquid remains the same.

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The trick is to put in diced potatoes. The bigger the surface area the more salt absorption occurs
The potato must be starchy ( Idaho) and low in salt ( red new potatoes?) but do make small dices not large potatoes.

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ChefOno added 4 months ago

Gaaaa! Will this myth ever die?

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My green chili came out to salty, i just made it a double batch and will can the rest of it tomorrow so i have extra for a rainy day.

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