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Salting Sauces

nmlarson

nmlarson

I didn't want to hijack ShowMeDaSauce's new thread, "Getting this one started today or tomorrow," but here's a question to all you sauce experts, about the temperature at which you adjust your salt seasoning.  
 
I'm an above-average cook but a novice at hot-sauces. 
 
Achieving the same "salty taste" in food that is cold takes more salt than the same food that is warm or room temperature.  Potato salad, for example.  A cold potato salad takes way more salt to season it appropriately than a potato salad that is served warm.
 
Does the same rule hold true for hot sauce making?  If it does, you should take into consideration the temperature at which it will be served when seasoning it?  In other words, if it's going to be held in the refrigerator and served cold, do you taste and season while cold? Does it even matter?
 
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It should be the same because it's cook in. When you salt a cold salad you are adding to the surface for an extra pop. Like on cold fried chicken. But sauce is liquid there is no surface. Salt the same or do your own taste testing.
 
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For me i need about the same amount on a cold hard boiled egg vs a hot fried egg. Maybe more actually on the fried egg but not by much. More tends to stay on the surface of a hard boiled egg so the salt is a instant hit. Same goes for fries. I can use less on fries than say......mashed or baked taters even with the butter.
 
Certain flavors just dont pop without enough salt. Curry and chili con carne being the 2 i most notice it in. Both kinda suck to me if they dont have enough salt.
 
When i make hot sauce i do sample it while hot and soon after just out of curiosity. I start at what i think is around half the salt i want. Around 1/2tsp per quart and usually end up around 1 tsp per quart after its rested in the fridge a few days. Final adjustments are always done cold and preferably after a week in the fridge if im not in a hurry. Salt is so easy to add anytime but a total PITA to remove it.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
It should be the same because it's cook in. When you salt a cold salad you are adding to the surface for an extra pop. Like on cold fried chicken. But sauce is liquid there is no surface. Salt the same or do your own taste testing.
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Yes, I understand the pop of a "finish" of salt.  What I'm referring to is when the salt is cooked into the food.  Indulge me, please?
 
Another example:  meatloaf.  If you season a meatloaf prior to baking and eat it while hot, then later make a sandwich with a cold slice, I guarantee you that cold slice will not taste as well seasoned as the hot slice. It's a huge difference.  It takes a LOT more salt to season the cold slice to the same perceived level as the hot slice.
 
Now I make a hot sauce and season it while cold.  I toss it with some hot wings.  Will that hot sauce heated by being put on a hot item, taste more salty than the same sauce served cold, if that sauce was seasoned while cold?
 
I'm a big girl, I can take it.  Am I splitting hairs?
 
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Taste testing should be done at room temp anyway. And after 3 weeks to a month. So you'd do your proper bottling and let it sit out. Taste. If you want, cook with it, and pop in fridge as well. But room temp is where you'd want your final decisions made imo. Think how great ketchup tastes at room temp on fries vs. cold. so if you are on the fence for hot/room temp/cold seasoning, go room temp. Even out of the fridge, hot sauce comes up to room temp pretty fast, sitting on a table.
 
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One thing you are sort of leaving out of the comparison...free flowing fats. They provide a noticeable flavor kick such as in hot wings.
 
BTW i think cold ketchup sucks :D Room temp all the way on fries.
 
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nmlarson said:
 
Yes, I understand the pop of a "finish" of salt.  What I'm referring to is when the salt is cooked into the food.  Indulge me, please?
 
Another example:  meatloaf.  If you season a meatloaf prior to baking and eat it while hot, then later make a sandwich with a cold slice, I guarantee you that cold slice will not taste as well seasoned as the hot slice. It's a huge difference.  It takes a LOT more salt to season the cold slice to the same perceived level as the hot slice.
 
Now I make a hot sauce and season it while cold.  I toss it with some hot wings.  Will that hot sauce heated by being put on a hot item, taste more salty than the same sauce served cold, if that sauce was seasoned while cold?
 
I'm a big girl, I can take it.  Am I splitting hairs?
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It's no secret that cold mutes flavors. Red wine... stouts... ketchup. So really this is up to you and your own taste tests and how you feel people will use your product. Not the answer you wanted I am sure. But I feel this is true.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
 
It's no secret that cold mutes flavors. Red wine... stouts... ketchup. So really this is up to you and your own taste tests and how you feel people will use your product. Not the answer you wanted I am sure. But I feel this is true.
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No, I was looking for all input.  Being so new to making hot sauces, I want the benefit of the entire collective's experience. 
 
My Dad, rest his soul, used to say, "There's an easy way and there's a hard way.  What's it gonna be?"
 
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You were comparing meatloaf hot vs cold. I find cold vs hot fried chicken to be similar. Hot its juicy and the fat is more mobile. I pretty much always eat cold fried chicken with hot sauce that has a light sprinkle of salt on it even if it tasted salty enough when hot.
 
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Wing sauces are usually marketed as wing sauces. Hot sauce works but you have to tinker. So I think you just have to know your product, make sure it is focused, and taste test. There's a Korean hot sauce that tastes like a fermented salt bomb. As soon as I tasted it I knew, okay, this is for cooking, and just a little bit, and it will even salt the meal. But you'd never put it on a ham sandwich.
 
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I taste and adjust seasonings just prior to bottling while the sauces are ~ 200ish degrees.  Granted at this point I'm making recipes that are years old in most cases, but due to seasonal variation in taste of ingredients I still adjust salt/sour/sweet right before the sauces get bottled.    
 
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That's about the best time to do it when cooking but you also do it to a room temp bottle weeks later right?
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
That's about the best time to do it when cooking but you also do it to a room temp bottle weeks later right?
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I always let new batches age two weeks in the bottle.  Then I open a case and sample (usually on salt free tortilla chips or just plain tortillas) to make sure everything is good and balanced.  I have had to re-bottle a couple batches over the course of the last 6 years to adjust salt/sour/sweet, but I stopped making sauce when I have a cold and that problem went away.  ;)
 
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Unsalted chips are good to test on until you realize the salt on the chip is supposed to complement a perfectly salted salsa lol. In which case I have resorted to the spoon. (In other words you may oversalt tasting that way to compensate for the unsalted chip/combo w sauce.)
 
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Salt is my nemesis. I like salty dishes but sometimes I overdo it. I would personally lean towards a lower salt content for a sauce for the sake of making it a little more usable in more situations. We cook a lot of Asian food in my home and for those of you not familiar with Asian cooking, A LOT of the ingredients in Asian cooking are VERY salt heavy to begin with so by the time i'm done achieving the desired flavor profile, there's no room left for any other salt content. Especially a salt rich hot sauce. So I find myself having to resort to flakes and powders solely for the purpose of adding heat. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I like being able to add my favorite sauces to a dish and that's just not always possible in a lot of situations.
 
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I don't need them salty either. Enough to brighten the flavors or none is fine. Taste the peppers.
 
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