On Tue, 13 Jan 2004, Bob Pastorio wrote:

> JimLane wrote:
>
> > Bob Pastorio wrote:
> >
> >> JimLane wrote:
> >>>
> >>> You did a great job of covering any salt flavor with your filling.
> >>> Why did you not test them plain, cake to cake no extras?
> >>
> >> It's the finished products that we were comparing. But years of
> >> critical measuring and tasting the results says that it's a fruitless
> >> search at these quantities. I knew it wouldn't make any difference
> >> from experience.
> >>
> >> But can anyone seriously believe that an additional 1/12 of a teaspoon
> >> of salt will show up as even a remote flavor determinant in the 9-inch
> >> cake described above? I daresay that folks measuring with spoons will
> >> make an error within that range while trying hard to be accurate. And
> >> given that kitchen measures are in the "close enough" category, it's
> >> hard to imagine that a variation this small wouldn't fall invisibly in
> >> the cracks.
> >>
> >> The pile of salt that makes up 0.45 grams is a small pinch. It simply
> >> disappears into the other flavors, even without the filling and glaze.
> >> That ratio of additional salt to the volume of the whole cake is way
> >> more subtle than anybody I know can pick up.
> >
> > Hmmm, I see only your opinion.
>
> I'm desperately sorry I didn't convene a focus group to satisfy your
> urgent need for FACTS to demonstrate that 0.45 grams of salt is a tiny
> bit. And that a tiny bit of salt in more than a pound of other
> ingredients wouldn't make a difference. I'm desolated that you haven't
> had your yearnings for absolute 10-decimal-place accuracy satisfied.
>
> Here's a blast for you: kitchen measurements are *never* exact,
> particularly volumetric ones. The equipment we work with in normal
> kitchens isn't designed to be lab-accurate. Teaspoons and tablespoons
> of powders, leveled or not, will be off the exact measure by up to 10%
> depending on compaction. A tablespoon of salt of one size crystal
> won't hold the same weight of salt of a different crystal size.
> Recipes are written and tested by professionals with that
> understanding in mind. Every effort is made to write them to
> relatively exact measure, but cooking is a resilient science and
> forgives minor departures. A bit more or less of most ingredients
> won't materially affect the dish. Like everybody's Aunt Minnie cooks
> by the handful and it still works.

hence why most recipes call for "kosher salt" when they want a different
grind...

> > Not a fact anywhere in sight.
>
> Well, the measurements are factual because I did them and recorded
> them for anyone who would wish to check. I mentioned that a dozen
> people couldn't see any difference. Silly me, I assumed that you could
> read some words on a screen and actually understand them. since I've
> tested saline solutions, by taste, in researching brine strengths,
> I've sampled concentrations down to 1 gram in a gallon of water
> (couldn't taste salt) and up to 300 grams per gallon and had others
> test them for subjective analyses for articles I wrote on brining and
> for my radio program. And that's why I wrote above: "But years of
> critical measuring and tasting the results says that it's a fruitless
> search at these quantities. I knew it wouldn't make any difference
> from experience." How would you have liked the "facts" to have been
> determined and expressed? How many witnesses would it take for you to
> accept the results? Just any witnesses or should they be somehow
> qualified?

.... unfortunately, you failed to mention that salt has other uses, other
than "tasting salty" just like red peppers have other uses (and effects on
the body) other than "being hot." From the way you wrote, I would assume
that you asked people if the cake "tasted salty" and not "did this cake
taste more flavorful than your last piece."

OTOH, having tastetested colored gelatin (with surprising results), i
realize that people don't know what their taste buds tell them, anywhoo.

Lena