Here's Why You Shouldn't Wait To Season Stew
One of the best parts of making any stew is that you can customize it with your preferred ingredients, including meats, veggies, seasonings, herbs, and spices (yes, you can do the same with soup but there's a difference between soup and stew). By loading your hot stew with all kinds of ingredients, you can give your dish a complex flavor profile that you're sure to enjoy. One way that you can season your stew is by sprinkling it with a good amount of salt to add some delicious bitter or sweet flavor. However, if you want your stew to have just enough salty flavor so it doesn't overpower your stew, then you should never wait until your stew is just about done to season it with salt.
It's a gradual process for salt to evenly dissolve into every area and layer of your stew. If you only salt your stew near the end of cooking it, it won't have the time to diffuse evenly throughout your stew. The salt will likely remain on the top layer of your stew or heavily concentrated in your liquid ingredients. And when you taste your stew, you'll get an overly salty flavor that may be unpleasant and ruin your dish. However, there are ways to effectively season your stew with salt so that it develops an optimal balance of flavor and tastes just right.
Salt your stew early and throughout cooking it for a pleasing balance of flavor
There are two ways to ensure that your stew has a pleasing amount of saltiness. The first method is to season the stew at the very beginning of cooking it with a little bit of salt. Seasoning the stew with salt early in the cooking process allows for a sufficient amount of time for the salt to dissolve evenly throughout the stew.
In addition to seasoning your stew early with salt, you should continue to salt the stew throughout cooking until you reach your desired flavor. Everyone has a different tolerance for the amount of saltiness that they'd like to taste in their stew. By seasoning to taste throughout cooking your stew, you can determine when it has just enough saltiness so your final dish has your desired balance of flavor. You may also wonder what is the best way to season the meat ingredients in your stew with salt if you're making an easy beef stew, Mediterranean chicken stew, a catfish stew, or any other meaty stew.
Marinate your stew meat in salt before cooking it
Seasoning your stew meat with salt (and other herbs and spices) will help your stew develop a delicious depth of flavor. However, you must salt your stew meat properly to achieve this result. You should first coat your stew meat with lots of salt, and any other preferred seasonings, and let it marinate in your seasoning mixture for 30 minutes or more before you brown the meat, transfer it to your stew pot, and begin cooking it.
While the amount of salt you use to season your meat before browning it and cooking your stew will depend on your personal preference and the amount of meat that will be in your stew, you should generally use 1 or 2 teaspoons of salt for each pound of meat you put in your stew. Once your meat is properly seasoned and browned, you can add it to your stew with the other ingredients to start cooking (don't forget to sauté your veggies before adding them to the stew). Just make sure you salt your stew at the very beginning of cooking it and season to taste throughout for the perfect balance of flavor.