My Mom once spent an afternoon baking mini loaves of bread for gifts. They smelled wonderful, and we were eager for a slice. That eagerness soon dissipated as we bit into the bread. It tasted horrible-so bland, so blah! She'd forgotten the salt. To say the least, I'm fanatic about double-checking that I've added the salt!

In addition to flavoring bread, salt keeps yeast fermentation in check. If you forget or intentionally don't add salt, be especially careful that your bread doesn't rise beyond double its size or your bread will be yeasty and flat. Never add the salt to the water in which yeast is dissolving. You don't want it to check it that soon.

If you realize you may have forgotten to add salt, pinch off a bit of dough and taste it to confirm your fear. Then, mix the amount of salt into a tablespoon of molasses or poppy seeds. Roll out your dough, spread or sprinkle the salt onto the dough, roll it up and knead it in. The molasses or poppy seeds will help you see when the salt is evenly distributed. (2)

If you bite into your loaves of bread to discover a salt-less mishap, cut or crumble the bread into croutons or crumbs. Mix salt into water or broth and stir in the croutons or crumbs. Bake until crisp. You'll at least feel better about not wasting your ingredients and time. (2)

Finally, when substituting table salt for sea salt or kosher salt in recipes, decrease the amount by half. (3)









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