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I've only tried Blue Apron once. I was watching a friend's cat while he was out of town, and I grabbed his most recent order so it wouldn't go to waste. I don

I've only tried Blue Apron once. I was watching a friend's cat while he was out of town, and I grabbed his most recent order so it wouldn't go to waste. I don't remember which recipe it was, except to say it was a chicken recipe - probably with quinoa. Six of the eight steps included "Salt and Pepper to taste". Fortunately, my wife and I both cook regularly, so we knew that would have been a terrible idea. I only seasoned the chicken once, and nothing else, and the dinner came out great. My friend cooks often as well, so I assume he just skips the unnecessary steps if they show up as well. His wife is just learning, though, which is why they were using Blue Apron. I'd have to assume she may end up over-seasoning from time to time if that's how the recipes normally go. As someone who already eats home-cooked meals almost daily, I couldn't imagine paying that price. But overall the idea makes a lot of sense, provided execution is perfect. It seems, reading the rest of this thread, that hasn't been the case of late.

spollo 9y ago
That's actually a very normal technique and one of the reasons professionally cooked food tastes so much better than most home cooked food. Frequent salting at different points of cooking improves the overall flavour of the dish, and seasoning ingredients separately can help with coverage. Additionally something seasoned at the start of cooking won't be "salty" like if you were to add salt directly on the food after its plated. You don't add a crap ton of salt 5 times, just a pinch here and there and the outcome is great.
- dkonofalski 9y ago
  Same thing happened with my SO. She's not big into cooking but wanted to try her hand at one of the meals and she kept salting things like she would normally salt them. I told her to only salt to taste and she took issue with that. Once I showed her the how-to videos on the site, though, she saw exactly what I was saying and now she can actually cook pretty decently. :)
- graphitezepp 9y ago
  This is like the one cooking tip I don't stop blathering about in fact. Always season each ingredient individually. Both ensures that the salt is distributed well and makes it easier to get the desired amount in the end product.
- enobrev 9y ago
  I understand what you mean about salting throughout the process, but I [somewhat] disagree that it won't be salty. I've nothing scientific to offer about this opinion, but I feel that we build a tolerance to salt and end up over-salting over time. A little less than a decade ago, I went almost a month eating only home-cooked meals without any added salt. It wasn't a health thing, but rather an effort to try to learn what my food actually tasted like. After that, Everything tasted far too salty (including my own cooking when adding any salt) - to the point where I could barely taste the food properly. My tolerance has risen since, but I like to keep my seasoning moderate for that reason. Then again, I'll also throw a whole stick of butter into pasta sauce on rare occasion - a trick I learned from another chef friend. It took my wife a while to realize why she liked my pasta sauce so much more than her own, and she's definitely a far more seasoned cook than I am.

spollo 9y ago

That's actually a very normal technique and one of the reasons professionally cooked food tastes so much better than most home cooked food. Frequent salting at different points of cooking improves the overall flavour of the dish, and seasoning ingredients separately can help with coverage. Additionally something seasoned at the start of cooking won't be "salty" like if you were to add salt directly on the food after its plated. You don't add a crap ton of salt 5 times, just a pinch here and there and the outcome is great.

dkonofalski 9y ago
Same thing happened with my SO. She's not big into cooking but wanted to try her hand at one of the meals and she kept salting things like she would normally salt them. I told her to only salt to taste and she took issue with that. Once I showed her the how-to videos on the site, though, she saw exactly what I was saying and now she can actually cook pretty decently. :)
graphitezepp 9y ago
This is like the one cooking tip I don't stop blathering about in fact. Always season each ingredient individually. Both ensures that the salt is distributed well and makes it easier to get the desired amount in the end product.
enobrev 9y ago
I understand what you mean about salting throughout the process, but I [somewhat] disagree that it won't be salty. I've nothing scientific to offer about this opinion, but I feel that we build a tolerance to salt and end up over-salting over time. A little less than a decade ago, I went almost a month eating only home-cooked meals without any added salt. It wasn't a health thing, but rather an effort to try to learn what my food actually tasted like. After that, Everything tasted far too salty (including my own cooking when adding any salt) - to the point where I could barely taste the food properly. My tolerance has risen since, but I like to keep my seasoning moderate for that reason. Then again, I'll also throw a whole stick of butter into pasta sauce on rare occasion - a trick I learned from another chef friend. It took my wife a while to realize why she liked my pasta sauce so much more than her own, and she's definitely a far more seasoned cook than I am.