Beyond salt roasted potatoes, a local specialty I tried while in college in Syracuse, NY, I don't have much experience with salt roasting. I supposed I assumed whatever was roasted would end up, well, really salty. Naive mistake! As the LA Times points out, salt roasting is an easy and essentially fool proof way to add flavor and gently roast whole fish, chicken, steak, lobster and yes, even potatoes.
Salt roasting requires no more than a big box of salt and a baking tray. The key is in how the salt regulates the temperature -- it means whatever is roasted will be more gently cooked and any moisture released will allow the salt to generate steam as well.
Now, don't go throwing anything in a dish with salt and roasting it -- some meats like chicken and pork do much better with a good searing first. Read on below for recipes and tips.
Do you salt roast?
• Read more: Test Kitchen tips: Salt roasting at the Los Angeles Times
Related: Try This: Salt Roasted Potatoes
(Images: Joanna Miller)
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The way this shows up in Google Reader is funny. It looks like you are recommend that I roast the LA Times. It looks sensible on the site otherwise I would tell you that I roasted the New York Times and it was much more delicious than the LA Times.
You can't salt roast the NY Times raw because of the high ink content. It should be pan-seared first.
I tried salt-roasting beets for the first time a month or two ago, and now it's by far my favorite way to prepare them.
Salt baked chicken is a completely delicious traditional Chinese (Hakka) dish and doesn't require searing, although I guess you could try it both ways to see which you prefer? http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2009-11/20/content_9011137.htm
This seems awfully wasteful to me; I assume you throw away the salt after you use it?
@Rayart...Beets? I love them. That will be the first I'll try with this method. The article also mentions pears for a savory addition to salads. That sounds very interesting too. And fingerling potatoes are thin enough to require less volume of salt in a smaller container. The picture shown is obviously for presentation. I can't imagine roasting that many potatoes at one time. Therefore, for a smaller amount of veggies, fruit, meat or (?)...the amount of salt certainly wouldn't be as much as in the picture. I love this concept.
Depending on the item you're cooking in the salt, (ex: potatoes) would microwaving produce similar results?
This is pure guess antxoa but I feel like the boiling liquid effect would lead to explosions in the microwave with this method. If I were going to try it I'd to a small sample to test.
And yes salt is very cheap but it still seems like such a waste to me....I guess you could save the salt and reuse it for select items, keeping it refrigerated?
For gnocchi, salt roast your potatoes first- delicious!
Salt potatoes. Mmmmm.