How to Make Processed Sausages Less Salty (2024)

FAQs

How to Make Processed Sausages Less Salty? ›

I discovered by boiling the sausages and pouring off the water and boiling in new water if necessary, really reduces the saltiness in processed sausages, which are notoriously high in sodium. It's a matter of osmosis.

To fix over-salted meats, just give them a quick rinse under running water, then pat dry with a paper towel. You can also leach the salt out of bacon or other processed meats that you find too salty by soaking it in water for at least two hours and up to 72 hours, depending on how salty it is, before you serve it.

Squeeze some lemon juice or orange juice over your dish. The sour flavor provides a new layer of complexity to the meal and should mellow out the salt. Drizzle in a mild vinegar like all-purpose vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar to help mask the salt with acidity by distracting the taste buds.

Submerging the meat in a bowl of water allows salt to leach out. Changing the water several times intensifies this effect. It is a simple yet effective method to physically remove salt from the meat.

Because they are. Sausages started as a way to preserve meat, and the only practical preservative in ancient times was salt. So the sausages became quite salty, and it gets entrenched in a tradition.

I discovered by boiling the sausages and pouring off the water and boiling in new water if necessary, really reduces the saltiness in processed sausages, which are notoriously high in sodium.

Enjoy high-potassium foods regularly.

These include sweet potatoes, potatoes, greens, tomatoes and lower-sodium tomato sauce, white beans, kidney beans, nonfat yogurt, oranges, bananas and cantaloupe. Potassium helps counter the effects of sodium and may help lower your blood pressure.

Add an Acidic Ingredient

It won't reduce the sodium level of your dish, but adding an acidic ingredient, such as lemon juice, vinegar, or even a tomato product, can neutralize the saltiness of a dish. Start with a dash or a squeeze, stir well to combine, and give it a taste before adding any more.

If you find yourself in such a predicament, fret not, for there is a remedy to rescue your ham from the overpowering clutches of sodium — boiling it in water. To effectively boil it to reduce the saltiness, cut the meat into sizeable slices to increase the surface area through which salt will leach out.

How do you get salt out of cured bacon? ›

Blanching or just soaking in water helps remove salt. I cure my own bacon and smoke it. I make a practice of washing off the salt cure, then soaking it for one hour in water prior to smoking it. That gets rid of salt and I get a less salty bacon.

Foods to Avoid

Frozen dinners: Frozen meat dishes, frozen pizza, etc. Processed meats: Bacon, sausage, lunch meats and hot dogs. Salted, canned products: Vegetables, pastas, meats, fish, etc. Salty soups: Canned soups and packaged soups.

Stuff made of sodium (salt, sodium bicarbonate, etc…) is soluble in water. If food is boiled, braised, steamed or cooked by any wet process, the sodium leaches into the water to some degree. It doesn't evaporate or chemically “go away.” This means less sodium in the food and more in the water.

Dr. Ruth MacDonald: “The question about rinsing is complicated – if the meat is canned or packaged with a solution, then rinsing might reduce sodium a small amount, but probably will not have a significant effect on total sodium since the sodium is used in the processing and will be dissolved in the meat.

To rescue overly salty pork, fill a large pot with clean, cold water and submerge it, letting it rest inside the water for a couple of hours. During this time, the extra salt in the meat will naturally move into the water through the osmosis process.