# Salt and Pepper



## chefmichael2011 (Sep 21, 2011)

Hi all, first post and I have a very basic question. I'm hoping someone can help me settle a friendly dispute.
Many years ago I was taught that a good Salt to White Pepper ratio for basic seasoning (on a saute station for instance) is 7:1. Does this ring a bell with anyone?
By the way, though most likely grammatically incorrect, I do like to capitalize food. I have no idea why.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

On already ground  white pepper I tend to agree. But since I only use fresh ground and sea salt its different.The fresh grond black pepper is stronger as is the intensity of the sea salt since it is a finer grain it adheres more to the product.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

7:1 is really salty.  4:1 is salty but acceptable.  I always used 2:1.

Then again you can be very light with a 10:1 ratio and your food won't taste much of anything at all.


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## cookers (Jun 11, 2011)

I always use 1 oz of pepper for every pound of salt.


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

Huh, never knew there was a recipe for this.


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## cookers (Jun 11, 2011)

thetincook said:


> Huh, never knew there was a recipe for this.


It's all by preference. The most common ratio is 3:1 salt/pepper. And if you're putting vegetables in water then use 1 cup of salt for every gallon of water.


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## pirate-chef (Jan 25, 2012)

Personally i will season by taste with everything i would not use any ratio, I cant stand white pepper i would almost rather leave it out or have the specks of black or green pepper in it visibal than tasting the white pepper which in my mind is horribly abused and i have gotten really burned on. For salting water " salty as the sea" to apply to green veg. sorry to steal but i believe its directly from the french laundry book or from one of thomas's speeches. just my 2 cents


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

> For salting water " salty as the sea" to apply to green veg. sorry to steal but i believe its directly from the french laundry book or from one of thomas's speeches. just my 2 cents


Keller may have said that but it wasn't "his" he's just repeating a very common guideline that's probably been taught for hundreds of years. Every chef I ever worked for used to give the same advice. As to the salt to pepper ratio, we never really measured; just mixed until it looked "right." But if I had to guess, it was probably in the range of 5-7:1. This was using kosher salt and freshly, finely ground black pepper. Most places I worked at, even the really high end places rarely used white pepper, even when it came to things like potato purees and such. And personally, I've never been a fan of white pepper either.


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## curtispnw (Feb 16, 2012)

Buy whole white pepper, grind it in a coffee grinder, kind of a different animal than white pepper already ground, which always smelled like the barnyard to me, the other thing about already ground white pepper, start using it and someone always sneezes

I also have never heard of a recipe for salt and pepper


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

2 to 1 for me is to much salt to pepper ratio.  I only use white pepper in dishes that are light in color . Black pepper to me is much more pungent.  I use kosher salt for roasting ,sea salt for sauces and table salt for salads


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## ken bo slice (Jan 26, 2011)

I've always done 3-1 kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. But at my new job its closer to 7-1 with with a small amount of dried oregano, garlic and onion powder. Not sure how I feel about it but that's what they do...


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