I'm making a vegetable stock that I'll be turning into soup later today

I'm making a vegetable stock that I'll be turning into soup later today.

Do I salt it during the boiling process? I can't find a trustworthy answer on google. I have been always adding at least a bit of salt but I feel that's a major fuckup.

i don't, but i don't think it's a major fuck up if you do

You can salt it when making the stock, but personally I would advise holding off and salting it later, right before you serve it.

You can always add more salt to a dish but you can't remove it. I avoid salting my stocks because depending on how you are using it later it could easily end up too salty in the finished dish.

Since the time at which you add the salt to a soup or stew has zero effect on the cooking process it makes more sense to leave the salting to the end right before you serve.

>the time at which you add the salt to a soup or stew has zero effect on the cooking process
Hmm.

This is the correct answer.

The stock will reducr greatly, and you can end up with too much salt. It's guesswork if you do it before cooking. So do it after.

"You can ways add, but not take away."

Good thing stock is water based and you can dilute it if it's too salty.

I always roast vegetables before I use them for non-meat stocks.

Bouquet garni should also be in OPs pot, which is seasoning...

I season my roasted veg, then add water and bouquet garni, simmer for a while, strain, then re-season to taste.

>Good thing stock is water based and you can dilute it if it's too salty.

Adding water sucks since that would also dilute the vegetable flavor along with the salt.

It's nearly impossible to over season stock. The few times I've "over seasoned" it, I've removed it from one pot, put into larger pot and added water to dilute it, then simmered for an extra 30mins. Not too complicated.

That being said OPs stock should be seasoned with herbs and salt before it's even strained.

So I take it you've never reduced a bunch of stock to make a glaze or a sauce?

Pre-seasoned stock is infinitely more versatile than plain stock.

>not using butter, wines, sherries, ports and spirits to make your sauces.

Your taste is impeccable and discerning.

>Pre-seasoned stock is infinitely more versatile than plain stock.

That's backwards. If the stock is pre-seasoned then I'm stuck with whatever that seasoning may be. If the stock is unseasoned, then I can use it for a variety of dishes an season it later in the cooking process.

For example: suppose I make a traditional western chicken stock and season it with the standard bouquet garni. That's all well and good for a western dish, but it's useless if I want to make Chinese or Thai. OTOH if I make a chicken stock with just the chicken & some aromatics then I can use it in any style of cooking because it's always possible to add the appropriate herbs later.

>>not using butter, wines, sherries, ports and spirits to make your sauces.

Who said anything about not using those also? I omitted those because we are talking about stock and not wine here. The point remains that if you need to make a glaze, demi-glace, or a stock-based reduction you'd be fucked if you started with fully seasoned stock. Your resulting sauce would be an overseasoned salt bomb.

How often are you making East Asian cuisine in your home? Not frequently I'd wager. Pre-seasoned stock is infinitely more versatile than plain stock.

Three or four times a week. I absolutely love it.

>Pre-seasoned stock is infinitely more versatile than plain stock.
You keep saying that yet you have yet to explain why.
I already pointed out how it is LESS useful, which you have yet to address. What exactly makes pre-seasoned stock more versatile, given that you can always add whatever additional seasoning you may want to an un-seasoned stock?

Ohhhh you're one of those "umami" faggots. Alright, before this idiocy degrades even further let's say that your weeb mentality is detrimental to not only yourself, but everyone around you.

For this one specific type of cuisine, yes, under-seasoned stock is useful because all the flavoring agents used in East Asian cuisine are salty.

Even if there is an effect, the effect is not as big as getting the amount of salt right, which is easier by salting the finished product you use the stock for, rather than the stock itself.

It's not just Asian cuisine, user.

What if I want to make Espagnole sauce? Or demi-glace? If my beef/veal stock is already seasoned it's going to be salty as fuck when it's cooked down.

>weeb
Who said anything about that? I also cook Indian, British, Spanish, French, etc. I mentioned Asian as an example. Another one might be middle eastern cuisine: The herbs used in a western-style stock would be wholly inappropriate for cooking couscous or a tagine...

I never salt anything when I'm making a stock. That way I can season each dish I use it with as needed, without over-salting it.

>making espagnole or demi with vegetable stock

very simple.

cook the stock till its done, taste it, and add salt as required.

no point in adding salt before.

>adding salt to stock before serving
No.

Who said anything about vegetable stock specifically? I'm talking about stocks in general. I even specified beef and veal in the post you just replied to.