soup too salty

troll35

I made pea and ham soup this morning using the gammon stock from the weekend but it is a little too salty (and there was less than 100ml of stock). Now I know you are supposed to be able to decrease the saltiness by adding potato but I can't remember how. Do you add a whole potato and remove it once it's cooked or do you just add the potato and eat it as part of the soup?
Thankfully the soup isn't mega salty, just a bit too salty for me as we don't add salt to anything except homemade soups/sauces and then it's only a little.

Any ideas gratefully received:)

Gingernutmeg

I think you're meant to peel the potato, chop it in half and cook the soup for a while with the potato in it. Then you throw the potato away before you eat the soup. I've never tried this but I've heard that it can work quite well.

Justie

add a couple of bits of potato (peeled and cut to boiled potato size) either boil until cooked or use boiled potato to begin with and simmer for a while and then remove the potato - I've never tried it but it's supposed to work.

Dumyat

to be honest I've done it but just left the potato in ....

amazon_spice

You remove the potato because it has absorbed the excess salt don't you.
Left in there's still as much salt.

*scratches head* LOL

Dumyat

it works...honest
maybe I'm just diluting the effect by adding more veg?...

troll35

I'll give that a go. To be honest the soup isn't as salty as a tin of readymade would be so I would expect this to work. I'll taste the soup before removing the potato and decide wether to leave it in or not.
Thanks everyone.

troll35

Well I chopped up two medium sized potatoes and cooked them in the soup but it didn't really make any difference to the taste. It tastes nice though even if it is a little too salty. I think I will freeze what's left and then make a batch of pea soup with no seasoning (when I've bought some more peas) and mix the two together next weekend.
Thanks once again for your ideas.

scuzz

I've heard the same. Add a potato and remove it after cooking. I've also heard a slice of bread does the same thing

Primrose

It's too late for this time but next time you want to use the stock from your gammon joint, soak it first in cold water overnight which will help to remove some of the excess salt. If you have sufficient time, when you're ready to cook it, bring the water containing the joint up to the boil, drain it off and then add fresh water and continue the cooking process. I've used this method for many years and it works.