About That salt Water....

[SURV69]

If I were to be cruising in the Atlantic region ... let's say either the coastal ocean or the Intercaostal ...

If I were to soak such things as dry beans or corn, for soups, in the salty water, for 6+ hours, then drain it to make the soup with fresh water, would the beans and or corn, be too salty to eat?

[cruisersfarm]

Probably just a little less salty than your average canned soup from the grocery store...

[Hudson Force]

There would not be much of a salty taste; however, the soaking time would need to be longer than the hypotonic fresh water solution in order to have these seeds absorb as much water.

There's another worry. The six or more hours represents a significant incubation time for increasing populations of pfiesteria, E coli, or other bacteria. I'd be more concerned about the microbial soup in the making than the salt.

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

The six or more hours represents a significant incubation time for increasing populations of pfiesteria, E coli, or other bacteria. I'd be more concerned about the microbial soup in the making than the salt.

+1 on the microbial life.



If you want to be cautious you could boil the water and then use it for soaking. You wouldn't kill everything, but you'd significantly knock back the existing population in the water.




The density of sea water is typically 1.02-1.03g/cc. Indicating a salt content of probably 5x more than what you'd expect if people tipped salt into a pot of fresh water at home prior to boiling vegetables. That said, I doubt you'd notice the difference in salinity in the flavor of the drained beans.

[Lizzy Belle]

If you don't think water is clean enough to drink, don't use it to soak beans etc.

Seawater is obviously too salt to drink, but if watermakers would ONLY take out the salt and nothing else, would you drink that water as-is?

My bet is you wouldn't, just like you don't fill your watertanks with whatever sweet water your boat is in.

[valhalla360]

Probably not too salty as most of the salt will leave when you drain it.

As others have said, not sure what else is left behind. The boiling of the soup should take care of a lot but hard to say what non-organics you picked up.

I guess my question would be...why? Water is easily available on the east coast for next to nothing.

[MarkJ]

Ecoli is not a problem as he would boil the soup anyway.

2 points:
It may well be too salty. Experiment. I tried cooking pasta in 1/2 salt 1/2 fresh and it was grossly inedible.

Fresh water won't need to be in that short supply. Find other ways to conserve it like using spray bottles instead of using the tap. You will find you have plenty of water for cooking

Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.

[captain58sailin]

We boiled potatoes in salt water, did not notice it being too salty to eat.

[jhstacy]

Just a cooking point from someone who makes New Orleans Red Beans and Rice a lot.. never add salt to beans until after they have cooked for at least 2 or more hours.. Adding salt at the beginning makes them too tough to eat and the skins never get soft.

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by jhstacy

Just a cooking point from someone who makes New Orleans Red Beans and Rice a lot.. never add salt to beans until after they have cooked for at least 2 or more hours.. Adding salt at the beginning makes them too tough to eat and the skins never get soft.

+1 Too much salt or too much acid (vinegar, tomatoes, lemon juice, etc) will make beans hard. Fine to add at the end as the acid will firm up beans that have become soft.

[seasick]

Get a good quality pressure cooker.

Seawater isn't bad for boiling eggs but I use freshwater and if I really need to conserve it, I'll use the same water for brewing my coffee.

[Dauntlessny]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

We boiled potatoes in salt water, did not notice it being too salty to eat.

we boil lobster in sea water also.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by SURV69

If I were to be cruising in the Atlantic region ... let's say either the coastal ocean or the Intercaostal ...

If I were to soak such things as dry beans or corn, for soups, in the salty water, for 6+ hours, then drain it to make the soup with fresh water, would the beans and or corn, be too salty to eat?

We advocate for saving time and cooking fuel [instead of a small amount of fresh water...] with either a pressure cooker [fast] or thermal cooker [slow and good...]

We always use fresh water...

Pressure cooker approach:

The equivalent of an overnight pre-soak is to pressure cook a load of beans in unsalted fresh water for about 35 mins [depending upon the type of bean; I like Lorna Sass' books on pressure cooking for reference...]

Let the pressure come down naturally [i.e., don't quick-release the pressure...] drain off that water [which contains the complex carbohydrates which exacerbate flatulence in some individuals...] rinse in a small amount of fresh water, then finish the dish that needed the beans [which are now cooked and ready to eat...]

You can also make rice in under 3 minutes cooking time, keep excess moisture [and heat in warm climes] out of the boat, use less cooking fuel, etc.

Thermal cooking:

We use a Serratoga Jack's thermal cooker as a boater's equivalent of a crock pot- without the need for power. Does great beans, rice, etc. but not quickly like a pressure cooker.

Here are some good cookbooks to go with the thermal cooker... [We like Mr. D's book the best...]

Go to the BoatGalley.com for lots of good information, or just buy Carolyn's cook book of the same name... That will answer your question, and many more...

In case any of this is of interest.


Cheers!

Bill

[tinkrman69]

ever notice, when you dry your shorts in the sun after swimming in the salt water, they seem to be oily, even if you rinsed them with fresh water? or how dirty the pot is after boiling sea water? ever notice the difference in taste in a snapper caught in the ICW and one caught on the Caysal bank? not to mention the color of the meat. You're talking coastal cruising, not oceanic crossing. fresh water is redly available. I'd be worried about toxins not just bacteria. By the way most water born bacteria won't be killed with less than 250 deg F for 20 minutes. water boiling is 38 deg less than that and soups and stews boil at even less.

[sailorjed3]

And lets not forget about all those countless particles of plastic everywhere, even invisible ones that are the end result of the deterioration of visible plastics an that are killing our marine life when ingested.