Why does salt make such a big difference in recipes or adding it to food? Adding a little makes such a big difference. Why?

Question

Edit: Thank you everyone for your responses! I’ve learned so much reading through them and I’m happy to have sparked an engaging discussion!

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Answer 1

Salt does a lot of shit chemically for such a small amount. In baking for instance salt acts as an inhibitor to yeast. Basically stops it from growing out of control. If you’ve ever tried to make bread and added extra salt because you like more salt flavor in your bread, you may have noticed the dough took way longer to “double in size” as the recipe said. Because that extra salt combats the yeast a lot more. Baking is a science, if you’re off by an extra half teaspoon it could make a big difference in your final recipe. With cooking it’s mainly about the flavor, but it follows the same principle. You don’t need much to flavor food, so adding an extra pinch could drastically make your food taste saltier.