Bay leaf is a very popular spice. It helps to improve the taste of soups, sauces, stewed and canned vegetables.
However, incorrect use of bay leaves can lead to a deterioration in the taste of the dish.
If you don’t remove the leaf in time, the food will acquire an unpleasant bitterness.
To avoid ruining the dish, you need to remove the bay leaf at the right time. But when exactly?
When to remove bay leaves from soup
This needs to be done exactly three minutes after the bay leaf has been in boiling water.
If you remove the spice later, the soup may have an extra taste: the leaf will give off its bitterness.
But if you remove the bay leaf in time, the first dish will have time to “take” only the pleasant aromas from it.
When to add bay leaves
We've figured out the right moment to remove the spice from the soup. But now another question arises: "When should I put the leaf in the dish?"
The answer is simple: the bay leaf should be the last thing in the boiling liquid - after all the previous ingredients have been added.
Therefore, you need to add the spice to the soup at the final stage of its preparation - 3-5 minutes before the end of cooking.