It's Time To Start Adding Some Salt To Your Milkshakes

Slurping down a milkshake is one of the best ways to tickle your tastebuds. Turning ice cream, a generally solid sweet treat, into a delightful drink is arguably one of the greatest innovations of the culinary world. The treat made its debut in the early 1900s, and has been subject to a staggering amount of innovation over the years — so much so, that some people have questioned whether certain milkshake creations have gone too far.

However, not all milkshake additions are created equal. Scientific studies suggest that sprinkling salt over sweet treats makes them even sweeter, and may be the key ingredient to a great milkshake. This taste tip works for all manner of ice cream drinks, be it a simple strawberry shake or a boozy beverage like a mezcal, lime, and caramel milkshake. Adding salt to your shake will round out its flavor profile and help the sweetness shine.

Though including sugar in your desserts is inarguably essential, more and more people are discovering that salt is the secret ingredient in most great desserts. You won't necessarily detect the savoriness in the final product, but your palate will pick up on the fullness of flavor that the salt sprinkle brings to the table. In the aforementioned strawberry milkshake, for example, salt will help the fruit's freshness shine through. 

The science behind why salt will improve the flavor of your milkshake comes down to brain chemistry. One part of the salt compound actually activates the brain's receptors for sweetness, which means that a small amount of salt actually may end up tasting sweet in the body, per eLife. Further, studies have shown that certain sweet receptors are only activated in the presence of salt, per Science and the journal Acta Physiologica.

You can test this theory with an at-home experiment, if you top your ice cream with a pinch of salt. Pinching is a common measurement in recipes, referring to the amount of seasoning you can grab with two fingers, which winds up being a fraction of a teaspoon. Because you'll be slurping your milkshake, you should add the salt into the shake while it's being mixed, so that the savory flavor infuses with the entire drink.

This salting tip is also used often when whipping up a batch of hot chocolate, which is a similarly sugary and dairy-based drink. You can also add a pinch of salt to your smoothies and your morning cup of coffee for similar boosts of flavor. If you've been a little heavy-handed with the salt shaker, don't despair! Your milkshake can still be salvaged. When your shake starts to taste too salty, simply add more sugar. Using the pure form will work, as sugar is also present in dairy products. Adding milk or cream can also help cancel out the salt. This dairy trick is particularly useful in an overly salted milkshake — after all, milk is literally in the name.

You can add a pinch of salt to any kind of milkshake to enhance flavor — be it a berry milkshake or a chocolate chip cookie milkshake. Or, if you're looking for more texture, feel free to substitute in a handful of pretzels or crushed chips to add to the blender or food processor. Keeping the science of salt and these recipe guidelines in mind will help you transform your milkshake from a standard sweet treat to a scrumptious culinary creation.