Is salt needed for a souffle to rise? I made a crab pudding/souffle (lots of egg whites) last night and it didn't rise at all.  I've made it before successfully, but this time I didn't put any salt in because I felt the result had been too salty before.  Could the lack of salt be the culprit?  Or do I just need to perfect my whipping &amp; folding techniques???  Thanks!
No, salt actually destabilizes egg white foams. The small amount added to a souffle won't ruin the souffle, but the meringue will actually hold a bit better without it. 

There are many reasons for a souffle to not rise (overbeaten whites, bad folding, wrong base consistency, wrong oven temperature, etc.) but salt is not one of them.