Salt And Pepper Shakers

[jamaloney]

Would someone please settle a family dispute? If you have identical salt and pepper shakers except for the number of holes in the top, is the shaker with the fewer holes for the salt or the pepper?

[Mezzaluna]

The shaker with fewer holes is the pepper shaker. I hope you won the bet!

[Svadhisthana]

We always put salt in the one with fewer holes.......I think it depends on your taste and opinion. Both are "right". It's just like the toilet paper thing- over or under?

[mudbug]

Salt Shaker has Less Holes

I don't think it should be about being right or wrong, it should be thought of in the practical sense. If they are not marked, "salt should go in the shaker with only one hole, and the pepper in the other shaker, the one with more holes.

Not only is this perfectly logical, but there are health benefits as well. Salt should be taken in sparing amounts, and pepper can be enjoyed as liberally as one can stand. Salt should come out of the smallest hole.

Salt is heavier and flows easier than pepper, therefore you'll have more coming out of the holes in a much quicker time span.

It's easy to shake out too much salt unless the flow is restricted." It's way to easy to oversalt your food (or your guests to oversalt their food) if the salt is coming out several holes at one time.

From here.

[Foodie Jeff]

What does one do if the shakers have the holes punched in an "S" and "P" pattern and the "S" pattern has more holes? Put the pepper in the "S" shaker and the salt in the "P" shaker?

[mudbug]

Foodie Jeff,

The original question is in reference to those shakers which are unmarked and identical in appearance.

[coolJ]

good topic, I actually don't think I ever noticed the difference in the tops of the salt and pepper shakers. Although this brings to mind a funny story about my dad, bear with me here. you see about a year ago I bought a pepper grinder, before that I just used the stuff that comes preground that you buy in the bulk bins at the market, anyway I'd heard that once a person started using fresh pepper, thay'd never go back to the preground. Well I was a bit skeptical, so I was using only the fresh pepper for everything for about six months or so, and anyway on evening at dinner, my dad who has this thing about not liking new stuff, asks my mom to pass the pepper, and seeing as we had both the pepper grinder and the old pepper shaker on the table she just instinctly passed him the old pepper shaker, he looked at her and said 'no, I want that one' pointing to the grinder.
Hope this makes you smile or at least gives you a bit of a chuckle for the day.

[Jock]

Just goes to show, you are never too old to learn to appreciate something new.
I am curious though, as to why you would want to have a salt and pepper shaker at all. I mean, if the food you are preparing is properly seasoned in the cooking process, you shouldn't need to season it at the table. (You remember how we are always admonished to taste for seasoning every step of the way?)
A soup might be under seasoned and can stand adding S&P after cooking. And of course, salt is usually added to fries or other deep fried food after cooking. But generally speaking, salt and pepper shakers should be rendered vitually obsolete.

Jock

[Plum]

You can only ever cook for the average palate. Some people are such pepper addicts their taste buds are probably rendered obsolete!

[chefcassanova]

To contradict Jock's post ...You can't please everyone all the time! Everyone's palate is different. As we get older our taste buds become less sensitive to things like salt. Have you ever noticed an elderly person pouring tons of salt on there food even though their doctor tells them not to.

[jamaloney]

Thanks to everyone for their contributions! I have ascertained that there is no right and wrong, it's a matter of preference and opinion. Therefore, I have elected to keep the S&P in their current shakers and I win the bet!