Please somebody explain different kinds of salt

[automatic slim]

You've got Kosher, sea salt, lite salt, table salt....

Salt is salt right? What's the difference?


Thanks for the input.


Slim.

[Blueicus]

It's all sodium chloride, but each type you mentioned there do have some differences, including the size of the grains (table salt will be very fine, some kosher and sea salts will be coarser), content of other minerals, whether or not it's iodized, etc.

[eddiespin]

Just read the back of the box. Table salt is iodized. Kosher salt and sea salt just taste way better IMHO. I wouldn't know about lite salt. Aspartame?

[phatch]

Lite salt is mostly potassium chloride mixed with salt. It tastes very salt-like for basic chemistry reasons, but has little sodium. It's targeted to low sodium diets.

Phil

[ajoe]

Originally Posted by automatic slim

Salt is salt right?

So I guess water is water. Right?

There is a huge difference in sizes and a difference in taste. Salt is relatively cheap. I suggest you buy a few and experiment for yourself. Depending on the nature of the dish, you may or may not notice a difference.

My rule of thumb is; the closer the salt is used to serving dish, the more difference you will notice. For example, compare flake sea salt to table salt on a salad.

[gonefishin]

To me, texture differences play an equally important role as flavor differences in salt.

dan

[web monkey]

Originally Posted by automatic slim

You've got Kosher, sea salt, lite salt, table salt....

Salt is salt right? What's the difference?

Aside from the stuff everybody mentioned, Diamond and Morton Kosher Salt have different densities. It takes about around 25% - 30% more Diamond to make something as salty as Morton.

The reverse is also true. If a recipe was created using Diamond, and you use Morton, it will be too salty if you use the same amount by volume.

They're pretty much identical by weight, though.

Terry

[Jeffaliscous]

I was surprised to see no one commented on "specialty" salts, like the kind you can buy out of Michael Chiarello's Napa Style catalog.

I have quite a collection of salts, spaning from Jurrasic sea salt, to french grey salt and everything inbetween, including blends. One of my favorites is sundried tomatoe gray salt, very very coarse, and quite delicous in a pan sauce used on a sub sandwhich maybe, great for reductions as well.

I do agree that salt is salt, but theyre are many different varities with different notes, almost like wine differs even in the same varietal.

Experimenting with salts is a lot of fun.

[bughut]

I would do a taste test. If you first taste regular table salt it'll b salty, Then if you dip a finger in Kosher salt you'll find you can actually taste the salt and its nice. Now try a flaky sea salt like Malden and it tastes salty yet very easy on the tongue. Now go back to the table salt and notice the bitter Chemical overtones. Each one has it's place. Table salt with it's additives to keep it smooth running is fine for salting potatoes. Kosher would be perfect for sprinkling on tomatoes before roasting, or using as a dip for quails eggs eg. and Malden sea salt scrunched on a steak before frying is top rate...In my opinion
In my ignorance, I've never heard of lite salt??

[web monkey]

Originally Posted by bughut

In my ignorance, I've never heard of lite salt??

It's a mixture of sodium chloride and potasssium chloride and is nothing you would use by choice. It was popular a few decades ago when doctors tried to manage hypertension by reducing the patient's sodium intake.

Since the advent of drugs that actually work, and the realization that almost nobody was following the Dr.'s instructions, it became much less popular.

Terry

[boar_d_laze]

Experimenting may be fun, but the properties of most salts are well known.

Kosher salt is not kosher in that it's been blessed by a rabbi. Kosher salt is kosher because it's the type of salt used in the kashering process of slaughtering an animal in the kosher way. Salt is an important part, and it must stick to the meat. And that's exactly what kosher salt does -- it sticks to the meat. That's because it can absorb a fair amount of moisture without going solute. Kosher salt is, indeed a different density than table salt. 1 table salt = 1-1/2 Morton kosher = 2 Diamond kosher.

The colored salts, like Michael Chiarello's gray salt, pink salt from Hawaii, Brittany gray, black, etc., have color and flavor because they're slightly contaminated by dirt or sand from their place of origin. That's right, dirt.

Sea salt is refined from sea water, as opposed to being mined. Some people say it's got a slightly different taste -- again as a result of impurities in either the sea salt or the mined salt, or both. Some say it's healthier. I say it costs more.

Table salt is ordinary salt, usually mined. It is ground fine. It often has anti-caking agents to allow it to flow freely and may have other additives help prevent certain diseases.

Iodates are a typical class of additives. Iodized salt helps prevent goiters. It's a good idea to use it at least some of the times you eat, and you probably get enough eating out without worrying about adding it or removing it form your diet at home. Iodine in those quantities doesn't have much if any taste. What it does have is a color if left in solution long enough. Thus, it's not good for brining and pickling -- unless you want to add a little purple to the picture.

Pickling salt is very pure and highly soluble. It can make a more concentrated solution at a given temperature than other types of salt.

Lite salt is manufactured to have about 50% less sodium than ordinary table salt. Typically, users add roughly twice as much. But you suspected that, didn't you?

Hope this helps,
BDL

[Grumio]

How about Tibetan black salt? I was given some - lovely big deep purplish crystals - & I don't know what to do with it. Yak butter is damned hard to come by, even in LA where you can get almost anything, so making Tibetan tea is problematic, & that's the only thing that I've specifically heard of to use black salt in. It has a distinct sulfurous flavor.

[automatic slim]

Wow.

Thanks for all the info.


Slim

[boar_d_laze]

You can search "black salt recipe" on teh google and come up with more than a few, I'm sure. That having been said, I think it's most commonly used for fruit chaat and salty lhassi. I suppose it would add some bite to a meat chaat too, kind of like garlic and onion powders.

[Montelago]

Dirt is a little misleading, don't you think? After all, dirt is composed of mainly minerals, which is what imparts the different colors and flavors to many of the specialty salts available. Saying that it is contaminants and dirt is really not accurate. That would be like saying that calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium, which are critical to survival are dirt. The trace minerals are what make the salt valuable, and prized by many chefs, including myself.