Making Custom Salt Blends

The problem with salt blends is that you're stuck using a premixed blend of spices. Why not just blend when needed, or don't even blend, use salt and dried herbs and spices as you see fit? 

In the past I had found a salt blend that I really liked, and all my friends loved it. I started using it on everything and it truly worked with everything from poultry to pork to steak to fish etc... The problem became, after a few months, I realized that everything I cooked had the same flavor profile: that of the salt blend. 

Now I just have all my spices and dried herbs etc. and use what I want when I want to. Pork ribs? How about a little powdered toasted onion, powdered garlic, smoked paprika, dried mustard, salt and pepper. Lamb skewers? Hmmmm today I feel like dried oregano, a tiny bit of cumin, olive oil and fresh garlic. 

Etc etc.... 

To me, salt blends are limiting. 

to dry the herbs, perhaps?

I actually dry my salt before putting it in salt shakers.  The salt here is not treated to keep it pouring because nobody uses shakers. And i buy sale di Trapani, which i really love (I'm a real salt lover) but it's even more sticky than the commercial kind.  So when i have the oven on for some reason, like making bread, i put a baking dish lined with foil with a pile of salt in it to dry out.  I pour it into my shakers and it flows fine unless i leave the shaker out in the rain

If you're using sea salt and particularly untreated salt, you might need to dry it out. 

Decoy1, sorry I mean Mr. Decoy1,

Wow flavored salts, as one who frequently makes various flavored salts and spice blends the following:

first remember salt draws liquid, if you put a flavoring agent and salt in a dehydrator, you have one, the salt drawing liquid that you want to retain the flavor, and another the dehydrator removing moisture to ambient air, which is why you get so much aroma during the dehydration process.

Re the salt, usually use coarse grinder or flaked sea salt (Baline or Maldon)

I make smoked salt and several flavored kinds for bbq rubs to finishing, currently and literally have over 20 different salts Porcini, (& various other fungi) ghost (& various other hot / chili ) pepper, lavender and rosemary, veggie, 

make truffle salt and pepper, no dehydrator, minced and vacuum sealed jars, ratios vary by liquid content as we want the salt/pepper to absorb the flavors not turn to mush etc. shake the jars daily, the vacuum helps influence / introduce the desired flavor (fresh herbs etc) the the desired medium (salt / pepper) 

fresh herb same, just mince and add salt and vac.

Have also used a sun tea process for dried and a hot water extraction for fresh, reduce to concentrate, apply with an atomizer,or a pump up culinary sprayer after I oven dry at low temp, re spritz and re dry to get the desired flavor.

Hope that helped,

Cheers,

EDG

I make a few blends that I use a lot of. Lately I have been using a salt/garlic powder/onion powder/black pepper/ ground celery seed/ground rosemary on bison and beef. I created it for my annual BBQ this year and everyone loved it. I had to make a big batch to send home with people.

I do a Lemon-Garlic-Rosemary salt from fresh ingredients. I dry it in the oven on low temp as needed. http://www.cheftalk.com/t/64633/dehydrating-citrus-zest-will-this-work#post_344687 has the recipe

My dad gave me a little trick for keeping salt from clumping in a table shaker; put a small amount of rice in the shaker along with the salt. The rice grains are large enough that they stay in the shaker and keep the salt nice and dry. Great for outdoor shakers but the rice needs changing occasionally.

Red.

Quote:

Originally Posted by redvan 

My dad gave me a little trick for keeping salt from clumping in a table shaker; put a small amount of rice in the shaker along with the salt. The rice grains are large enough that they stay in the shaker and keep the salt nice and dry. Great for outdoor shakers but the rice needs changing occasionally.

 

Red.

Redvan, thanks,  i had heard of that and used to do it but to no avail.   I think it's fine for american salt that is treated, but the italian salt is very wet (it doesn't flow). 

All the restaurants here have salt shakers that are practically all rice, and nothing ever comes out of them.  If they have salt shakers at all.   So i dry it in the oven for a long time and then it works fine.