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Salt

4K views 52 replies 20 participants last post by  koukouvagia 
#1 ·
What kind of salt do you use for most of your basic cooking?  So many recipes call for kosher salt and I don't have any, had some but didn't like it so never bought it again.  In general I use sea salt for all of my cooking.  I have finishing salts like pink himalayan, smoked maldon, truffle salt and fleur de sel.

Also, how do you salt your food?  Do you prefer by hand or do you have a shaker or utensil by which you measure?
 
#4 ·
Koukou: check here. In theory all salts are Koscher.

A nice way to use rock salt is with a pepper mill. It gives you more control and you can change the size of the crystals to your needs.
 
#5 ·
I sprinkle Kosher salt when cooking and measure it when baking. This is my go-to salt. I would probably use Diamond if I could get my hands on it but Chicago is the home of Morton, so unless I make a special trip way out of my way to go to a big grocery store in an Orthodox neighborhood, it is impossible to find.

I also use fine sea salt--sometimes French, sometimes Greek, sometimes Italian. It depends on which market I am shopping in when I need salt.

I have a pepper mill of Maldon sea salt for finishing but, in truth, most of the time I have already salted during preparation and it doesn't get used terribly often, though lately sliced tomatoes have been getting the treatment. Thanks to this conversation, I just filled another empty pepper grinder (can never pass one up in a thrift store) with French Sel Gros that has been languishing in the back of a cupboard for a very long time. 

As for all salt being Kosher, I think all salt is Pareve--which is what the article above refers to, but not all salt has the circled U symbol that indicates the facility where it is produced has been certified by a representative of the Orthodox Union--which I guess makes it somehow extra Kosher.
 
#6 ·
Most baking recipes that measure by volume are written for regular table salt.

Kosher (and other similar salts) measure up short as there are void spaces between the crystals.

For everything else I use Kosher.

I know it and can measure by eye...

I loved the flavor of salt until the doc spanked my butt a few years back when my BP required me to start on meds.

Now I am satisfied with however much I add to the dishes and seldom does anyone complain that something is bland.

If so I have the usual collection in the pantry for them to tweak to their heart's content lol.

mimi
 
#7 ·
It depends on the application:

if the salt will be dissolved in water (like soup) it doesn't matter which salt you use because for the same weight of salt in a specific volume of liquid, any salt will taste the same.

If the purpose of the salt is topical meaning that the person will eat the salt placed on top of the food (i.e undissolved) the shape and size of the salt crystals will yield different texture and taste experience because taste buds will react to the dissolving rate of the salt crystal in saliva (it's an electrochemical reaction that have different rates depending on the amount of time and the dissolving nature of the crystal shape)

so large salt crystals on pretzels give long salty exposure to the tongue while powdered salt on flavoured chip releases quickly for a hit of seasoning to each chip.

I use regular salt in water and Kosher or pickling salt (large crystals) for topical applications (including rubs and wilting cabbage for coleslaw)

Luc H.
 
#8 ·
...

if the salt will be dissolved in water (like soup) it doesn't matter which salt you use because for the same weight of salt in a specific volume of liquid, any salt will taste the same.

...

Luc H.
Absolutely! Most salt is nearly 99% NaCl or natrium chloride plus impurities like minerals and oxides which will color the salt. And indeed like ChefRoss said, sometimes other stuff is added to prevent it becoming a solid rock. Grandmothers added a little rice to the salt to absorb the moisture and keep it loose.

Nearly all types of salt used while cooking will taste exactly the same. When added after cooking, like on a cooked steak, a little Maldon or Fleur de sel will make a difference... in texture, not in taste. Those salts give a bit of a crunch, the taste is like any other salt.

I yet have to meet a person who can tell the difference in salt tastes!
 
#9 ·
More and more I find recently written baking recipes that call for Kosher rather than table salt. I do keep table salt in the house and do use it sometimes when baking older recipes but more and more often when I encounter a recipe that calls for table salt, I often just crush some Kosher between my fingers and up the qty slightly to make up for the space between the crystals. It's pure laziness. The Kosher salt is in the front of the cupboard. I usually have to dig to get to the table salt and the cupboard where I keep the salts, spices and vinegars takes determination and courage to sort through. (Thank you, ethnic markets of Chicago.)

Like you, Mimi, I've used Morton Kosher salt for so long, I also measure it by the feel in the palm of my hand or by eyeballing it. 
 
#12 ·
Kosher salt added by hand while cooking and finish with sea salt. Kosher salt because of the large flat flakes dissolves better in sauces. For sea salt there is a company called jacobson. They are out of the pacific northwest. The only hand harvested sea salt produced in the usa. It is epic. Very very good stuff. I tend to infuse salt on my own if i need to but they have a stumptown coffee salt. A lemon a pinot noir and a vanilla salt. All delicious.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
I think most people would understand "Kosher" salt to have been packaged in a facility that had itself been "Koshered," meaning that equipment has been cleaned, and that ingredients and packaging are used  strictly in accordance with Kosher dietary laws. There are a number of "kashrut" certifying agencies that ensure Kosher laws are followed by food preparation facilities. The Orthodox Union in NYC is the largest in the world. The U in a circle symbol on food packaging is theirs. Food preparation facilities don't keep a rabbi on hand at all times to supervise but they are inspected periodically by specially trained representatives of the OU to ensure that Kosher laws are being followed. I don't think anyone would ever consider as Kosher any box of salt that didn't have a Kosher certification symbol of some sort on the package.
 
#15 ·
What makes salt kosher? What's the difference between "kosher salt" and regular table salt?
[h2]Answer:[/h2]
Salt is a mineral, and as such, pure salt is always kosher. Some brands of salt have a kosher symbol on the package, and that way you know that a reliable kosher certification agency is checking to make sure that nothing else gets mixed in to the salt and that it's 100% kosher.

Rochel Chein for Chabad.org
 
#17 ·
This may help in the confusion:

http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/kosher-salt.asp

We have all heard of salt being called "kosher," but what exactly does that mean-kosher salt? Typically, the confusion derives from the fact that the word "kosher" has two different meanings in terms of salt, and that salt can be considered one type of kosher, both types, or not kosher at all. People often say "kosher salt" when they mean either kosher certified salt, or kosher-style flake salt.

Luc H.
 
#22 ·
I was kind of thinking the same; what on earth does kocher salt do that other salt doesn't do? Does it taste any different? If it's so pure, then it's almost 100% NaCl, so what's all the fuss about?
If there's is an apparent fuss this is it:

Kosher salt has a particular size and shape larger than regular table salt. Some (me) use it because of the size of the crystals to obtain a specific effect on food, others like the fact that kosher certified salt is pure (without additives) and others, like the combination of characteristics.

Luc H
 
#23 ·
Absolutely! Most salt is nearly 99% NaCl or natrium chloride plus impurities like minerals and oxides which will color the salt. And indeed like ChefRoss said, sometimes other stuff is added to prevent it becoming a solid rock. Grandmothers added a little rice to the salt to absorb the moisture and keep it loose.

Nearly all types of salt used while cooking will taste exactly the same. When added after cooking, like on a cooked steak, a little Maldon or Fleur de sel will make a difference... in texture, not in taste. Those salts give a bit of a crunch, the taste is like any other salt.

I yet have to meet a person who can tell the difference in salt tastes!
Not all salt is created equal. Regular table salt has not only anit-clumping agents but also iodine. Iodine was originally added to table salt in I think the '50's to prevent people from getting goiters which are caused by lack of iodine in your diet. The iodine gives the salt a slightly bitter flavour. Kosher salt has a much purer flavour due in part to lack of iodine in the salt and lack of other minerals. Kosher salt also dissolves quicker and more uniformly than table salt. Sea salt can either be processed or not processed. The non processed stuff is usually grey and has a more complex flavour than processed sea salt or of other salts due to organic and mineral particles attached to the salt granules. Besides those, there are flavour differences in salt due to harvesting location, ie. Himalayan pink salt does not taste the same as salt harvested in my home town.

If you don't believe me try it yourself. There are so many different salts out there now, get yourself a few and do a taste test. You will undoubtedly notice subtle differences between all the different salts you try.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Sorry, I didn't read through. This may have already posted.

Living in Brooklyn as a kid, made it possible for me to get odd jobs frequently because of my passion for food. I worked in quite a few Jewish Deli's, food preparation kitchens.

I was pretty well know and liked by many Jewish food store owners. Easy to make pretty good money, as long as I stayed in the back and didn't come out to speak with customers.

I prepared tons of meat to be koshered. I couldn't do the act but most all everything else. The Kosher salt came in bulk and was a certain type of cut/flake. It didn't dissolve much when

in came in contact with water/moisture. This is important. Kosher Jews are not allowed to eat blood from mammals and birds. So we had to remove all the blood from the meat.

This started with washing the meat to remove surface blood and foreign things. Then it gets soaked in large tubs. 1-2hrs. cut the meat into smaller football size pieces. You gotta then jiggle it until most water is off ( can't count how many pieces I ruined by dropping) then it gets coated with the Kosher salt in the air and than sat to rest. I got caught one day just laying the meat on the salt and bringing the salt up around the sides. The Rabbi's assistant went ballistic on me for that. I always figured it was a religious thing until one day the Rabbi explained that if you packed the salt on the meat it wouldn't be able to drain blood and would have to be tossed. Go figure?The cut of the salt made it hard to melt and acted like a sponge when the meat started to drip. Then we laid them all out. They sat out for hours. Then we had our production line and rubbed off all the salt, rinse it with our makeshift shower, and the next three guys did the same thing. There was always a time limit on the meat or chicken. On busy days the salting was the last thing we did before closing. Some days Saul my favorite boss would send one of the boys running to get me out of bed sometimes 4AM. Poor Saul would be pacing all over the place staring at his watch, yelling Italian expletives he learned from me, because if we didn't finish doing the meat on time it all had to be pitched.

So that's what Kosher salt is all about.

  OMGosh, one day I'll post about Koshering liver. The deli out front would go through 100 lbs. + chopped liver.  Since Koshering liver I've never had arm hair.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Great story @panini

There is an International Standard for basic ingredients like Salt called the Codex Alimentarius (aka Food chemical codex). Almost every government refer to this standard for their regulations.

The following will brings you to a pdf: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/input/download/standards/3/CXS_150e.pdf

For those that don't want to download a file from an unknown source: use word search: "Salt specification and standard"

excerpts are below:

Food grade salt is a crystalline product consisting predominantly of sodium chloride. It is obtained from the sea, from underground rock salt deposits or from natural brine.

3.1 MINIMUM NACL CONTENT
The content of NaCl shall not be less than 97% on a dry matter basis, exclusive of additives.

3.2 NATURALLY PRESENT SECONDARY PRODUCTS AND CONTAMINANTS
The remainder comprises natural secondary products, which are present in varying amounts depending on the origin and the
method of production of the salt, and which are composed mainly of calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium sulphates,
carbonates, bromides, and of calcium, potassium, magnesium chlorides as well. Natural contaminants may also be present in
amounts varying with the origin and the method of production of the salt. Copper shall not exceed 2 mg/kg (expressed as Cu).

3.4.1Iodine compounds
For the fortification of food grade salt with iodine, use can be made of sodium and potassium iodides or iodates.

3.4.2Maximum and minimum levels

The maximum and minimum levels used for the iodisation of food grade salt are to be calculated as iodine (expressed as
mg/kg) and shall be established by the national health authorities in the light of the local iodine deficiency situation.

7.1 THE NAME OF THE PRODUCT
7.1.1 The name of the product, as declared on the label shall be "salt".
7.1.2 The name "salt" shall have in its close proximity a declaration of either "Food Grade" or "Cooking Salt" or "Table Salt".
7.1.3 Only when salt contains one or more ferrocyanide salts, added to the brine during the crystallization step, the term
"dendritic" could be included accompanying the name.
7.1.4 Where salt is used as a carrier for one or more nutrients, and sold as such for public health reasons, the name of the
product shall be declared properly on the label, for example "salt fluoridated", "salt iodated", "salt iodized", "salt fortified with
iron", "salt fortified with vitamins" and so on, as appropriate.
7.1.5 An indication of either the origin, according to the description on Section 2, or the method of production may be declared
on the label, provided such indication does not mislead or deceive the consumer.

Luc H.
 
#26 ·
This large food ingredient company offers 2 different salts for koshering meats (i.e. bulk kosher salt).

This one has no additives to prevent it from clumping:

description: Alberger[sup][emoji]174[/emoji][/sup] Coarse Topping Flake Salt

For use on crackers and bread sticks, in baked goods and cheeses and for coarse seasoning blends. Contains no additives. Also for use in meat and poultry koshering and topping for baked goods.

http://www.cargill.com/salt/product...flake-salts/alberger-coarse-topping/index.jsp

This one has an anticaking agent to prevent clumping in high humidity (note it is also a koshering salt).
[h3]Premier[emoji]8482[/emoji] Extra Coarse Flake SaltFor use on crackers and bread sticks, in baked goods and cheeses and for coarse seasoning blends. Also for use in meat and poultry koshering and topping for baked goods. Contains yellow prussiate of soda to prevent caking.[/h3]
http://www.cargill.com/salt/product...ke-salts/premier-extra-coarse-flake/index.jsp

furthermore it appears that MOST salt companies use anticaking additives in the salts including Kosher salts.

This guy made an extensive list of all the salts available with their ingredients: http://www.toxinless.com/salt

Better check your ingredient labels!!

Luc H.
 
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