Ingredient Snobbery? My findings on Salt

On one of my usual distracted sidetracks, I decided to really learn the differences between salts and substituting one for another when cooking.

I learned the main advantage of Koshering (Kosher) salt is the large flake structure - this helps wick moisture from food better, and makes the salt more easy to handle if you are "adding a pinch" or trying to evenly distribute salt on a surface, for example.

I learned that the main advantage of table salt is that the small crystalline structure allows it to dissolve faster and so this is better for brining, etc.

The two are interchangeable in cooking unless you have an iodine sensitivity(use Kosher) or are poor (use Table), but when measuring by volume, use half the volume if substituting table salt for Kosher, and vice versa.

Sea salt looks good (has interesting colors and shapes) and comes in crunchy chunks, so is good for finishing touches sprinkled on the top of things.

In addition, I searched the Cellar and was reminded that we learned from Clodfobble that Iodized salt has Dextrose in it to prevent clumping.

Here is the "easiest reading" article I found -there are many, but as far as I can tell, the all paraphrase this, just like I did here :D

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/ask-the-food-lab-do-i-need-to-use-kosher-salt.html

Don't forget that pink Himalayan salt http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/02/01/this-is-what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-eat-pink-himalayan-salt/

"Table salt is man-made, so it contains all kinds of impurities. Sea salt is natural, so it is pure."
-- some dumb shit I saw on a PBS cooking show a few years ago

wikipedia wrote:

Unrefined sea salt contains small amounts of magnesium and calcium halides and sulfates, traces of algal products, salt-resistant bacteria and sediment particles. The calcium and magnesium salts confer a faintly bitter overtone, and they make unrefined sea salt hygroscopic (i.e., it gradually absorbs moisture from air if stored uncovered). Algal products contribute a mildly "fishy" or "sea-air" odour, the latter from organobromine compounds. Sediments, the proportion of which varies with the source, give the salt a dull grey appearance.

And with a pinch of what, exactly, are we to take your advice, Monster?

If I advised you on that, we may never reach a conclusion.... :eek:


hmm I forgot about the Himalayan. It probably surfaced after that article was written. Who uses it anyway? It just seems to gather dust in our store. Perhaps it's main purpose is to look pretty in it's little grinder on the table? We certainly don't sell it in quantities big enough to cook with, though, unlike the other three

(although Kosher salt is supposed to be easier to pinch, so how much of a challenge do you fancy? ;) )

A European superstition holds that spilling salt is an evil omen. One widespread explanation of the belief that it is unlucky to spill salt is that Judas Iscariot spilled the salt at the Last Supper. Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper depicts Judas Iscariot having knocked over a salt-cellar.

The belief of tossing a pinch of salt over your left shoulder to get rid of bad luck come from the legend that the devil is always standing behind you, and throwing salt in his eye distracts him from causing trouble.

Thanks to Judas Iscariot, spilled salt is associated with treachery and lies. If you do spill salt, a pinch thrown over your left shoulder is supposed to blind the devil waiting there.

Kosher salt might be easiest to throw over the shoulder in a pinch.

I have a massive chunk of pink Himalayan salt that had been carved out to accomodate a small bulb to make a lamp. A friend of mine gave it to me since it got away from him. I think it was dusty and he hit it with a damp cloth and that started this whole hygroscopic chain reaction; when the lamp was plugged in and on it would be warm enough to stay dry despite the crazy humidity, but when it was truned off it began sucking moisture from the air and started dissolving, creating rivulets of salt water that corroded everything it came into contact with. It's now in my basement awaiting judgement.

We use pink Himalayan salt in all our cooking. For one thing I prefer the bigger grains, but mostly it's because I can easily taste the difference in a one-on-one comparison.

Clod, do you ever shop at Dollar Tree? They sell a big bottle of pink salt for a dollar. Probably why others can't sell their smaller containers for more money.

tarheel

.

I've learned that I can't handle very much of any kind of salt anymore...which I guess is good.

captainhook455;974096 wrote:

Clod, do you ever shop at Dollar Tree? They sell a big bottle of pink salt for a dollar. Probably why others can't sell their smaller containers for more money.

tarheel

Places like Ross or T.J. Maxx also have kitchen knick-knack sections that sometimes contain salt, pepper grinders.

Just ran across this:

[ATTACH]58563[/ATTACH]

:lol2: