[Russell Dawkins]

I keep seeing Kosher salt coming up as a recommendation. What is this exactly (what are the requirements in manufacture), and why is it recommended? I'm guessing it must be taste, but I wouldn't have thought that different salts would taste very different - but maybe to a cook that would be the equivalent of saying all speakers sound the same.

[some young guy]

I keep seeing Kosher salt coming up as a recommendation. What is this exactly (what are the requirements in manufacture), and why is it recommended? I'm guessing it must be taste, but I wouldn't have thought that different salts would taste very different - but maybe to a cook that would be the equivalent of saying all speakers sound the same.

Kosher salt has no iodine added to it. It definitely tastes better than iodized table salt. Iodized salt is very salty and has a slightly bitter taste when compared to kosher salt. I have about a dozen different salts in the house and they all taste different. Try it out for your self and see (taste).

[Bob in St. Louis]

Since I was introduced to Kosher salt, I've not used iodized (table) salt, and that was a couple years ago.
Kosher is also a much larger grain so your salt shaker is rendered obsolete. But the 'cool factor' for you to pour some in the palm of your left hand and takes pinches with you right fingers and spread the salt over the food looks impressive to your guests. 
The taste in incompairable to "standard" salt IMO. As is with "Sea Salt". Both are very tasty and very inexpesive too.

Bob

[Russell Dawkins]

so, my understanding is that iodine was introduced to salt to counteract - goiter, was it?

I just looked it up in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodised_salt
and it seems it was introduced to combat iodine deficiency, particularly in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Michigan and Wisconsin (the "Goiter Belt"!).

Maybe we mostly get enough iodine elsewhere, today. The Wikipedia article suggests in the first para that much more is introduced in salt than is needed.

[bummrush]

Definitely want to try the Kosher salt looks good,

[some young guy]

If Bob's palm-n-finger method isn't your cup of tea, you can also use a salt vault or a small bowel. My wife used to throw pottery and made a bunch of salt cups for me.

Salt vaults come many different shapes and sizes...









BTW this is even better tasting than Kosher, but it's really used as a condiment.

[Thebiker]

All righty then; where does sea salt fit into the picture?  I changed to it some years back because I felt it had much better flavor than the standard iodized salt.

The kosher salt & Fleur De Sel I haven't used or tasted as far as I know. 

Walt

[Dan Driscoll]

All righty then; where does sea salt fit into the picture?  I changed to it some years back because I felt it had much better flavor than the standard iodized salt.

The kosher salt & Fleur De Sel I haven't used or tasted as far as I know. 

Walt

Most table and kosher salts come from mining, although some still comes from evaporated sea water. The salt crystals are washed and filtered to remove any contaminants and biologicals. In both cases the crystals are ground, table salt finely, kosher salt more coarsely. Table salt also may have iodine and an anti-caking agent added, to keep it from clumping.

Sea salt is created by evaporating sea water, but usually it isn't washed or filtered nearly as much as table or kosher salt. That means it retains many of the various minerals disolved in sea water as salts. These minerals affect the color, aroma and taste of the salt. Because the composition of sea water changes from place to place, where a sea salt comes from can have a significant affect on the flavor. Sea salt may or may not be ground, depending on the size of the crystals and the market it is intended for. Even if it is ground, sea salt is typically left much more coarse than table or kosher salt.

Fleur de Sel is a sea salt, imported from France.

[Thebiker]

Thanks Dan.

Walt

[Russell Dawkins]

For the last 20 years I have tried to use sea salt whenever available because of this little story:

Around 1890, after the new (replacement) Museum of Natural History was built in London, they were trying to establish a very large seawater aquarium in it. Fresh water was used, with the addition of all the main minerals known to exist in salt water, but not including the "trace" minerals. Fish introduced to the aquarium died quickly.

The water was analyzed and re-analyzed to no effect - then someone had the bright idea of going to the sea and bringing back a relatively small amount of the real thing, in case there were some critical trace minerals of which they were unaware. I can't find a reference to this now, so I can't be specific, but suffice it to say it was an amazingly small amount that was added. The fish then thrived as if nothing at all was missing from the water.

The point of this is to illustrate the importance of the mere presence of trace minerals even though the quantity is too small to measure.

I take kelp tablets when I think of it for the same reason and also after reading how indigenous peoples of some extremely high region (14,000') in South America made a long trek to the sea once a year to harvest, dry and powder kelp which they kept in a leather pouch around their necks. When asked by a visiting doctor what this was for, they would tap their chests and say "makes me strong in here".

Now, where were we ...oh yes .. salt!

[S Clark]

Most of mined salt is taken from deposits left from evaporated marine deposits, hence it is "sea salt".  It sells for about $6 for a 50 lb bag from your nearest farm and ranch store-- and you don't have to pay extra to have "all natural" and "unprocessed" written on the label .  I keep a bag in the garage to cook with and to throw on icy steps in the winter.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Sea salt is also "farmed" in what looks like rice fields. The workers will flood a huge, but very shallow, field from natural sea water. Next, they'll let the sun evaporate the water leaving the salt behind. Then they rake it (shovel?) and clean it for packaging.
Chis (wolfy) linked a while back to a pretty informative website regarding the differences between Kosher, Sea, and iodized. I can't find it right now though.

Bob

[Dan Driscoll]

Sea salt is also "farmed" in what looks like rice fields. The workers will flood a huge, but very shallow, field from natural sea water. Next, they'll let the sun evaporate the water leaving the salt behind. Then they rake it (shovel?) and clean it for packaging.

That's the solar evaporation process. I drive past the Cargill salt ponds in San Francisco Bay 5 days a week on my way to and from work.

[Wind Chaser]

Here's something to chew on... Salts that heal and salts that kill...

[ctviggen]

There are several types of kosher salt, and each yields a different amount of actual salt per volume measurement.  For some applications, you have to be careful.  Also, regular table salt is typically recommended for baking, and if you deviate with kosher salt, you might not get the same results.

[cryoparts]

How does this stuff fit in, compared to the French stuff above?



I've been using it for a few years and really like it.  Plus, you can buy it almost anywhere, which is a plus.

http://www.realsalt.com/

Now, I'm off to Formaggio Kitchen to buy the French salt with all the herbs in it...

Peace,

Lee

[Imperial]

I use Maldon Sea salt for cooking, I find it is simply the best to use,
and also a coarse sea type called Zoutman "Marsel" too.
I have a kosher type called Seltin.. that's about it for the kosher types.

Imperial

[Eric]

I use either Kosher Salt or Sea Salt for cooking. I am also looking into gray salt

[BobM]

Sea salt is also "farmed" in what looks like rice fields. The workers will flood a huge, but very shallow, field from natural sea water. Next, they'll let the sun evaporate the water leaving the salt behind. Then they rake it (shovel?) and clean it for packaging.

That's the solar evaporation process. I drive past the Cargill salt ponds in San Francisco Bay 5 days a week on my way to and from work.

Many years ago my wife and I went on a diving trip to Bonaire and saw the big salt flats on that island. Apparently sea salt is one of their prime exports, along with Amstel beer (yes, they make some of it in a plant down there). Add a tourist diving mecca to that list and you have their complete economy.

Bob

[some young guy]

I use either Kosher Salt or Sea Salt for cooking. I am also looking into gray salt

Sel Grey (gray salt) is great. I like the impurities as I find that in the right dish, they add a nice flavor.

Caveat: sometimes sel grey is pretty wet, so it requires a little drying out before use.