A Little Info About Salt
I was trying to get some info about the sodium differences between kosher
salt and "regular" salt and came across some interesting info on the
ChowHound forum.
. Kosher salt is usually 1/3-1/2 less saline than table salt (I
think Morton's kosher is about 1/3 less, and Diamond kosher is 1/2 less). So
you cannot simply substitute equal quantities in baking or pickling recipes.
And kosher salt might dissolve a little more easily into brine, hence its
use in pickling.
. Because kosher salt is coarser, on a volume-measure basis kosher
salt is less "salty" than table salt. That is, the kosher salt grains are
bigger than grains of table salt, and there's more air in between them. So
you cannot substitute, say, 1 teaspoon of kosher for table, or vice versa.
If you ever do use salt in following a recipe, make sure you know which one
is called for, because the flavor will be completely different if you use
the other one.
. Practically, unless you get laboratory grade NaCl, all salt has
additives and impurities that affect the taste.
. There's a Salt Institute with a web site: Link:
http://www.saltinstitute.org/4.html.
. Its flavor is much "cleaner". I can't even touch the regular
iodized stuff anymore - it just tastes acrid to me. Promise me you'll try it
once, sprinkled on your potato or tomato... and you'll see. The grains are
much bigger, but they do dissolve better, and TASTE better, so I use it all
the time at the table. If the big grains gross you out, they make salt
grinders (just like a peppermill). Incidentally, I haven't had any problems
substituting kosher in recipes. It's also indispensable stuff for scrubbing
out your cast iron cookware -remember, NO SOAP!
. As others have mentioned, kosher salt is much coarser than table
salt and thus is less salty per unit of volume. When substituting, figure
about half the amount of fine salt than of kosher. I find kosher much easier
to use in cooking -- you can just pick up a pinch of it instead of having to
sprinkle it into your hand, and it's harder to oversalt with it. That being
said, I think all the talk of being able to taste the difference is wishful
thinking. The expensive sea salts like Fleur de Sel may contain minute
traces of certain additional minerals, but I honestly doubt it makes any
difference in the taste.
. I've done taste tests, and when you dissolve the salt in water,
people can't tell the difference. You get a different sensation when you eat
something sprinnkled with coarse salt than you would if you use fine salt,
because the crystals provide little bursts of saltiness. But the actual
flavor is indistinguishable.
All comments above are from
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/287741.
salt and "regular" salt and came across some interesting info on the
ChowHound forum.
. Kosher salt is usually 1/3-1/2 less saline than table salt (I
think Morton's kosher is about 1/3 less, and Diamond kosher is 1/2 less). So
you cannot simply substitute equal quantities in baking or pickling recipes.
And kosher salt might dissolve a little more easily into brine, hence its
use in pickling.
. Because kosher salt is coarser, on a volume-measure basis kosher
salt is less "salty" than table salt. That is, the kosher salt grains are
bigger than grains of table salt, and there's more air in between them. So
you cannot substitute, say, 1 teaspoon of kosher for table, or vice versa.
If you ever do use salt in following a recipe, make sure you know which one
is called for, because the flavor will be completely different if you use
the other one.
. Practically, unless you get laboratory grade NaCl, all salt has
additives and impurities that affect the taste.
. There's a Salt Institute with a web site: Link:
http://www.saltinstitute.org/4.html.
. Its flavor is much "cleaner". I can't even touch the regular
iodized stuff anymore - it just tastes acrid to me. Promise me you'll try it
once, sprinkled on your potato or tomato... and you'll see. The grains are
much bigger, but they do dissolve better, and TASTE better, so I use it all
the time at the table. If the big grains gross you out, they make salt
grinders (just like a peppermill). Incidentally, I haven't had any problems
substituting kosher in recipes. It's also indispensable stuff for scrubbing
out your cast iron cookware -remember, NO SOAP!
. As others have mentioned, kosher salt is much coarser than table
salt and thus is less salty per unit of volume. When substituting, figure
about half the amount of fine salt than of kosher. I find kosher much easier
to use in cooking -- you can just pick up a pinch of it instead of having to
sprinkle it into your hand, and it's harder to oversalt with it. That being
said, I think all the talk of being able to taste the difference is wishful
thinking. The expensive sea salts like Fleur de Sel may contain minute
traces of certain additional minerals, but I honestly doubt it makes any
difference in the taste.
. I've done taste tests, and when you dissolve the salt in water,
people can't tell the difference. You get a different sensation when you eat
something sprinnkled with coarse salt than you would if you use fine salt,
because the crystals provide little bursts of saltiness. But the actual
flavor is indistinguishable.
All comments above are from
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/287741.