Salt - types and uses

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
Staff member
Joined
19 Apr 2015
Local time
2:10 AM
Messages
46,855
Location
Maidstone, Kent, UK
Mod. Edit: Thread started to form a new topic so following few posts have been copied over from another thread.

What kind of salt do you use? Kosher salt is popular in the USA but you can't really find it in the UK. Tell us about the salt you use.
 
Last edited:
@Toffeeapple

Wikipedia
Koshering salt, usually referred to as kosher salt in the US, is a variety of edible salt with a much larger grain size than some common table salt. Like common table salt, kosher salt consists of the chemical compound sodium chloride.

The salt is not kosher but is used in preparing kosher foods.
The large grain size is easy to see when seasoning food.
 
Is not all salt Sodium Chloride? (my grasp on science is vague). I have just read about salt available in USA and have confused myself even more. At home I use Tidman's in the grinder and Maldon Smoked at the table. Thanks for your reply.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I not all salt Sodium Chloride?
Yes
In south Louisiana there are many salt mines - huge domes of salt left when the seas receded millenniums ago. I am fond of sea salt - salt extracted from sea water.

Salt is an interesting topic. At one time it was only available to people living near seas and oceans. It was very rare and expensive.
 
Mod. Edit: post copied and edited to fit new thread.

Ordinary table salt has all the traces of minerals stripped out of it. I don't usually use salt, but if I do it must be sea salt. You only have to use a tiny amount, and it seems to taste much better.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't think kosher salt has iodine in it, which a lot of regular table salt in US does?
 
Last edited:
Maldon Smoked at the table.

I use Maldon too and also Himalayan pink salt crystals (the latter sounds posh but can be bought from Tiger for £1 a pack! I also have black volcanic salt which looks fabulous for dressing plates. But, you know, I also use bog standard iodised table salt. Cheap as chips (cheaper in fact) and great for a quick salty hit. I use it in pickles and in bread-making.
 
I use sea salt for jacket potatoes.

jacket potato s.jpg


But table salt (iodised) for most other things.
 
I buy loads of Halen Mon (Welsh for Anglesey salt) as it is taken and evaporate directly from the Irish Sea in North Wales. It has various flavours added and adds a bit of zing when sprinkled on food.
 
I remembered that iodine was introduced in table salt to prevent health issues related to iodine deficiency. The deficiency was experienced by people living away from seas and oceans. Those living near seas and oceans ingested the needed iodine by eating seafood. Modern methods of packaging and shipping have made seafood more available to non coastal regions. There is still the cost factor. Adding iodine to salt is a very inexpensive way to provide the needed iodine.

Anyway - this is what Wikipedia has to say

Iodised salt
(also spelled iodized salt) is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of the element iodine. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency. Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities.[1][2] Deficiency also causes thyroid gland problems, including "endemic goitre." In many countries, iodine deficiency is a major public health problem that can be cheaply addressed by purposely adding small amounts of iodine to the sodium chloride salt.

Iodine is a micronutrient and dietary mineral that is naturally present in the food supply in some regions, especially near sea coasts, but is generally quite rare in the Earth's crust, since iodine is a so-called "heavy" element and abundance of chemical elements generally declines with greater atomic mass. Where natural levels of iodine in the soil are low and the iodine is not taken up by vegetables, iodine added to salt provides the small but essential amount of iodine needed by humans.

An opened package of table salt with iodide may rapidly lose its iodine content through the process of oxidation and iodine sublimation.[3]
 
Whole rock salt from the mines of Sicily. It is a pure salt rich in minerals and dates back to 6 million years. My husband works for the company that extracts and sells it! He doesn't want to see any other type of salt, especially the pink one (which takes the color from the iron) :D
 
My husband works for the company that extracts and sells it! He doesn't want to see any other type of salt, especially the pink one (which takes the color from the iron) :D

Oh gosh! So your husband is a salt expert! I didn't know the pink colour came from the iron. Is that the case with the Himalayan pink salt too?
 
Back
Top Bottom