kosher vs. regular salt

[Wendy Lai]

I know every chef worth his salt uses kosher salt, sorry, can't resist the pun:)

I just want to know how important is it to use kosher salt, especially in pickling dishes? If I bought a special ingrident everytime I want to try something new, my kitchen won't be big enough to hold everything...

[2chez mike]

I like it because when you take a pinch in your fingers it has a good feel to it. Also, because of it's larger crystal and lighter density, you're less likely to over salt.

[Wendy Lai]

Is oversalting the main issue? I actually never oversalt, in fact I can undersalt for other people's taste because my mother cooks on the bland side and I've gotten to food slightly under salted.

I thought there might taste or chemical issues that I need to take into consideration.

[jen kalb]

refer back to the big salt discussion for taste differences - for the type of informal pickling recipes you are talking about, it doesnt really matter - you certainly do not need to go out and look for "pickling salt" common table salt or kosher salt is just fine.
Just use less if the recipe calls for kosher and you have only table salt - maybe half of what is called for.

[Nancy Berry]

Wendy,

There are taste considerations. Because kosher salt contains no additives, it is better tasting than iodized table salt. Even non-iodized table salt contains additives to keep it from clumping up. Kosher salt is MUCH better tasting than table salt. It is also less salty, so if you're used to using table salt, you may have to use a bit more (maybe even twice as much) kosher salt in your recipes. I don't usually use more salt than the recipe calls for, but some folks feel that they need to. By the way, I like Diamond kosher salt much better than Morton's kosher salt -- Morton's does contain an additive to keep the salt flowing -- I think it affects the taste.

[Shelly Wallace]

Let's think about chemistry before we go all over the salt stuff again.

The same weight of Kosher salt will be just as salty as regular salt. Kosher salt (and other "gourmet" salts) usually has larger crystals that don't dissolve instantly on the tongue and thus -taste- less salty. You're still getting the same sodium per weight and consuming much more salt (because everyone wants you to double the amount of salt if it's Kosher).

If you have health issues, or are just aware of what salt does to your body, you don't want to be consuming twice as much salt just to get the same salt taste.

[ironmom]

The same weight of kosher salt may have as much salt as pickling salt, but I don't know anybody who weighs out salt when cooking. The crystal structure of kosher salt causes it to settle less that granular salt. More air, less salt.

I weighed out 1/3 cup of Kosher salt: 2-1/4 ounces
1/3 cup of table salt: 3-1/4 ounces.

[Shelly Wallace]

Thanks for weighing them. That information is very helpful.

Looks like you'd be getting the same "saltiness" adding about 1.5 times as much Kosher salt as regular salt. And I'm not surprised that people think food tastes better with Kosher salt when they use extra, most food tastes better when it's got more seasonings.

[lucia]

Hi Wendy,
Actually for pickling, you should use pickling salt, which is much finer, dissolves very easily, and has no iodine. It's made by Diamond, which also makes the best Kosher salt, which might be a source of confusion? (Other brands of Kosher salt seem to me to be less coarse and less crunchy.)

Kosher salt is best to use for cooking and table salt, because the large size of the grain means you get a little crunch out of the shaken salt, and you more easily avoid oversalting. I find whenever I run out of Kosher salt and am forced to use Morton's Iodized, it is easy to oversalt. But I use iodized salt in a few things, like bread, to make sure to get the iodine.

Think there was a thread on this recently?

lucia