466760 Wed Dec 05 14:38:48 -0800 2007 29 31 Home Cooking 0 3182755 Are there uses where one is appropriate and the other is not and why? I usually buy the canisters of the non-iodized Baleine sea salt, but have read references here and in recipes that certain tasks -- like brining -- should only be done with kosher salt. Is this really true? What would happen if I used sea salt? Could this possibly be the reason why my Zuni Chicken is always so salty? Wed Dec 05 14:38:48 -0800 2007 75002 Megiac 1 3182774 Don't know, but: Kosher is refined and purified rock salt. Sea salt is refined from tidal pools. Wed Dec 05 14:49:46 -0800 2007 3182755 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 3186239 Invariably? Diamond Crystals Kosher is I believe an evaporated salt, unlike Morton's, which is crushed rock salt. Much less harsh in the flavor department. Thu Dec 06 16:12:18 -0800 2007 3182774 11478 Will Owen 1 3182797 The main difference in various salts is the shape of the crystals. The shape of the crystals can affect the measuring of the salt: there will be more fine salt in a tablespoon than coarse salt. So using one instead of the other could change the salt content of your dish. But once salt is dissolved in water, it's all pretty much the same -- I'm sure some people will claim they can taste the difference in the trace minerals, but I'd love to see them try it in a blind tasting at concentrations people would actually use. Wed Dec 05 14:56:17 -0800 2007 3182755 10159 Ruth Lafler 2 3182815 The magnesium in unrefined salt provides a bitter aftertaste. Wed Dec 05 15:02:38 -0800 2007 3182797 36661 Sam Fujisaka 3 3182987 That's an extreme generalization. "Salt" has different mineral "impurities" depending on its source and will not necessarily contain significant amounts of magnesium. Furthermore, most people can't taste the slight bitter aftertaste of some salts. Actually, it's refined salt that's had iodine added that most people seem to find bitter. Wed Dec 05 15:57:06 -0800 2007 3182815 10159 Ruth Lafler 4 3183440 Rock salts normally have traces of other minerals most commonly including calcium, magnesium, sulphur, and phosphorus. Among these, magnesium gives a particularly bitter aftertaste tasted by just about anyone. Is that an "extreme generalization"? Wed Dec 05 18:54:05 -0800 2007 3182987 36661 Sam Fujisaka 5 3183501 SInce you said "salt" not "rock salt" then yes. How about sea salt? How about sea salt from different locations? Wed Dec 05 19:19:10 -0800 2007 3183440 10159 Ruth Lafler 6 3185731 Sea salt as well in regards to magnesium. Yes, sea salts from different locations taste a bit different, although I'm with you re: your previous statement that many peoplle wouldn't be able to tell the difference among salts sold for use with/as food. My previous point had to with unrefined salt--both rock and sea. Both need magnesium removed because of the bitter flavor. Hate to use the Wikipedia entry for "salt" but it includes: "Completely raw sea salt is bitter due to magnesium and calcium compounds, and thus is rarely eaten…. Salt is also obtained by evaporation of sea water, usually in shallow basins warmed by sunlight; salt so obtained was formerly called bay salt, and is now often called sea salt or solar salt."... "Today, most refined salt is prepared from rock salt: mineral deposits high in salt…. After the raw salt is obtained, it is refined to purify it and improve its storage and handling characteristics. Purification usually involves recrystallization. In recrystallization, a brine solution is treated with chemicals that precipitate most impurities (largely magnesium and calcium salts). Multiple stages of evaporation are then used to collect pure sodium chloride crystals, which are kiln-dried." Magnesium needs to be removed from both sea salt and salt from rock salt. Thu Dec 06 13:46:43 -0800 2007 3183501 36661 Sam Fujisaka 5 3186822 I just tend to believe Sam Thu Dec 06 20:41:33 -0800 2007 3183440 19291 frankiii 1 3182835 As Ruth points out, kosher salt takes up more space than an equal weight of table salt. Roughly twice as much, depending on brand of kosher. So if your brine recipe calls for 1 cup of kosher salt, you'd use 1/2 cup of table (sea) salt in its place. Kosher salt is recommended for brining because of its purity. Iodized salt can cause discoloration of the meat being brined, or so I'm told. I have no personal experience of this, I've never tried it. If you haven't noticed this with sea salt, I'd say go ahead and use it. Wed Dec 05 15:10:10 -0800 2007 3182755 42933 PDXpat 1 3183135 We can discuss all day long the merits of the various salts but for a brine it comes down to expense IMO. I would not use sea salt in a brine because even cheap sea salts are too expensive for that job. I use Kosher for brining mostly because I don't keep iodized table salt in the house and I won't waste the sea salt on it. As someone said already, generally speaking kosher salt is about half as salty as table or sea salts by volume (1 cup of table salt is almost twice as salty as 1 cup of Kosher.) Wed Dec 05 17:01:24 -0800 2007 3182755 142147 JockY 1 3183167 I have a potentially dumb question. If regular salt is iodized and kosher salt is not, does that mean that if you use kosher salt exclusively, you are in danger of developing goiter (at least I think that's what added iodine prevents). Wed Dec 05 17:13:13 -0800 2007 3182755 23014 katnat 2 3183194 Here's an answer to that http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2234.html Wed Dec 05 17:21:59 -0800 2007 3183167 42933 PDXpat 3 3183776 Didn't see it addressed in the article, so my question is: is the sea salt I am using just naturally iodized, given its briny origins? (I hope so...I personally loathe the taste of iodized table salt...) So curious, Cay Wed Dec 05 21:29:57 -0800 2007 3183194 49525 cayjohan 4 3185049 You'd have to ask the supplier/manufacturer that question. Sea salts from different parts of the world have different compositions and different production processes, so there's really no other practical way for a consumer to know. Thu Dec 06 10:33:04 -0800 2007 3183776 42933 PDXpat 1 3183171 I don't think Kosher salat tastes as salty...it's a softer flavor. Wed Dec 05 17:14:11 -0800 2007 3182755 18755 howboy 1 3185968 Sea salt is more of a "finishing" salt than kosher salt. You could use sea salt exclusively if it won't break your budget, but in many uses, kosher salt is just fine, for example: brinining, adding to pasta water, and in cooking generally. Sea salt is at its best sprinkled on before serving -- think: cooked green beans sprinkled w/ sea salt. I also use sea salt in my scrambled eggs, 'cause well, I like it. Thu Dec 06 14:55:41 -0800 2007 3182755 33755 NYchowcook 1 3185996 Thanks for asking this question, Megiac, I had been wondering about it, myself. And it looks as though you got your answer: this *is* the reason that your chicken is salty! Thu Dec 06 15:03:25 -0800 2007 3182755 102095 vvvindaloo 2 3186382 I'm cooking up a Zuni chicken tonight with kosher salt, so I'll report back on the difference. Thu Dec 06 17:16:18 -0800 2007 3185996 75002 Megiac 1 3186764 Morton's - not one single reason to waste money on anything else. Thu Dec 06 20:06:29 -0800 2007 3182755 14479 wayne keyser 1 3186773 I took an all-day cooking workshop at the nearby restaurant school and was told that kosher salt is the best one to use for cooking b/c it melts fastest, and therefore distributes its flavor most evenly (and I assume it also won't harm your pots and pans as much). Thu Dec 06 20:17:04 -0800 2007 3182755 58027 Aloo0628 2 3187462 Not true, if you are comparing it to table salt. Kosher salt's crystals are much larger than table salt's (see PDXpat's post, above) so it will dissolve more slowly than little table salt crystals. That's why many bakers prefer table salt. Also, case in point: pickling salt. All salt is equally salty, because all salt is 99.9% NaCl. The residual impurities are what differentiate the "tastes" of different salts. But it's been proven over and over and over again that many (some claim most) people cannot discern a difference between different types of culinary salts. You can brine using any kind of salt. Table salt does not discolor foods. Sea salt is, IMO, too expensive to waste in a brine. Fri Dec 07 07:06:59 -0800 2007 3186773 43893 C. Hamster 3 3187546 I am with you on the "equally salty by chemical composition" aspect- but the question remains: by volume, will one type of salt result in a higher intensity of salt flavor than another? If it is true that one tablespoon will hold more fine sea salt/table salt than kosher/rock salt, then substituting one for the other in a recipe will alter the taste of food. Fri Dec 07 07:30:29 -0800 2007 3187462 102095 vvvindaloo 4 3188553 Yes it will be different, by volume. By weight it will be the same. Fri Dec 07 12:11:34 -0800 2007 3187546 43893 C. Hamster 5 3188662 I agree. Not to belabor the point too much, but, with regard to your statement re: brining, it's important to note that in substituting one salt for the other, appropiate measurement calculations should be made. Fri Dec 07 12:38:29 -0800 2007 3188553 102095 vvvindaloo 6 3188785 Very true Fri Dec 07 13:06:26 -0800 2007 3188662 43893 C. Hamster 6 3188840 Just to belabor the point a little more, I've seen "fine" kosher salt, which would have yet another different weight/volume ratio. A lot of serious bakers here swear by weighing ingredients rather than using volume measure, and I have to say, since I got a scale and started using it for recipes where the measurements were given in metric weight, I've come around to their point somewhat: 15 grams of salt would be 15 grams of salt, regardless of whether it's sea salt, rock salt, fine table salt, etc. Fri Dec 07 13:24:27 -0800 2007 3188662 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 3187998 Report on the Zuni chicken dry brined with kosher salt instead of fine sea salt: It was noticeably less salty using the same dry measurement of kosher salt as sea salt. This makes sense given the weight/volume distinction somebody else posted about. This has previously been a big hit in my house, but definitely reached a whole new level now that the extreme saltiness was tempered. Fri Dec 07 09:44:16 -0800 2007 3182755 75002 Megiac 2 3188827 I'm glad that, after all this discussion, you got the information you needed and that it was of help! Fri Dec 07 13:20:27 -0800 2007 3187998 10159 Ruth Lafler