Hawaiian pink salt

[johnlockedema]

A friend gave me a container of Hawaiin pink salt-and it was great, very fine and very salty. I finished it, and bought some myself-and this was also very 'salty'. Is this typical of this type of sea salt?

[MandalayVA]

I also noticed that Hawaiian pink salt is "saltier." For some reason the finer the salt the saltier it tastes--at least to me.

[Fuller]

Salt is salt for the most part. Some can be slightly more dense than others I suppose but grain size and the style in which you use it have far more impact than one salt being more "salty" than another. Smaller grain size = more salty punch because the grains don't spread out as far.

It's similar when using table salt versus Kosher salt. If you watch America's Test Kitchen, they often mention use 2 tbsp of Kosher salt but reduce that to 1 tbsp if using table salt. Because the grains of table salt are much smaller, they pack tighter together and you get more salt per volume versus the relatively "fluffy" Kosher salt.

[flylice2x]

Never saw Hawaiian pink salt only red called 'Alaea. All Hawaiian salt is rock salt harvested from salt beds near the ocean or sea water in barrels and should not be used like regular iodized salt. The reason it is red is where it is harvested. Could be that the one you got was deluted red salt or invused with less red volcanic rock/ clay from which the salt comes from.
I guess they are doing it to cut costs. If it came in the fine form, like morton's someone ground it up. I have a friend who 's company produces different flavored Hawaiian Sea Salt. http://www.4jshawaii.com/

Hawaiian people use 'Alaea Sea Salt in blessings and to keep evil spirits away.
My wife uses it when she does Feng Shui for houses and business. I just use it for cooking.

[Fuller]

Good point flylice - perhaps the OP was talking about Himalayan pink salt? Either way, the properties regarding grain size remain the same.

[johnlockedema]

My friend was a Naval Academy grad stationed in Hawaii where he bought the salt. He brought back ten pounds as he liked it so much. I'll ask him where he bought it next time we chat. It was very fine.

[Fuller]

If you want to do more exploring in the world of salt, you (or he/she) should check out this site.

http://www.saltworks.us/

[MGZ]

I agree about exploring - I am almost ashamed to admit that we have 7 or 8 salts in the house. Here's a link to the site I've used:

http://www.seasaltsuperstore.com/

[visciole]

I have had Alaea sea salt of various colors, reds and pinks and corals. I think the color can vary quite a bit.