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Mind_your_head (1000+ posts) Mon May-11-09 12:57 AMOriginal message What is "so special" about sea salt? I was asked that question today, b/c 'some in my sphere' consider me a "foodie"....well, yeah, next to THEM, I am....but I have no particular crecentials. I've never purchased/used sea salt. I talked a lil' bit about how I like kosher salt over regular table salt.....and then I was confronted with kosher salt doesn't contain the iodine necessary to prevent goiter.....*sigh*Can some of you wonderful cooking and baking group people enlighten/educate me about salt.
Tesha (1000+ posts) Mon May-11-09 07:44 AMResponse to Original message 1. from the Mayo clinic Sea salt has a slightly different taste than table salt because of different minerals it contains. Many people prefer sea salt to table salt because they claim it has a more subtle flavor. Sea salt doesn't contain iodine or any other additives. However, if you use sea salt you typically don't have to worry about not getting enough iodine in your diet because iodine is available in many other foods, including dairy products, seafood and many processed foods.
Warpy (1000+ posts) Mon May-11-09 09:04 AMResponse to Original message 2. To me, salt is salt but sea salt from the health food store lacks the anti caking agent that mineral salts in the supermarket often have. Since I live in the desert and don't have to worry about that (not that I ever did, beans in the salt shaker broke up the clumps), I prefer sea salt.Kosher salt is mined salt with a coarser texture but again no anti caking agent. I use that to scrub out my cast iron pans when something sticks and from time to time in baking.That brings me to the other consideration, texture. Sea salt has the finest grain and tends to stick better to things like French fries. Kosher salt has a very coarse texture and is wonderful for salt bagels and pretzels...and scrubbing out those cast iron pans when something sticks.Then there's the fancy French sea salt from Bretagne, dried in clay beds and scraped up with a little clay still in it, called "fleur de sel," or salt flowers, odd people, those French. Some people swear they can taste a difference in their food when they use it but I can't. Somebody gifted me with a jar of the stuff and I really don't see the attraction. It's salt, albeit with a slight greyish cast. Once it's gone, I won't be repeating the experiment.The final consideration is the salt grinder: don't bother. Salt is a mineral and contains no essential oils to be released on grinding. The salt grinder has got to be the most useless thing ever developed. Some can be turned into pepper grinders and used with exotic pepper. That's a much better thing to do with it.
troubleinwinter (1000+ posts) Mon May-11-09 09:50 AMResponse to Original message 3. Took me YEARS to finally try Kosher. All the TV chefs used it and I thought it was ridiculous. I FINALLY tried it and never went back. I really do like it. And I like keeping an open dish next to the stove to pinch some. Not sure it really TASTES any different from regular, but I do notice I like it better on meats and eggs. Could be purely the texture.I tend to use regular old Iodized salt in boiling water as for pasta... that iodine thingie. Also it's cheaper.I agree with Warpy- Fleur de sal is OK, but not all it's cracked up to be. I'd never bother to pay the price.I've never tried sea salt & wouldn't pay the price.
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Tue May 12th 2009, 06:47 PMResponse to Original messagePure Himalayan Pink SaltPurer than Sea Salt from Himalayan Mts.84 minerals and trace elements
