Sea, kosher, and iodized: This three little words cause a lot of confusion when it comes to new cooks deciding on which salt to stock for their kitchens. When it comes down to it, there are some basic differences that you should consider when stocking your kitchen, and those differences are not as hard to figure out as much as you think.
Iodized salt is the one that we are all familiar with. It has a slight metallic taste compared to the others because iodine has been added to it. Goiter used to be a common disease which causes the thyroid gland to be inflamed as well as large bulges called goiters to show up on the body. Iodine is used to fight it, and while it is normally found in a variety of vegetables, it can be missing if the soil itself is iodine-deficient. In order to combat it, some companies decided to add iodine to table salt as it was something everyone used. Since then it has become the default salt.
However, in recent years kosher salt has become popular due to the lack of additives. That lack of additives gives it a lighter taste than regular table salt, giving it a slighter better taste as a seasoning. Its coarseness also makes it outstanding for brines and coatings, as it sticks to food far more readily than table salt. as well as for general cooking. However, that same coarseness impairs its ability to dissolve into water, making it a poor choice when it comes to baking; although it's great as a coating it sucks as an actual ingredient.
Sea salt is a far more natural product than regular table salt. While table salt comes from a variety of sources, up to and including actual salt mines, sea salt is from the evaporation of seawater. This gives it a different taste than regular salt, as well as a slightly different color (in some cases, a wider variety of color as different impurities give it different colors). However, it can be used almost interchangeably with table salt; although it is a little coarser, that disappears in in water and it dissolves as readily as regular table salt.
Of course, there are some considerations that need to be taken into account when the different types of salt are used. The biggest is that alternative sources of iodine need to be determined; seafood is one great source, but green and lima beans, strawberries, prunes, kelp, and even potatoes are other great sources. It also needs to be noted that you will be using different amounts of the other two salts. Kosher salt's coarseness means that you will be using twice as much as regular salt. Sea salt will require a little experimentation, but the general rule is that you will slightly less than table salt, on the order of one tablespoon per cup less than the recipe requires.
Although the health benefits are debatable, the difference in taste is not. You'll want to experiment until you find the mix you like. But when you find that right mix, you'll be loving life; it's just a matter of figuring out which salt works best for you.
Iodized salt is the one that we are all familiar with. It has a slight metallic taste compared to the others because iodine has been added to it. Goiter used to be a common disease which causes the thyroid gland to be inflamed as well as large bulges called goiters to show up on the body. Iodine is used to fight it, and while it is normally found in a variety of vegetables, it can be missing if the soil itself is iodine-deficient. In order to combat it, some companies decided to add iodine to table salt as it was something everyone used. Since then it has become the default salt.
However, in recent years kosher salt has become popular due to the lack of additives. That lack of additives gives it a lighter taste than regular table salt, giving it a slighter better taste as a seasoning. Its coarseness also makes it outstanding for brines and coatings, as it sticks to food far more readily than table salt. as well as for general cooking. However, that same coarseness impairs its ability to dissolve into water, making it a poor choice when it comes to baking; although it's great as a coating it sucks as an actual ingredient.
Sea salt is a far more natural product than regular table salt. While table salt comes from a variety of sources, up to and including actual salt mines, sea salt is from the evaporation of seawater. This gives it a different taste than regular salt, as well as a slightly different color (in some cases, a wider variety of color as different impurities give it different colors). However, it can be used almost interchangeably with table salt; although it is a little coarser, that disappears in in water and it dissolves as readily as regular table salt.
Of course, there are some considerations that need to be taken into account when the different types of salt are used. The biggest is that alternative sources of iodine need to be determined; seafood is one great source, but green and lima beans, strawberries, prunes, kelp, and even potatoes are other great sources. It also needs to be noted that you will be using different amounts of the other two salts. Kosher salt's coarseness means that you will be using twice as much as regular salt. Sea salt will require a little experimentation, but the general rule is that you will slightly less than table salt, on the order of one tablespoon per cup less than the recipe requires.
Although the health benefits are debatable, the difference in taste is not. You'll want to experiment until you find the mix you like. But when you find that right mix, you'll be loving life; it's just a matter of figuring out which salt works best for you.
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