Kosher Salt And Halal

[Addie]

Almost every site I go to that tells you the difference between table and kosher salt state that table salt has iodine added. Not all table salt does. You can buy it without the iodine. I have to take an iodine pill every day so I don't buy the table salt with iodine. If I did, I would be putting new roofs on all the buildings in my neighborhood. In fact, I don't buy table salt at all anymore. I buy course and fine sea salt.

But I do wish the naysayers for table salt would get their facts straight when it comes to iodine. Do they realize that they are giving false medical information?

 

[Mad Cook]

A well meaning person suggested that I don't use the term kosher salt in my recipes because it would be similar to using the word halal, and might turn some people off the book.

He said that he's never seen salt labeled kosher salt in the UK

Why Most Recipes Ask for Kosher Salt (and When It's Really Necessary)

So how shall I describe it in my cookbook.

Coarse salt?

Thanks

Charlie may correct me on this but I understand from a Jewish friend that Kosher salt isn't kosher certified . It's called Kosher salt because it's the salt used in "koshering" to make meats kosher by removing the surface blood.

It's popular in general cooking because has no additives (such as iodine or anti-caking additives) so all you get is the taste of the salt.

 

[jennyema]

It's popular in general cooking because has no additives (such as iodine or anti-caking additives) so all you get is the taste of the salt.

Not quite.

Along the lines of what Addie just posted, not all Kosher salts are additive free. Moton's and possibly other brands contains an ant-caking agent.

Someone told me that there are iodized kosher salt brands but I've never seen any.

 

[Mad Cook]

All salt is sea salt. It's just a matter of when the sea water the salt was a part of evaporated.

A very long time ago in the case of the salt under Winsford in Cheshire in the UK - 220million years!

 

[Mad Cook]

Not quite.

Along the lines of what Addie just posted, not all Kosher salts are additive free. Moton's and possibly other brands contains an ant-caking agent.

Someone told me that there are iodized kosher salt brands but I've never seen any.

I stand corrected. I was passing on what I'd been told and because the packet I bought says it isn't adulterated. I can't remember what brand it was as I decanted it into a Lock and Lock box to keep it dry.

 

[CWS4322]

The term KOSHER SALT does not mean the salt conforms to Jewish dietary laws. It is simply the style of salt used to remove the blood from the meat during processing because blood is not permitted to be consumed by either Jewish or Muslim dietary laws.

OP--if you are concerned about political correctness, you could write "Kosher-style salt." I have Kosher (style) salt, pickling salt, finishing salts, coarse, medium, and fine sea salt, flaked salts, smoked salts, and a variety of other salts. I use Kosher salt when I salt meat for the exact reason SLoB explained.

 

[taxlady]

If the target market for the cookbook is international, then consider giving the quantity of salt in grams, then it's the same amount whatever type of salt.

 

[msmofet]

I personally don't find a problem using the correct name for the product.

 

[CharlieD]

I did not read the whole thread, but simple logic tells me to use the proper name that is used for whatever you are buying. If salt called kosher in the majority of the stores then so be it. If salt called coarse, as it is called in Russia, for example, then that is the name that should be used.


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[CharlieD]

?... Moton's and possibly other brands contains an ant-caking agent.



....

Inherently all salt is kosher, unless something non kosher added to it. But you are right Morton's Kosher salt does have anti-caking agent added to it. All together salt nowadays so processed it is disgusting. They take all the goodness out of it.


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[Addie]

Inherently all salt is kosher, unless something non kosher added to it. But you are right Morton's Kosher salt does have anti-caking agent added to it. All together salt nowadays so processed it is disgusting. They take all the goodness out of it.


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So asking my favorite Kosher practitioner, what kind of salt do you buy and use?

 

[CWS4322]

I have 5 kg of Kosher salt in my car. Over-ordered last week, taking them back to the wholesaler for a refund/credit. It does not weigh the same as table salt. Trust me. I estimated we needed just over 7 kg, the person in charge of sourcing said no, 14+ kg. I was right, she was wrong. We decided to keep one extra box for cleaning CI pans and of course the open box, about 1/2 full.

 

[Addie]

I have 5 kg of Kosher salt in my car. Over-ordered last week, taking them back to the wholesaler for a refund/credit. It does not weigh the same as table salt. Trust me. I estimated we needed just over 7 kg, the person in charge of sourcing said no, 14+ kg. I was right, she was wrong. We decided to keep one extra box for cleaning CI pans and of course the open box, about 1/2 full.

Yea! One for the Big Chicken Lady in the Big Chicken Coop.

 

[jennyema]

I have 5 kg of Kosher salt in my car. Over-ordered last week, taking them back to the wholesaler for a refund/credit. It does not weigh the same as table salt. Trust me. I estimated we needed just over 7 kg, the person in charge of sourcing said no, 14+ kg. I was right, she was wrong. We decided to keep one extra box for cleaning CI pans and of course the open box, about 1/2 full.

It indeed weighs the same.

5 kg of table salt weighs the same as 5 kg of kosher salt. Both are 5 kg.

The thing that confuses folks is VOLUME.

A T of table salt contains more salt than a T of kosher salt because the crystals are so much smaller.

So a container, say a shoebox, of table salt will be heavier than a shoebox of kosher salt. Because there is more salt in the box.

 

[Addie]

It indeed weighs the same.

5 kg of table salt weighs the same as 5 kg of kosher salt. Both are 5 kg.

The thing that confuses folks is VOLUME.

A T of table salt contains more salt than a T of kosher salt because the crystals are so much smaller.

So a container, say a shoebox, of table salt will be heavier than a shoebox of kosher salt. Because there is more salt in the box.

Thank you for the explanation. I do understand it. Wow! A math problem I can understand. What miracle will happen next?

 

[CWS4322]

It indeed weighs the same.

5 kg of table salt weighs the same as 5 kg of kosher salt. Both are 5 kg.

The thing that confuses folks is VOLUME.

A T of table salt contains more salt than a T of kosher salt because the crystals are so much smaller.

So a container, say a shoebox, of table salt will be heavier than a shoebox of kosher salt. Because there is more salt in the box.

It doesn't measure the same. The recipe called for 1/2 cup per customer. We needed 50 cups. By weight, this came out to 7 kg and a bit by my calculation using the weight in grams for 1/2 c of Kosher Salt multiplied by 50 and then converted to kg since the salt is sold by the kg. The other person calculated it based on the weight for 1/2 c table salt in grams and then converted to kg. The shoebox may weigh the same, but the number of shoeboxes needed may not be the same.

 

[taxlady]

It doesn't measure the same. The recipe called for 1/2 cup per customer. We needed 50 cups. By weight, this came out to 7 kg and a bit by my calculation using the weight in grams for 1/2 c of Kosher Salt multiplied by 50 and then converted to kg since the salt is sold by the kg. The other person calculated it based on the weight for 1/2 c table salt in grams and then converted to kg. The shoebox may weigh the same, but the number of shoeboxes needed may not be the same.

jennyemma wrote that the shoe boxes would not weigh the same. She was making the same point as you. Any volume of table salt will weigh more than the same volume of kosher [or other coarse] salt. That is why I recommended using weight measure, earlier in this thread.

 

[RPCookin]

jennyemma wrote that the shoe boxes would not weigh the same. She was making the same point as you. Any volume of table salt will weigh more than the same volume of kosher [or other coarse] salt. That is why I recommended using weight measure, earlier in this thread.

Why is this such a difficult concept? The shape of the individual pieces is a controlling factor in the weight of a given volume of any material. Fill a 2' x 2' x 2' box of uninflated balloons. It will be so heavy that most people won't be able to lift it. Now inflate those balloons and only a tiny fraction of them will fit into the box, and it will weigh almost nothing.

The same is true of salt, but to a different ratio. The small crystals of table salt pack closer together than the larger crystals of coarse (or kosher) salt, thus they don't pack as tightly, and a given container doesn't weigh as much as the same container of table salt. The air spaces between the big crystals are larger, and since air weighs a lot less than salt, the container of kosher salt weighs less than the same one of table salt.

 

[jennyema]

Yes, it's an easy concept and a good analogy by RP

Take a tablespoon of table salt and dissolve it in a cup of water.

And take a tablespoon of kosher salt and dissolve it, also, in a cup of water.

Do a taste test.

The table salted water will taste saltier.

Which leads many people who are not thinking things through (including many bloggers and even TV chefs) to conclude that table salt itself tastes saltier than kosher salt.

Not so.

The water tastes saltier simply because there was more salt in it.

More table salt fits in a T measuring spoon because its crystals are smaller.

And not to overcomplicate things but there is a difference in the size of kosher salt crystals, too. Morton's are smaller than Diamond Crystal's.

 

[taxlady]

Why is this such a difficult concept? ...

What makes you think we are finding it a difficult concept? A number of people have explained it in different ways. The last reply that wasn't an explanation was, "Thank you for the explanation. I do understand it. Wow! A math problem I can understand."