Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes you just need more info to make a good decision or to appear
like a smartie pants in front of your friends.  We're here to help.  

                            SALT
What salt is best for you?

Do salts taste different from each other?

Chemists will tell you that salt is salt; they are all basically sodium chloride. 
Chefs and home cooks know differently. They know what makes them different 
is if they are refined, where they are found, and what other trace minerals are present.

Salt comes either from salt mines or from the sea. Most of today's salt is mined and comes
 from large deposits left by dried salt lakes throughout the world. As with wine and olive oil, 
sea salt prices and flavors depend on who makes it and where it comes from.

Types of Salt

Table Salt/Iodized Salt is virtually the same thing. Iodized salt is table salt with Iodine added. 
It is dug out of domestic mines formed by seawater millions of years ago, and is about 99% sodium 
chloride with traces of minerals. It is a fine-grained refined salt with additives that make it free-flowing 
and used in cooking and as a table condiment. It's what most of us grew up on. Most people agree that it
 has a bitterness and sharp flavor. Some claim that it sears the tip of the tongue compared to other salts.

Kosher Salt is an additive-free coarse-grained salt. If substituting kosher salt for iodized salt you'll have
 to use double the amount of larger flaked kosher salt than the finer grained iodized salt to achieve the same
 saltiness. This coarse salt is favored by professional chefs and home cooks because of its texture, flavor, 
it dissolves quickly, and it is inexpensive. The flakes are flat which makes it easier to handle. We like to have
 kosher salt in a bowl near the stove so we can correct seasoning as we cook.

Sea Salt is the result of the evaporation of seawater and is more costly. It comes refined, fine-grained or in 
large crystals. It takes one ton of seawater to produce 77 pounds of sea salt.

Refined sea salt has been processed. It is heated and ground to reduce it to fine particles. It is also bleached
and a free flowing agent is added to prevent caking.

Unrefined sea salt contains the most naturally occurring minerals (some claim over 80) and that is why 
some claim that it is the best. The taste is delicate, yet full and round in your mouth. It is often called the 
caviar of salt because it is not only the best, but it also costs the most. Unrefined sea salt falls into 2 categories:

Sel Gris is a moist, gray, large-grained sea salt usually from Normandy or Brittany. 
It is the layer of salt beneath the fleur de sel. It is like taking a sip of seawater. 
We enjoy the irregular size and love the rustic look and feel of sel gris. 
We simply place a bowl of sel gris on the table and let everyone help themselves. 
It’s great on beef, fish, salads, and tomatoes. If you want sel gris finer use a salt grinder
with ceramic fittings or splurge and go for the fleur de sel.

Fleur de Sel is the most expensive, and some consider it the best sea salt. The top 
layer of sel gris is harvested by hand when weather conditions are perfect. The most 
important characteristic, however, is its texture; it crunches pleasantly between your teeth
and because it's crystalline rather than flaky it dissolves slowly. Fleur de sel is an off-white 
salt with moist, lacy flakes and a gently sweet flavor. For every 80 pounds of grayish 
sel gris produced, there is one pound of fleur de sel. That is why it is so expensive. 
Fleur de sel has some advantages because it is a finer flake and overall easier to handle
 than sel gris. If you don’t use much salt it could be the salt for you. If you do use a lot of 
salt, sel gris is more economical.

Pickling Salt is a fine-grained salt used to make brines for pickles, sauerkraut, It contains no additives, which
would cloud the brine.

Rock Salt is not as refined as other salts, which means it retains more minerals and impurities. It comes in 
chunky crystals and is used predominantly by combining with ice to make ice cream in crank-style ice-cream
makers. It is not recommended for cooking and table use.

Sour Salt a/k/a citric salt is extracted from acidic fruits, such as lemons and limes. It's used to add tartness 
to traditional dishes like Borscht.

Seasoned Salt is regular salt combined with other flavoring ingredients, examples being onion salt,
garlic salt and celery salt.

Salt Substitutes are used by those on low-salt diets, and are products containing little or no sodium

The mysterious ability of salt to affect flavor beyond adding it's own character may be best revealed in dry 
salting and brining. Short-term brining adds flavor to bland foods and juiciness to normally dry cuts of meat. 
Long-term brining transforms both taste and texture and preserves foods as well. While dry-salting (used in 
bacon and hams) intensifies natural flavors, contributes new ones and preserves; it is often used on foods 
that will be smoked.

For centuries cooks have realized that salt is an essential component to making food more palatable, bringing
 out the essential flavor of a dish (even a sweet one) in a way no other ingredient on earth possibly can.