Types of sal

This is going to sound really stupid, but what is kosher salt?

We have several different types of salt here, from really cheap, iodated table salt, all the way through to fluer de sel and some very nice black salt, Personally, my favorite everyday salt is Maldon. But I have never come across a product labelled kosher salt. I see a lot of recipes call for it, but I have no idea what this is.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

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Comments

brian_martin2001

This might help: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_salt

torridice_498271

It's basically bigger and flakier than normal fine table salt. Must be a US thing. Also not all brands of kosher salts are the same. Like Morton kosher salt is slightly different than Diamond Crystal. I usually use Morton. Kosher salt is easier to grab a pinch of for normal cooking so that's what I keep in the salt pig on the counter next to the stove. Fine table salt is just too hard to hold a pinch of, it always wants to just fall out of my hand.

fisher23

Kosher salt is larger flakes, it gets the name because it was the salt used to preserve meat is a process called koshering. It is pure salt, some pickling salt, if it has no additives, is the same thing. The flakes are much smaller than maldon salt but not as small as table salt. Table salt here also has iodine added, which can add an off taste in some applications.

Jaco_du_Plessis_569791

Thanks guys. Does that mean that I can continue substituting it with Maldon?

fisher23

Maldon, is usually much more expensive and larger crystals, but I guess you could pulse it in a blender to reduce the crystal size and use it. What are you making that you need kosher salt for? I would just use pickling or canning salt, just check to see it pure salt with no additives.

wolfiegirl

I would be in total shock if a grocery store in this country didn't have Morton's Kosher salt on their shelves! Or maybe you're not in the US? At any rate, here is what the packaging looks like....

Visuals always help when you're in a store in search of something.

naithaddi

Where are you? If you're in france, you will not find Kosher salt, unless you find an american grocery store that imports it. Usually it's "sel fin" for seasoning and "fleur de sel" for finishing. In the UK, you can find it at harrod's or Some bigger whole foods market. It will be the Diamond Crystal. When Iived in London and couldn't find it, I was bringing it back with me in my suitcase, one time I came back with 5 three lbs boxes.

Jaco_du_Plessis_569791

I'm in South Africa :-)

Maldon is not particularly expensive here, and most brands of table salt are iodated.

I was more curious than anything else, as I see a lot of recipes on here and elsewhere on the interwebzes call for kosher salt.