What, exactly is this sea salt fad?

[W1GUH]

Salt is salt, right? NaCl...sodium chloride? So what's the deal with all the "sea-salt grinders" out there? Is salt better if you grind it? Does it go stale if it sits around in it's ground state for a long time? I'd doubt it unless somehow it absorbs stuff from the air?

It's been very, very difficult to find just a plain salt shaker to buy. Oh, I could have bought all the expensive, fancy salt and pepper grinder sets in their fancy, shiny packaging and I could show off how much I spent on the fancy set that I wanted to. But cheesh!!!

And, as for pepper grinders, they never last - the grinding parts always wear out. BUT...peppercorns now come in a grinder; you get a new one every time you buy peppercorns so there's no need to ever buy another pepper grinder.

[KG4CGC]

On the one hand, salt is salt. On the other, various sea salt is available from different parts of the world, all with a unique taste of the region.
I prefer natural brine and I use less of it. It is almost, sacred.

[WØTKX]

My favorite "shakers" are the thick glass ones with the metal screw top.
Like at your favorite greasy spoon. Easy to find at second hand stores.

Sea salt is not as concentrated, and has a few more minerals in it, depending on the source. There can be a slight difference in taste, which I actually like. Some just taste like salt.

[KB3LAZ]

I find that sea salt is stronger than kosher table salt. I only use salt to cook with to bring out the natural flavors of said food. To use salt after is a sin.

Speaking of salt being salt..there was a girl I went to school with that had a cook book about using seminal fluid in place of salt while cooking. There is some strange shit in this world.

[W1GUH]

'TKX:


My favorite "shakers" are the thick glass ones with the metal screw top.
Like at your favorite greasy spoon. Easy to find at second hand stores.


Uh-huh! Had one and lost it.

Funny thing about salt...."they" say how bad it is for you and all, but when I get hooked up to an IV there's ALWAYS saline solution being pumped into me. Same when I disconnect from the bottle -- ANOTHER saline solution injection. And the heparin is also in a saline solution. WTF?

[KC2UGV]

'TKX:



Uh-huh! Had one and lost it.

Funny thing about salt...."they" say how bad it is for you and all, but when I get hooked up to an IV there's ALWAYS saline solution being pumped into me. Same when I disconnect from the bottle -- ANOTHER saline solution injection. And the heparin is also in a saline solution. WTF?

Because saline is cheaper than Ringer's lactate; and close enough for everything but trauma patients. And, saline is the only approved transport prior to any type of blood product administration (Such as heparin)

[KG4CGC]

'TKX:



Uh-huh! Had one and lost it.

Funny thing about salt...."they" say how bad it is for you and all, but when I get hooked up to an IV there's ALWAYS saline solution being pumped into me. Same when I disconnect from the bottle -- ANOTHER saline solution injection. And the heparin is also in a saline solution. WTF?

Consider that each of us is as salty as the oceans.

[WØTKX]

After all the chemo, I was having problems staying hydrated.

My doc prescribed more salty snacks, and foods that keep my potassium levels up. :lol:

[WN9HJW]

Deleted

[W1GUH]

Not exactly. Table salt is essentially pure sodium chloride, but Sea Salt, although still mostly sodium chloride, contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc in low concentrates. That's why it tastes a little different.

And costs a whole lot more? Dunno...never priced it.

[W1GUH]

After all the chemo, I was having problems staying hydrated.

My doc prescribed more salty snacks, and foods that keep my potassium levels up. :lol:

Funny how the whole world of medical treatment becomes "through the looking glass" when you've got cancer!

[W1GUH]

Because saline is cheaper than Ringer's lactate; and close enough for everything but trauma patients. And, saline is the only approved transport prior to any type of blood product administration (Such as heparin)

Thanks, Corey.

[NQ6U]

I have some experience (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22279637@N06/sets/) with salt. Pretty much all sodium chloride sold for human consumption these days comes from the sea using methods that have remained pretty much the same for several thousand years.

Charles had it right about salts from different producers containing varying amounts of trace chemicals that change the taste but to my palate, plain old NaCl without any of the anti-caking agents added to most salt sold in the United States tastes the best.

[W5GA]

I can tell you from experience that trying to use the salt from a desalination plant is a bad idea. On one of my deployments, the submarine ran out of salt entirely. We tried using the crap from the evaporator - tastes like chit.

[NQ6U]

I can tell you from experience that trying to use the salt from a desalination plant is a bad idea. On one of my deployments, the submarine ran out of salt entirely. We tried using the crap from the evaporator - tastes like chit.

That's because what you were tasting was not pure sodium chloride. It had a lot of magnesium chloride (very bitter), potassium chloride and other salts mixed in. The process of getting reasonably pure NaCl is surprisingly complex and requires some pretty close management.

[KG4CGC]

That's because what you were tasting was not pure sodium chloride. It had a lot of magnesium chloride (very bitter), potassium chloride and other salts mixed in. The process of getting reasonably pure NaCl is surprisingly complex and requires some pretty close management.

And Carl should know. He worked at a salt plant. He had to eat a bowl of salt everyday.

[W5GA]

That's because what you were tasting was not pure sodium chloride. It had a lot of magnesium chloride (very bitter), potassium chloride and other salts mixed in. The process of getting reasonably pure NaCl is surprisingly complex and requires some pretty close management.
That makes sense, all the monitoring on an evaporator like that is on the other end, so you get pure water (conductivity measured in uMho's). The rest is waste to be pumped over the side.

[kb2vxa]

Spensive shmensive, if I want sea salt I have a whole ocean full of it down the street and plenty of sun.

[NQ6U]

Spensive shmensive, if I want sea salt I have a whole ocean full of it down the street and plenty of sun.

If you simply let seawater evaporate, you're gonna end up with something you won't want to put on your food. Extracting good-quality salt (that is, sodium chloride) out of the ocean is a bit more complex than that.

[W5GA]

Spensive shmensive, if I want sea salt I have a whole ocean full of it down the street and plenty of sun.
See my post above...same thing, just done a lot faster.

[n2ize]

Salt is salt, right? NaCl...sodium chloride? So what's the deal with all the "sea-salt grinders" out there? Is salt better if you grind it? Does it go stale if it sits around in it's ground state for a long time? I'd doubt it unless somehow it absorbs stuff from the air?

It's been very, very difficult to find just a plain salt shaker to buy. Oh, I could have bought all the expensive, fancy salt and pepper grinder sets in their fancy, shiny packaging and I could show off how much I spent on the fancy set that I wanted to. But cheesh!!!

And, as for pepper grinders, they never last - the grinding parts always wear out. BUT...peppercorns now come in a grinder; you get a new one every time you buy peppercorns so there's no need to ever buy another pepper grinder.

Actually "salt" is primarily sodium chloride but most salts we use in cooking and flavoring are hardly 100% pure. Depending on where they come from or what part of the sea they come from they may have higher or lower concentrations of other salts (minerals) i.e. potassium, calcium, etc. and there may be subtle taste differences.

[n2ize]

Spensive shmensive, if I want sea salt I have a whole ocean full of it down the street and plenty of sun.

Try buying a jar of pure reagent/analytic grade NaCl and see how expensive that is !!!

[ab1ga]

I have some experience (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22279637@N06/sets/) with salt. Pretty much all sodium chloride sold for human consumption these days comes from the sea using methods that have remained pretty much the same for several thousand years.
...


And here I thought my salt came out of a hole in the ground near Cleveland.

.dale.

[W1GUH]

And here I thought my salt came out of a hole in the ground near Cleveland.

.dale.

Yea, but AFAIK, that comes from an ancient sea - like the salt mines under Detroit.

[KG4CGC]

For a second there, I though you might be talking about the 2011 shit volcano in the parking lot of the Dayton hamfester.