The existence of so-called “kosher salt” seems to raise questions about other types of salt. After all, how can salt, a mineral, be kosher or non-kosher? Does it have to be mined under the careful supervision of a rabbi? Added to pork chops and cheeseburgers? Does a little sprinkling make it nonkosher? And why is it such a treasure in even the most non-Jewish pantry?
But before we get into that, let’s talk about what kosher salt is. This is a particularly flaky type of sea salt that does not contain common salt additives such as iodine and is used by chefs and bakers around the world. If a recipe calls for salt without specifically mentioning it, it’s safe to assume that you should use kosher salt. But why is this so? And what does this have to do with Jewish dietary restrictions?
Kosher salt is convenient because it comes in large flakes.
Kosher salt is more accurately called koshering salt. To prepare meat according to Jewish dietary guidelines, blood and other types of moisture must first be extracted from the meat. Kosher salt’s large, thick grains make it ideal for tasks like this, but that’s not the only benefit of large flakes.
When a recipe calls for “a pinch of salt,” it’s intentionally inaccurate so you can control the level of salt you want in your dish. (This is why I rarely see bread recipes that ask for precise measurements and ask for a pinch of something.) But even if you reach into a bowl of fine-grain salt, it’s hard to get the exact amount out. It’s difficult. What you want: Being too stingy can result in not enough salt in your dish, and too much can result in too much salt. The thicker grains of kosher salt make it much easier to control with your fingers the exact amount you need for what you’re making.
Kosher salt is great for cooking because it has fewer additives
Table salt usually contains some kind of additive, such as iodine or fluoride, to prevent grains from clumping or clumping. This is very convenient if you want to put it in a shaker and spread it evenly over fluffy and creamy scrambled eggs, but it’s a little less convenient if you’re cooking with it. These additives leave a slight chemical aftertaste. Some people may notice it, others may not, but either way, you don’t want it to remain in your food.
Kosher salt doesn’t contain such additives, so it doesn’t have that weird metallic aftertaste. In fact, the taste of all kosher salts is fairly uniform between brands, making for a very standardized cooking experience. So you know what you’re getting when you take a pinch of kosher salt, and that reliability is very useful to chefs and bakers alike.
