Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Volga bomb here. Salt is perhaps the
Speaker 1: most used seasoning in the world. It's also a food preservative,
Speaker 1: and most of us use it every day without really
Speaker 1: thinking about it. But some recipes call for different kinds
Speaker 1: of salt, from kosher salt to flaked sea salt, to
Speaker 1: pink or black salt. But is it really important which
Speaker 1: one you use. All of the salt that we eat
Speaker 1: is at its base the same crystalline mineral compound sodium chloride,
Speaker 1: but in specialty spice shops and other cooking stores you
Speaker 1: can find dozens or over a hundred types of salt.
Speaker 1: Even these are produced in different regions and in different ways.
Speaker 1: Salt comes from all over the world and is either
Speaker 1: mined or evaporated from seas, oceans, and salt lakes. And
Speaker 1: just like terroir makes a difference in how wine tastes,
Speaker 1: place and source explain why salts have different flavors and
Speaker 1: colors and us is and so, just like all wine
Speaker 1: is fruity, it comes from grapes. After all, all salt
Speaker 1: is salty. But there's more to it than that. Table salt.
Speaker 1: Perhaps the most common variety, and what's in most salt
Speaker 1: shakers is also the most processed. It's mind either brought
Speaker 1: up as rocks, as in rock salt, or dissolved underground
Speaker 1: and then evaporated later. Table salt is treated to have
Speaker 1: fine grains and to avoid caking. It's also often fortified
Speaker 1: with iodine, chemical that our bodies don't make, but that's
Speaker 1: essential for proper thyroid function. In the US, the practice
Speaker 1: of iodizing salt began in the nineteen twenties as an
Speaker 1: inexpensive and effective means of combating iodine efficiencies, which are
Speaker 1: common in many spots around the globe. Kosher salt is
Speaker 1: also usually mined, but it comes in larger crystals than
Speaker 1: table salt, and the crystals are flaky and course, and
Speaker 1: this makes them great at drawing out moisture for meat.
Speaker 1: Kosher salt got its name because of a Jewish kosher
Speaker 1: tradition requiring all meat to have the blood removed before eating.
Speaker 1: Since this type of salt can do that easily, it
Speaker 1: became known as kosher salt. Most kosher salt is not iodized,
Speaker 1: nor does it typically contain anti caking additives. Since the
Speaker 1: crystals are larger it's these larger crystals that make kosher
Speaker 1: salt favored by some chefs, who find it easy to
Speaker 1: pick up with their fingers and sprinkle over food. Larger
Speaker 1: crystals are also a little easier to control, which means
Speaker 1: less over or under salting. A Many chefs also feel
Speaker 1: that iodised salt has an off putting flavor. Meanwhile, there
Speaker 1: is a wide variety of sea salts, and the flavors
Speaker 1: of that salt can vary based on where the salt
Speaker 1: water was obtained. A most grocery store sea salt is
Speaker 1: evaporated through man made means instead of naturally, but more
Speaker 1: expensive sea salts come from shallow pits or pans of
Speaker 1: sea salt that are allowed to evaporate naturally, and the
Speaker 1: salt crystals are then harvested. A salt from the top
Speaker 1: of the pans is usually white and neutral and flavor,
Speaker 1: such as Florida. Cell salt from the bottom of the
Speaker 1: pans usually has some color and more nuanced flavor due
Speaker 1: to extra compounds in the salt picked up from the
Speaker 1: water or the pans, such as cell gree or gray
Speaker 1: sea salt. The sea salt produced via natural evaporation can
Speaker 1: also have a variety of textures. For example, Maldon Sea salt,
Speaker 1: which comes from England's East coast, is known for its wide, flat, fragile,
Speaker 1: crunchy flakes. But mind salt can also have different colors
Speaker 1: and flavors based on where it comes from. For example,
Speaker 1: Himalayan pink salt comes from a mine in Pakistan that's
Speaker 1: the second largest salt mine in the world and one
Speaker 1: of the oldest. It's believed that Alexander the Great discovered
Speaker 1: the location circuit three D and twenty b C, and
Speaker 1: the pink color comes from traces of rust in the salt. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: black salts are made by adding charcoal of some kind
Speaker 1: during production. Hawaiian black lava salt incorporates coconut charcoal, Cypress
Speaker 1: black flake salt uses soft woods from the area, and
Speaker 1: smoked salt can be made by evaporating the water out
Speaker 1: of salt water or over smoky fire. The added compounds
Speaker 1: in these salts can change the taste. Smoked salt in
Speaker 1: particular has a powerful flavor, but there's more to our
Speaker 1: flavor experience of salt than taste alone. For one of
Speaker 1: the articles this episode is based on how Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: Spoke via email care and Page, co author of The
Speaker 1: Flavor Bible with Andrew Dornenburg, Page said the texture is
Speaker 1: a key aspect of mouth feel, though, which is often
Speaker 1: a function of the size of the salt grain. Very
Speaker 1: fine grains will melt into a dish more easily, while
Speaker 1: crunchy coarse grains will add texture to the dish. Think
Speaker 1: about how the coarse salt adds to the crunchiness and
Speaker 1: deliciousness of a hard pretzel. The size of the salt
Speaker 1: grain also makes difference in how the salt is used.
Speaker 1: A fine salt is more often used during the cooking process,
Speaker 1: while larger grain salt is sometimes used just before serving,
Speaker 1: what chefs call finishing salt. Page explained finishing salts are
Speaker 1: those whose flavor and texture are not enhanced by the
Speaker 1: cooking process and should be added at the very last
Speaker 1: minute to a dish. If you're in a jam, you
Speaker 1: certainly can swap different types of salt for each other,
Speaker 1: just beware of the quantity you're using, as you can't
Speaker 1: substitute one for the other at a one to one
Speaker 1: ratio most of the time. Due to the difference in
Speaker 1: grain sizes, More table salt would fit into a teaspoon, say,
Speaker 1: than kosher or flaky sea salt. So you need to
Speaker 1: use more kosher or flaked salt if you're swapping it
Speaker 1: for table salt, or use less table salt if you're
Speaker 1: substituting it in Many chefs keep a variety of salts
Speaker 1: on hand for different effects. Try some yourself to see
Speaker 1: how they work. Today's episode is based on the articles
Speaker 1: What's the Difference between Kosher Salt and table Salt? Written
Speaker 1: by Belinie Rin Zeph McManus and all Salt is Not
Speaker 1: the Same written by Sean Chavis on house to works
Speaker 1: dot com. Breen Stuff is production of by Heart Radio
Speaker 1: in partnership with hous to works dot com, and it's
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my heart
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