Feb 20, 2021
Regarded as the most common ingredient in the culinary world, salt is the inexpensive wonder that takes any dish to the next level. Did we ever speculate, there could exist a world of different types of salt too?
Various origins create different types of salt with unique colors, textures, uses, and even flavors! With so much variety, it's important to know all about the different types of salts and their uses so you can select the perfect salt varieties for your establishment. Often during my consulting, I come across this question which salt should we use for consumption? Let’s figure out various types of salt and which salt is best for consumption.
What Is Salt?
Mainly made from sodium chloride around 98 percent by weight—that most people use the words "salt" and "sodium" interchangeably and other chemical compounds, salt is found throughout seawater and various rock formations. Salt is a naturally occurring mineral located almost everywhere in the world, from the ponds of France to the caves of Pakistan.
Salt is one of the most sought after substances in the world not only for its flavor enhancing, but for also being essential to the human body in order for the brain to send vital electrical signals throughout the body. It is so desired by humankind that it was once a form of payment in Ancient Roman times, which is where we get the word "salary."
Salt is most commonly used for flavoring foods as it enhances their aroma. It is also excellent for food preservation and cleaning due to its antibacterial properties. Different types of salt can have different effects on your foods, so it's important to select the right salt for your application. Anticaking agents are sometimes added to help absorb moisture, and iodine is often included to help consumers prevent iodine deficiency.
One thing that is important to note is that the size of the salt grain will impact the flavor strength and the amount of salt needed in a recipe. Therefore, you should not interchange one salt type for another as it will impact your final result. Interestingly, sodium also plays an important role in several biological functions, including fluid balance, nerve conduction and muscle contraction. For this reason, it's absolutely necessary to have salt, or sodium, in your diet, limiting to less than 2,300 mg per day—that's equal to about 1 teaspoon of salt! Because of the potential dangers of consuming too much table salt, many people have turned to using pink Himalayan salt, believing it to be a healthier alternative.
Kosher Salt
Kosher salt is known for its ability to draw out the blood from a piece of meat, which is a process known as “koshering”, before being cooked or cured. Because of its coarse structure, kosher salt is the most efficient of the different types of salts for the koshering process.
Today, it is the most popular salt amongst almost all chefs in the industry. The versatility of kosher salt extends to almost every corner of the culinary world: cooking, baking, finishing, and curing. Also, because of its coarser structure, kosher salt adds more pronounced bursts of flavor to your dishes, and it’s easier for picking up and sprinkling over food.
Sea Salt
Sea salt is salt that is gathered from evaporated sea water. It is generally obtained naturally in dry climates where there are bays and ponds. Large salt crystals are produced when the water evaporates from the salt, creating the lightest and flakiest salt type. You will find the most variety of salt colors when it comes to types of sea salt. This type of salt is regarded as a gourmet salt and is popular for specialty applications.
Sea salt has various benefits. It:
Rock Salt
Rock salt is salt that has been extracted from underground salt mines through the process of mining with dynamite and then crushed further for food use. It can be found under the rugged layers of the Earth's surface and is scientifically known as halite. It has been widely mentioned in Ayurvedic texts for its therapeutic properties. It has a slightly brownish pink to dark violet translucent hue and a strong smell due to its sulphur content. It contains laxative properties and can help to aid digestive health. It can also relieve from flatulence and bloating.
Rock salt has various benefits. It:
Types of Rock Salt:
Pink Himalayan Salt
Being the purest salt in the world and containing 84 minerals that are found in the human body, it is no wonder that Himalayan salt is the go-to flavor booster for health-conscious people all over the globe. This vibrantly pink salt, with iron ore and ivory traced throughout, is mined from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan. The salt is hand-extracted and minimally processed to yield an unrefined product that's free of additives and thought to be much more natural than table salt.
Like table salt, pink Himalayan salt is mostly comprised of sodium chloride.
However, the natural harvesting process allows pink Himalayan salt to possess many other minerals and trace elements that are not found in regular table salt. It has a bolder flavor from the highly complex mineral content, and is great for cooking and baking of all kinds. Himalayan salt also has a high heat tolerance and is often used for spa treatments to release ions into the air.
Sodium is anhydrous in nature. Every gram of excess sodium chloride needs roughly 23g of cellular water to neutralize it (water from cells). Hence, excess salt intake causes tissues to hold onto water leading to edema/water retention. It also draws excess water in the blood leading to an increase in osmotic pressure directly impacting heart and thus high blood pressure. Additionally table salt also has additives like calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate and aluminum hydroxide which has direct connection with Alzheimers.
Curing Salt
Removing toxins from meat before cooking roasts, steak, poultry, and sausages, this curing salt makes serving meat safe for consumers. This large grained, coarse salt is even sometimes dyed pink with food coloring in an effort to inhibit the growth of bacteria, as well as help to further distinguish it from table salt.
Kala Namak Salt
“Black salt” in Nepalese, kala namak is a mixture of Himalayan salt, charcoal, bark, herbs, and seeds that has been sealed in a ceramic jar and fired in a furnace for 24 hours. It is then cooled down and stored away to be aged before being sold. Kala namak is a pungent salt with a beautiful, reddish-black color. This unique salt has a faint sulfurous aroma similar to eggs, and is often used in heartier dishes, as well as vegan dishes to mimic the taste of eggs.
Fine Salt
Fine salt is a salt with extremely fine salt grains that are extracted from salt brines. This practice creates a higher yield, cleaner product, and is generally more inexpensive. By pumping water below the Earth's surface, salt deposits are dissolved, which creates salt brines. From there, the salt brine is brought to the Earth's surface and the water is evaporated from it to create the salt that we find on our tables and in our cabinets. Fine salt is one of the most popular types of cooking salt. It dissolves more easily, measures in volume more accurately, perfect for last minute sprinkling and seasoning.
Types of Fine Salt:
Table Salt
Considered the perfect all-purpose salt, table salt is used as an ingredient or seasoning in most cooking and baking recipes. Table salt will usually contain added iodine as iodine deficiency has become common in many parts of the world. Anti-caking agents are usually added into table salt to prevent clumping and keep the salt flowing freely. Table salt has uniform crystal size, which is great for concise and consistent cooking when measuring in volume.
Cleaning Salt
Cleaning salt is sodium chloride mixed with other chemicals and minerals to boost its antibacterial properties and breakdown calcium and magnesium. It can be used in a variety of ways to clean everything from kitchens to bathrooms and can prolong the life of appliances. It softens water to avoid hard water stains and calcium build up, polishes and / or deodorizes various appliances, wipes away rust, shines brass or copper.
So, which salt is the best?
Essentially all types of salt possess some health benefits and can be used interchangeably in your cooking methods. Iodized salt scores slightly higher because of its protective action on the thyroid gland. But, it is also very important to limit the amount of salt you consume in order to maintain blood pressure and heart health. It is recommended to intake 1 teaspoon (2300 mg sodium) per day by a normal person and those with high blood pressure should keep the amount to 3/4 teaspoon (1500 mg sodium). So ideally, you can use a combination of table salt and Himalayan salt (30:70%) ensuring you do not exceed your salt intake.