There are lots of different types of salt available for cooking, and believe it or not – all of which can influence the dishes you prepare. This post will speak specifically about Kosher salt – a staple in our kitchen.
What “Kosher” Means
The term “Kosher” is used when a food – in this case salt, is prepared according to Jewish law. It is them blessed and certified by a Jewish priest or a certifying organization. At this point it is considered Kosher.
However, the term is also used to represent an item without additives – meaning “pure” which in Yiddish is translated to kosher.
Salt Content
Kosher salt
You will have less sodium per measurement than it’s counterpart, table salt. Main reason being the size of the granules which resemble more of a flake – thus not filling such a concentrated area – as with table salt.
When to Use Kosher Salt
Kosher does not disolve as quickly as table salt, naturally due to its size. The flavor of the salt is not as potent as table salt. Which makes it great for using towards the end of cooking a meal, or draining water or moisture from meat or vegetables, and it is used as a topping – such as a pretzel or potatoes.
When boiling water and you want to add salt, use table salt. It will dissolve quicker. However if you find you want to add salt to your lamb chops, green salad or to your ciabatta bread pizza – use Kosher. I like to add salt at the end of my cooking for dishes like eggplant and zucchini pasta where I can sprinkle some on at the last minute before serving in the pasta bowls. If sodium content is a concern, let your family members or friends sprinkle it on their own dishes separately.
It is a good idea to keep Kosher salt on hand. Although it is very similar to Sea Salt, they are not the same. I’ll talk more about that in another post. But I will say Kosher salt is less expensive. I recommend adding it to your shopping list if you don’t already use it.
Liz
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Strange as it may sound, I hate using regular table salt because of the silicate, and the dextrose in it. I am a diabetic, so I need to watch the hidden sugars.
My mother in law asked me why they would put sugar into the salt. It is so you use more. Great, huh?
I love Kosher because there is none of that junk in it. One thing I caution for is to weigh out your ingredients. That way, you will not have mistakes in volume of salt.
That is a good tip – weighing ingredients before adding salt. That makes since due to the fact salt retains fluid. Often times I omit salt completely if using ingredients like cheese which most likely contain salt already – like Romano. You’ll notice I don’t mention using salt much in my recipes.
I also noticed when cutting back on salt, after awhile I am much more sensitive to it where I just simply didn’t need as much anymore. Gillian McKeith the popular Nutritionist from the UK, talks about this a lot and how over time our senses to salt (and sugar) are dulled by having too much of it.