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