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Salt ?????

1K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  butzy 
#1 ·
Just curious why do most recipes , call for Kosher salt ? I remember say a decade ago, not so popular, why such a move away from the Iodized salt ? When I was a youngster , there was no call for course salt . Now it is like a staple, in every cooking show ,and written recipe !
 
#2 ·
Iodized salt has an off flavor from the iodine. Western diets should get sufficient iodine from other sources.

It's easier to visually assess how much salt you're adding to meat and vegetables with kosher salt. And how evenly. Kosher salt is pure salt for a clean flavor. If you choose to use a sea salt, those are usually considered a finishing salt where their mineral nuance can can be appreciated in the end rather than lost in cooking. How much is lost in cooking can be debated.

Kosher salt is usually recommended against in baking where it dissolves more slowly and possibly less evenly because of that.
 
#3 ·
I hear everyone talking about the off-flavour and potential problems with pickling etc.
Frankly, I have never noticed any of it.
Where I live, all salt is iodized. I have been able to get some non-iodized salt in the last 2 years (much more expensive) and I cannot taste a difference with the iodized sea salt and kosher salt.

I am not a big salt eater. I prefer to get my salt from soy sauce and fish sauce, but obviously I use "normal" salt for baking, pickling etc
 
#6 ·
In pickling it can contribute an off flavor if used in larger quantities. The bigger issue is with fermented foods. Iodine is a disinfectant-that's why it is used in hospitals to clean around wounds. As such, it can inhibit the growth of good bacteria allowing other nasty micro organisms to get into your ferment, ruining it.
 
#7 ·
I know the therory and I am not disputing it.
I just wonder if the amounts of iodine in salt are high enough for these effects to occur.
Don't get me wrong: If I could eaily get non-iodized salt, I would also use it esp for pickling. But I can't. So, I have to use iodized salt and I haven't noticed any adverse effect on my pickles (I have made both sauerkraut and chili pickles with iodized salt).
Maybe I have just been lucky ;)
 
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