Problems with sea salt (Full Version)

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Termyn8or -> Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 8:45:55 PM)

I am a big proponent of it's use, but really sometimes it is hard to use. Many things just don't take salt. I would like to use it when possible though.

Now the salt I got is some of the most corrosive stuff I have ever seen. I would joke that it could rust ceramics. Close. I have tried various grinders, both hand held and powered and it simply tears them up. I can rinse them and whatever, dry them carefully, yet even stainless steel seems to corrode. On the ceramic blades of a hand grinder it seems to deposit a coating.

Even storing it is a chore, it absorbs moisture right out of the air. There was a time I decided screw it, and just added water and used it like that, but I don't like that so much for certain things. So then I get an old time mortar and pistle and used that to grind it. After a short time the bottom of the vessel is deteriorating, with pieces of it mixing with the salt. That is not quite what I had in mind when I spent what I consider an extravagant amount on something that I deem healthy.

I am already transferring it from the large (25lb.) containers into mayonaisse jars and the like, but that doesn't get me to the table.

Sea salt has a slightly different taste than regualar table salt. Like salt in the old days, it clumps of course, but it also has another property. There is a fine line between enough and too much. So the best thing is to use it gradually, just a little , then more , more , maybe even a little more, that's enough. To taste.

Some may find it ironic that something that is literally too corrsive to use as a drain cleaner is good to eat, but it's true.

I could've used some today, but it was just too much hassle. I'd like an easy way to use it other than in cooking. I mean at the table.

Any ideas ?

T



Aneirin -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 8:49:48 PM)

Road grit, spread it on your drive when the snow is down, that way you have some normal driving before you start slip sliding on the road way



rachel529 -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 8:51:59 PM)

we use plastic grinders, it seems ok.  the only problem is table salt contains iodine, which your body needs(thats why they add it to a common seasoning) and sea salt doesnt, which limits how much you can use.  tastes way better though!



DomKen -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 8:55:53 PM)

Sea salt is awfully expensive to use for cooking purposes. Best to use table or kosher for those uses and to use sea salt for stuff like at the table seasoning and putting on the crust of roasted meats.

BTW iodine comes from lots of other sources, leafy greens for one, and you can be healthy without iodized salt if you eat a varied diet. I personally use kosher salt for most everything.



BlackPhx -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 9:25:31 PM)

I use an at the table grinder for sea salt. The one I buy is from BJ's (like Cosco or Sams) from a company called Olde Thompson. For cooking I use regular table salt and UNDER salt foods save where the recipe needs it to rise or bake. This allows everyone to control the amount of salt they like in their food or limit it for medical purposes.

You can use one of the dehydrating packets found in Aspirin and other pill bottles to keep moisture down in your storage cans. All salts are corrosive, but note that almost all manufacturers use cardboard or plastic or glass to store and distribute it. Paper seems to resist the corrosive nature of the salt and absorbs  ambient moisture. Sacks of salt used to be purchased pre cardboard invention and those were generally made of tightly woven linen, but you can use plastic bags in their place easily. If you have a food sealer, the bags for that should work well and you can vacuum seal them shut to keep the salt moisture free until you are ready to use them. Those bags come in sizes from a pint to a gallon or unsized rolls you cut to your choice in size.

poenkitten 



Termyn8or -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 9:48:49 PM)

My salt does have iodine, but it just so happens it is in there naturally. They wouldn't have had to add iodine to table salt if they hadn't taken it out, although the content varies with different types of sea salt.

And it is not road grit.

I got it for about $5 a pound, but the same stuff is alot more expensive now.

Those plastic grinders seem to wear out quickly, even the ceramic ones, but it almost seems like a coating rather than actual wear. I can't tell. Should I just consider them all disposable ?

I can say this much, now I know where "go pound salt" came from. I'd bet that's what people had to do.

T



Rule -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 11:31:20 PM)

Put it in a glass jar and heat the jar in an oven, or on a stove? That ought to dry it.



hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 11:41:26 PM)

Termy, a MARBLE morter and pestle work well where ceramic doesn't seem to hold up to grinding sea salt.  Takes a while, especially if you've bought Coarse Grind salt to begin with, but it's worth it.  There are a lot of places that carry food grade sea salt in fine grain now, though - the same grain size that you'll find in processed, iodized table salt.  You just have to know where to look for it to find it.  I've got links to SEVERAL places that supply such - cmail me on the other side and I'll send you several suppliers' links if you'd like.
 
As for the expense, it's actually not all that expensive these days, if you know which suppliers to buy from.  Most health food stores (at least in my area) carry it in relatively small amounts for a decent price.  One of them even carries 25lb bags of already fine ground solar collected at a decent price.  Since I go through so much of the dang stuff for Business purposes, I rarely end up buying specifically for the kitchen - I just snitch what I need out of the workshop.  (Yes, I buy what is considered "food grade" sea salt, as well as the various oils that I use in soap making - makes it a bit more expensive to buy "work" materials, but it means that if I run out of something in the kitchen, I can get it out of the shop with impunity!)
 
The iodine issue is resolved both by a variety of leafy greens and by seafood - especially shellfish - which are high in naturally occuring iodine.  While I probably don't have sufficient green veggies in my diet to make up the difference, I'm a HUGE seafood/shellfish fan, so I don't worry about it.



DomKen -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/3/2008 11:46:31 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: hizgeorgiapeach

Termy, a MARBLE morter and pestle work well where ceramic doesn't seem to hold up to grinding sea salt.  Takes a while, especially if you've bought Coarse Grind salt to begin with, but it's worth it.  There are a lot of places that carry food grade sea salt in fine grain now, though - the same grain size that you'll find in processed, iodized table salt.  You just have to know where to look for it to find it.  I've got links to SEVERAL places that supply such - cmail me on the other side and I'll send you several suppliers' links if you'd like.

Now I just don't get fine grind sea salt at all. If all you're doing is dissolving it in something then why not go with kosher? The big flakes and irregular texture are the reasons I buy sea salt.



hizgeorgiapeach -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 12:09:20 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen
Now I just don't get fine grind sea salt at all. If all you're doing is dissolving it in something then why not go with kosher? The big flakes and irregular texture are the reasons I buy sea salt.


Ken, I mostly buy my sea salt in bulk - Large bulk (like, oh, 50 to 100lbs at a time every few months) - for making bath items that are part of my business.  The fine grind disolve better in a bath, so after much discussion with testers and some of my more loyal customer base, that's what I started buying exclusively.  Since it's food grade, I fill a small glass container from my kitchen when I need to (about once a month lol) to keep in the kitchen for both cooking and table use instead of buying seperately for the kitchen.  In the workshop, I use sea salt as one of the base ingredients in bath salts, as well as using it in fizzing bath bombs, a couple of specific soap recipes, an exfoliating scrub, and one of my body butter recipes - so I go through a Lot of it, especially when I'm mixing up bath salts and bath bombs.  I rarely add salt when I cook unless it's something that specifically Has to have it in the recipe.  I much prefer to do all my salting at the table when I sit down to eat.  Since I absolutely do Not use a humidifier in my home - and in fact keep a DEhumidifier in the workshop, to help with drying/curing soap on the drying racks, I don't usually have much problem with it clumping up.  When I do, I've found that my marble morter and pestle - which was purchased primarily to grind up various herbs that I use for colorants in soap batchs - works really well for breaking up the clumps.
 
Since one of Term's primary problems seems to be that the coarser and more irregular grinds are making it difficult to use for the table - which is where I figure he wants to primarily use it, from the op - it would seem to solve at least part of his problem to simply by the finer grind in the first place to use for the table.



suhlut -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 12:14:32 AM)

well Ken.. Sea Salt is sposed to be better for you then Kosher or reg table salt... less sodium. Thats why you will now see some processed low sodium canned soups have "Sea salt" on its lable.. all the taste of salt..but MUCH less sodium.

Local grocery stores here sell sea salt now right on the shelves next to table salt, same shape and size packaging, and already ground to the same consistency as table salt. Its costs just a bit more, but i decided to give it a try..and LOVE it!.

I have also bought Sea Salt in Jars that had built in grinders, back before they started selling it already ground, but hated the price.. so i used it..very sparingly.

i love the taste of sea salt.. and use it for "sprinkle on" flavor.. since i refuse to cook with salt. And i think its great, that what i used to concider being a Decadent treat, can now be used as freely as i used to use table salt.

T... not sure what to suggest for how to easily grind the stuff you have, but perhaps the marble... i doubt marble would shred away like ceramic. Once You use it up though, i do suggest that you look in local grocery stores..for it already ground.




Vendaval -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 1:49:29 AM)

By the way, Term, salt is frequently used in magical rituals for many different faiths and belief systems.



halfmute -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 2:14:40 AM)

suhlut is spot on. Sea salt develops its taste mainly when coming in the shape of those fluffy/crunchy bits which then dissolve in an intense, very salty sensation on your tounge - therefore you should only use it for "sprinkle on". I wouldn't sink expensive sea salt in a mayor dish while cooking - you couldn't tell the difference, use regular salt for that.

And on a related note, you should only salt before actually eating, not while cooking, because the salt drives the water out of your meat, etc... while it does not in itself develop a different/richer taste during the cooking process like e.g. herbs, etc do.

The storage issue seems odd though. In chemistry they store it in (appropriate) plastic yar or in glass jars - which doesn't tend to react with anything. Why don't you get yourself a small amount of sea salt readily packed and then start refilling that one? I would guess the people selling sea salt (which is really only plain salt like any other table salt chemically) should know what works.



marie2 -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 2:52:03 AM)

I usually buy the sea salt in the grocery store already in the bottle.  McCormick makes it, and it can be found in the seasonings section.  The grinder is attached to the top of the bottle.  Offhand I can't remember the exact price,  but I think it's a little under 3 bucks.  Typically it lasts me about a month.  Or if you tend to use a lot of salt, you can buy a box of Kosher salt.  It's a lot cheaper buying it that way and I've never had a problem with it clumping up.  You can use it flaky right out of the box or you can just rub some between your fingers to break it up. 



Dnomyar -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 4:06:24 AM)

I buy mine in a grinder jar at Cosco. I like to put big pieces on my tongue and let them melt.



DomKen -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 6:46:47 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: suhlut

well Ken.. Sea Salt is sposed to be better for you then Kosher or reg table salt... less sodium. Thats why you will now see some processed low sodium canned soups have "Sea salt" on its lable.. all the taste of salt..but MUCH less sodium.

That's just wrong. Sea salt is sodium chloride just like table salt. Just as table salt has traces of otehr things, iodine and sometimes anti caking agents, sea salt has traces of other things but none are in large concentration. If you need a low sodium diet using sea salt without reducing how much you use is no help.



Aynne88 -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 6:57:37 AM)

Ken is right. They have the same amount of sodium chloride. The only difference is a matter of preference.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sea-salt/AN01142



celticlord2112 -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 7:17:14 AM)

quote:

Sea salt is sodium chloride just like table salt.

Table salt is pure sodium chloride.  Sea salt is a mixture of sodium, potassium, and calcium salts.  The wider array of ionic compounds is the principal reason that sea salt is healthier than table salt.



Termyn8or -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 8:06:14 AM)

Table salt used to be pure, that was in the old days when it would clump up in the shaker. When they added the anti-clumping agent is when it became dangerous as it's properties prevent the sodium from being properly metabolished or excreted by the body.

So I won't use regular salt for anything, but then since I bought fifty pounds of this stuff, I can just use that.

It is true that there is alot more in sea salt than in table salt. In fact salt companies make more money off of the trace minerals they extract out of it than they do on the table salt they sell.

At any rate, I guess I'll have to look into another kind of grinder, or perhaps a real marble mortar and pistle. I don't mind taking a few pieces of the coarse ground and sucking on it, and I actualy do use it in cooking, it just dissolves. But when I use it on a plate of food I would rather it be spread uniformly.

T



DomKen -> RE: Problems with sea salt (12/4/2008 8:43:00 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: celticlord2112

quote:

Sea salt is sodium chloride just like table salt.

Table salt is pure sodium chloride.  Sea salt is a mixture of sodium, potassium, and calcium salts.  The wider array of ionic compounds is the principal reason that sea salt is healthier than table salt.


Table salt is not pure NaCl and neither is sea salt but both have about the same level of other stuff. What differs is what that stuff is. The potassium chloride and various calcium salts are so dilute that sea salt is not considered to contain either potassium or calcium for nutritional purposes.




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