CI's dissertation on salt

We've had this discussion before (2019) and one where I measured out the weight of various salts to understand why one cannot simply use any salt amount given in the recipe. In older recipes (I'm 71, so you figure out what I mean by that) you can successfully use plain old table salt, like Morton's Iodized Salt. Salt was salt.

But in the 80's, 90's and henceforth, chefs and FoodTV stars were using kosher salt and finishing salt. Many professionals used Diamond kosher salt, but mere mortals could only find Morton's Kosher salt at the grocery store. That simple substitution could ruin a recipe; using the same amount of table salt when the chef or recipe developer used Diamond Kosher would assuredly ruin it.

At least now, some cooking sites are starting to note which salt was used for the recipe. That is a start. Adding the weight is an even bigger improvement. Here was my kitchen experiment:


And here is CIs discussion on salt:

Is your weights per some measure, like a tablespoon?

Interesting article. I keep 4 kinds of salts in cellars next to my stove. Diamond kosher, gray, Himalayan, and flake. I also have regular s/p in shakers. Sea salt in the cupboard. If a recipe says salt, I use table salt unless specified otherwise. My friend’s daughter said she always uses kosher in baking. Made me think hers would be quite different than mine making the same recipe.

Then there is how salty is said salt type. It can vary widely. I even have a Sunset book that includes how to go to the bay and mine your own salt! (It was all about being hyper local, and Sunset hqtrs were nearby here/sf bay). That was a bridge too far for me, but cargill, one of the world’s biggest salt producers had huge production facilities on sf bay. (They still have some, but they've been restoring the wetlands of several.)

Just tonight had to run next door to retrieve my salt shaker. Had to bring mine to sb party after finding they only use pink Himalayan now.

Maria, my measurements were a level TABLESPOON of each salt. Obviously CI has a better scale than my $49 version, but the outcome is still the same. Diamond weighs the least.

By the way, what was the final Super Bowl menu?

For superbowl I made Rick bayless Mexican chocolate streusel cake served warm with salted caramel sauce, and cinnamon ice cream.

I totally could’ve brought the layer dip as there was no bean dip, no dip/chips at all, just nachos that were more like a salad than anything, and the kids did a run to the store for Cheetos. The only other item was someone else brought a burnt almond cake (famous in our area) from the bakery. Not a big deal though as were we all more there for the game than the food.