One of my favorite cooking recipes calls for kosher sea salt. It is a favorite in my family, and a must have in the pantry. But many cooks usually wonder what type of kosher salt to use, when cooking for the first time! kosher salt, kosher sea salt or table salt…which one should I use?
Using table salt is the easiest way to go, but sometimes it is not as enjoyable to use as “real” kosher salt. You know the “real” kosher salt that comes in bottles…clear and with a very fine color. That is not “iodized” kosher sea salt which most stores offer, although many do carry this type of salt in their seasoning department. I prefer to use the kosher sea salt found in reputable online salt stores, because there is no reason to guess at what type of kosher salt to use, simply because it says kosher on the label.
The kosher sea salt that is sold in grocery stores is typically not stored for very long and is mostly used during the preparation and cooking of Jewish dishes such as meat and fish. Kosher salt contains trace amounts of magnesium, iron and other important minerals which are beneficial to your health. You may notice that kosher salt has a different texture than regular table salt when you touch it or when you look at it closely. It usually holds on to its saltiness better and is more brittle.
There are two ways to test for kosher salt: by using it and then looking at a piece of the dish which you will later attempt to make gluten free bread with. If you have purchased kosher salt which is not stored at room temperature, place it under a warm light for several minutes to get rid of any moisture. The next method is to crush a clump of kosher salt and then look at a piece of white flour to see if the salt clumps have become airborne. If they are, sprinkle them generously on a tablecloth to be sure they are not airborne. Then use a food coloring gel to make the flour appear whiter and to make the kosher salt grain more visible.
Kosher sea salt is best used in conjunction with fine sea salt ( kosher and mordechai) for recipes where the salty taste of coarse grains is desired. When paired with fine grains such as semolina, flax seed or coconut flour, the result is a highly flavored salt with added nutty and antioxidant flavor. By combining kosher salt and flax seed in baking, cooking, or salting, the salt provides a texture which will draw out the flavor of the other ingredients while retaining the quality of the salt. This makes kosher salt a great addition to a wide variety of cuisines.
It is important to purchase kosher sea salt that has been filtered to remove any impurities that may interfere with its effectiveness. Iodized table salt, on the other hand, does not undergo any filtering and is typically less expensive than table salt. The price of kosher sea salt is more expensive because it is more difficult to obtain and therefore requires a larger amount of pure material to create each gram of salt. In turn, this means that kosher sea salt has a higher melting point and requires a larger container to hold sufficient quantities to meet the demands of the kosher food market.