Kosher salt

For many home cooks, seasoning a dish usually means adding a few dashes of table salt from a shaker. But, for professional chefs, the preference is a pinch or two of kosher salt. Its popularity has increased over the years with more and more recipes calling for this particular salt.

The basics: Kosher salt is a coarse-grain salt that was originally developed to make meats kosher under Jewish kosher practices. The salt itself is not a kosher item per se, but rather an ingredient or tool that is used to draw blood out from meats to make it kosher. Its large surface area absorbs more liquid than the fine granulated table salt.

Kosher salt is a mineral salt that is mined much like table salt but is left in a larger grain form. It is said to have no additives such as iodine, although some commercially produced salts sometimes include anti-caking additives to prevent the salt from lumping up in humid conditions.

Kosher salt is favored over table salt by professional chefs because of its mellow flavor and grainy texture. Chefs are able to better control the amount of salt by touch in kosher salt as opposed to table salt.

Kosher salt is also the preferred salt for brining, salt crusts on meats and fish and for canning and pickling. Although kosher salt is a popular cooking salt, it is generally not preferred for baking.

Selecting: Kosher salt is generally available in boxes weighing approximately 3 pounds or so. It can be found in the supermarkets or specialty food stores in the same section as table and sea salts.

Storing: Since kosher salt is a mineral salt, it can be stored indefinitely in a cool, dry area without getting stale.

Use: The rule of thumb for the use of kosher salt has been 2 parts to every one part of table salt. However, this is not an exact science since different brands of kosher salt come in various salt grain sizes. A good tip is to first use the same amount of salt called for in a recipe then add more if needed.

Where to buy: Many supermarkets now carry kosher salt on a regular basis at about $3 for a 3-pound box.

Eleanor Nakama-Mitsunaga is
a free-lance food writer. Contact her
online through features@starbulletin.com