Thread: Salt and its variances

Potassium Chloride doesn't taste like salt. It has a bitter metallic aftertaste to it and too much Potassium can kill you. However if you need to limit your salt intake you have no choice. Salt is a universal flavor enhancer and is hard to avoid unless you cook and bake from scratch.

Even though most salt (Halite) does come via the sea depending on the location and Geology the trace elements can vary tremendously.

Salt is salt and my taste buds that have been hardened over the years can not tell much if any difference.

I am partial to Coarse grinds for cooking

Himalayan is my fav, followed closely by a Kosher Sea Salt, to be honest, I like it for the ease of measurement while cooking, being able to actually take a "Pinch"

Same with Pepper we use a coarse grind and keep both in small Ramikens

I haven't used a Salt Shaker in years


I found that when actually monitoring salt intake the worst offender is NOT the salt you add, but the salt that was added while processing it, moved away from most processed foods years ago and stopped monitoring salt.
I noticed that my taste buds had changed when I cut out processed food, the bad news is that most food I don't cook myself tastes "Salty"


First world problems

I did an experiment this week with some pan fried chicken breast and used table salt and sea salt. There was a slight difference in taste, but the sea salt grind was much coarser. I'm sure there's a study that would show if there is a correlation of grind size to flavor, but I have never seen table salt in a coarser grind in my grocery store.

I'm a big fan of the 4 or 5 different types of peppercorn mixes for a grinder. Originally did it because preground spices lose their flavor faster, it has a nice added depth to the pepper flavor profile.

The whole limit the salt intake is mainly because I've just never really been a huge fan of salt flavor and the "salt brings out flavor" thing is out of the depth of my palate. I too have cut out alot of processed items, but thats mainly because I cooked something similar on my own, just messing around in the kitchen, and I just like the taste better.

That being said, I still eat more braunschweger than average, a whole shitload of salt in there.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I am partial to Coarse grinds for cooking

Himalayan is my fav, followed closely by a Kosher Sea Salt, to be honest, I like it for the ease of measurement while cooking, being able to actually take a "Pinch"

Same with Pepper we use a coarse grind and keep both in small Ramikens

I haven't used a Salt Shaker in years


I found that when actually monitoring salt intake the worst offender is NOT the salt you add, but the salt that was added while processing it, moved away from most processed foods years ago and stopped monitoring salt.
I noticed that my taste buds had changed when I cut out processed food, the bad news is that most food I don't cook myself tastes "Salty"


First world problems

My son is on a salt restricted diet so I pretty much make everything from scratch around here. Once you start looking at salt in foods, most processed food and even food you would never think of as containing salt is all loaded with it. Trying to stay within 2000mg a day is a real challenge. If you eat out a lot then forget it.

Without any research I bet can guarantee that most process food does not contain Himalayan pink....

For all practical purposes in my opinion salt is salt.

Originally Posted by 32t

Without any research I bet can guarantee that most process food does not contain Himalayan pink....

For all practical purposes in my opinion salt is salt.

I'd be willing to bet if you were blindfolded and went down a line with different types of salt and differing degrees of coarseness you would be able to tell the difference. If nothing else some types would taste "saltier".

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Potassium Chloride doesn't taste like salt. It has a bitter metallic aftertaste to it and too much Potassium can kill you. However if you need to limit your salt intake you have no choice. Salt is a universal flavor enhancer and is hard to avoid unless you cook and bake from scratch.

Even though most salt (Halite) does come via the sea depending on the location and Geology the trace elements can vary tremendously.

I never tasted any difference. Unlike artificial sweeteners that have a terrible metallic aftertaste.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

My son is on a salt restricted diet so I pretty much make everything from scratch around here. Once you start looking at salt in foods, most processed food and even food you would never think of as containing salt is all loaded with it. Trying to stay within 2000mg a day is a real challenge. If you eat out a lot then forget it.

Food processing industry adds salt to almost everything. In the Netherlands an average adult consumes 8,5 grams of salt a day. Recommended intake is 6 grams. You only need 1-3 grams. 80% of what an average adult consumes comes from processed food, 20% is added at home. These are numbers from the website of the Dutch Heart Foundation.

Puck up a hungry mans meal from your grocer's freezer isle. Over 1000 mg. of sodium in one entree.

#1 problem for most heart disease cases, is salt. I'm one of um. Mines also hereditary.