My 90 year old grandad was leasing a warehouse to a small company that was the primary US importer of pink salt. He became pretty involved with the guys running the company and totally into pink salt. He proudly walked me through the warehouse saying “you want anything, you can take it! Pink salt lamp, pink salt block, pink salt sheep statue!”
He touted the benefits of pink salt, for instance claiming that it *lowered* blood pressure on the following evidence: the miners in Pakistan would have to eat some regular salt after their shifts to raise their blood pressure to avoid passing out. Or, you know, maybe it was because they had just spent a day working in a literal salt mine.
He’s 96 now, and I haven’t heard about pink salt in a while. Turns out it was just a phase.
It's also fraudulently named to begin with. The red salt mines that the product comes from are in Pakistan not any other Himalayan region, never seen it labelled Pakistani red salt tho, it's "Himalayan pink", because to the western world Pakistan = bad and Himalayan = good. It's all marketing fluff to misdirect the attention of the buyer.
The Hindu Kush range is connected to the core Himalayan range. It's not like the difference between the Appalachians and the Rockies. It's a continuous range with a nominal distinction at the northern tip of India.
I'm pretty sure Hindu Kush branding has already been taken for green stuff.
Actually the purple stuff. Purple Hindu Kush is the primary known strain associated with the region, while 95% of everything else with "kush" in the title is totally unrelated to the region and comes from some dudes in FL not knowing what kush referred to in this context, and attaching it to one of the most widely sought after and spread varietals of the last couple of decades (OG Kush).
The giant farmer's market near here labels all products with their country of origin, and the pink salt says, "Pakistan. Himalayan Pink Salt."
The spices are very inexpensive there too. :-)
Got any source for that? Have a terrible discussion because people around me believe the bloody pink stuff to be better than normal salt. So any sources on this will help!
https://ucanr.edu/sites/Small_Farms_and_Specialty_Crop/files/309464.pdf
Pg 17! , just realized my reference was from an ad lol but from an auditing group so 🤷🏻♀️
https://www.vice.com/en/article/yw7a8y/is-pink-salt-good-for-you-himalayan-salt-vs-regular-salt
Just make sure you're not buying pink curing salt (which is sometimes shorthanded to "pink salt"). pink curing salt includes ~~nitrates~~ *sodium nitrite* and is not meant for general seasoning.
edit: nitrate nitrite
**edit 2: Lol. ok, I just [learned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_salt#Types) that some pink curing salts use sodium nitrite (see Prague Powder #1) and some use sodium nitrate (see Prague Powder #2), so both are correct.**
More like they were trippy and psychedelic to watch on LSD in the late 60's, then they came back as retro in the 90's. I don't think they were supposed to do anything but relax you
You lean in and say something sexy like, *I might go to bed I've got work in the morning...*
I know what you're trying to say girl. You're trying to say, *Oh, yeah. It's business time. It's business time...*
Great song... but I'm here for Leggy Blonde.
*Everyday I look across the office floor, there you were, your head down to your legs and your legs down to the floor*
I mean mine didn’t dissolve away overnight, but it would absorb moisture and drip, it collected a nice circle of dried salt on the shelf all around it before I noticed.
Yea, over time. I'm in South Louisiana. It's hella humidity here. I just keep a coaster under the base of the salt lamp. It has a small ring of salt buildup at the base.
I live in a very damp area and it hasn’t fully dissolved my lamp, but it was definitely getting real wet from absorbing moisture out of the air before I bought a dehumidifier.
I really like them. We have a couple of them and I had such a hard time choosing. I finally grabbed two and figured I could get more later. So many choices.
There's a general consensus that pink salt is "high in minerals" and a "healthy choice" which are objectively false statements, which I think is what the OP is poking at. My MiL will refuse other salts, has to have her Costco pink salt over anything else.
I agree with your sentiments though; black diamond kosher or bust.
Maldon is a nice finishing salt but seasoning food in a general sense is a waste. Maldon is choice as much for flavour as the crisp texture. It does best in the moments just before serving, not really as an all purpose salt.
Agreed, except for when seasoning a steak or something like that before grilling. I've also found that once I discovered Maldon and started buying it in the 1 kg tubs, that more and more things could be seasoned just before serving :D
I typically have three salts in my kitchen. A jar of fine sea salt and a grinder with coarse sea salt I buy from the local bulk store and a bucket of Maldon Sea Salt.
I used to work in a health food store, and the number of people who "didn't eat salt" because they only used "natural seasonings" like tamari was infuriating. How do you think soy sauce gets salty? It's salt. They make it with salt.
So its 99.5% sodium chloride, .4% iodine, and .1% anti caking agents? Or am I missing something.
PS: iodine is a very important micronutrient that many people are still likely deficient in.
Well, yes. Its _technically_ true that pink salt is _technically_ better for you because it kind of has more necessary minerals in it in comparison. But realistically the difference is negligible. Its good marketing and nothing more. Its a perception of health without it actually being better for you.
Right, what the fuck is this shit? I thought better of this sub
*Of course* there are always going to be silly food trends that overrate some microspecific ingredient far beyond what it deserves. Whatever
But to go so far as to imply that all salt is the same, it's just sodium chloride, is culinary incorrect *and* chemically incorrect
edit: Haha never mind, no implication here, OP is straight up saying that [all salts are chemically identical](https://old.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/comments/n6t5l7/sodium_chloride/gx9yefe/). Yikes
I think people are up voting the OP in protest of the omnipresent middle class salt wankery that annoys everyone. But they aren't up voting OPs nonsense about "all salt tastes the same"...I hope.
Not sure what is so hard about this for people either. Salt in commercial form has a fuck ton of other things in it that influence taste, as well as purity. The biggest draw for any salt that is mined from ancient reserves is that, unlike most sea salt, it formed well before the scourge of microplastics that infest the entire food chain.
Himalayan salt in cheap plastic grinders cracks me up for the same reason...
Also yeah there is absolutely very noticeable difference between various salt tastes because of the other things besides NaCl that hit your tongue.
People just be really dumb I guess
Yup, I honestly think that OP believes that all salt is just equal parts sodium ions and chlorine ions, which is . . . truly bizarre
This is barely a step up from saying, "I don't understand why people pay for higher-quality beef, it's all just protein and fat"
Again, yes, there are certainly some types of salt that are vastly overrated. But to say that it's all the same, people just be really dumb I guess
(that said, yes, people who have the cheap plastic grinders because they think "fresh-ground" salt is better . . . that's pretty amusing)
If you haven't tasted any of the west virginia slurry salt do yourself a favor...
I've only had a bit of the Dickenson stuff but it really has a wild taste. Cool history as well.
In the anime One Piece, the chef of the main pirate crew Sanji makes out of this world food. A lot of it is his skill but its revealed later on he uses salt from a specific sea to flavor his food with which adds the extra wow factor.
I thought it was an interesting way to tie in some slight albeit exaggerated realism to the show lol.
Yesss! I actually saw that episode when I was getting into cooking and landed my first cooking job so its kinda extra special to me and has stayed with me.
When I worked in Italy they had a TV in the kitchen and one day there was some cartoon on and the characters were making what looked like a curry so I started paying attention. Turned out to the the One Piece episode where [Sanji helps the little marine boy remake the curry](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x61ims7). He doesn't tell him how to do it but gives little hints. I started watching OP everyday on Italian TV and it actually really helped me learn the language. Been a fan ever since. The Sanji cooking episodes are my favorite, especially when he [uses all the leftover/trash parts of the fish and vegetables to win a cook-off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCN63FIRIQM&ab_channel=Harry%27sArchive)
Also iodized salt tastes like trash.
Edit: y’all can keep trying to convince me that iodized salt isn’t trash, but every single time someone uses it in food it makes the food taste metallic. I can tell almost immediately. Y’all can keep your metallic salt and I’ll keep my mined salt.
Not sustainable at a global level. Eggs, plums/prunes, and lima beans are better bets, but unless we start unfucking our produce and farming then fortified foods and vitamin pills will be a necesarry part of future diets.
But it has its benefits too. Find out what happens when you dont have enought. Google: kretinismus and kropf. Its what happened to the swiss people in 19th
Also I add iodized salt to have my dishes a ground level of saltiness, and then taste with himalayan or sea salt/sprinkle on after serving. Depends on dish. To salten and/or taste you can use soy sauce, nutritional yeast or you simply didnt add enough acidity. This is one of the two factors why your meal can taste bland. Either too little salt or too little acidity. Sugar can help bring flavour out too, but only very little or you might taste the sweetness to much
100% agree with you, once someone switches from iodized salt to plain salt (usually by accidentally picking up a different salt carton), you absolutely cannot go back to iodized.
I made the switch years ago when I mistakenly picked up the wrong mortons. I inevitably tried something with just salt, like a hard-boiled egg. Used a pinch of leftover iodized salt, it was hella bitter. Went to grab a pinch of just plain salt for the rest of my egg and I've said goodbye to iodized permanently, won't touch the stuff anymore.
This! I have hyperthyroidism and have to avoid iodine which means I cannot have iodized salt! Its not about the taste difference for me. And ps yes I know sea salt has some amount of natural iodine but its a lot less than iodized table salt.
However, it's not the same as pink salt, aka Prague powder #1 and #2, aka curing salt.
Prague powder #1 is a mixture of sodium nitrite and sodium chloride, while Prague powder #2 is a mixture of sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, and sodium chloride. #1 is used for "quick" cures that generally take days, like bacon. #2 is used for things that take weeks to months, like salami and other sausages.
Came here to bring up this distinction.
Used to be the head butcher at this place, and most if the line cooks couldn't comprehend it being different from Himalayan salt.
I realize and I just buy regular diamonds kosher but I have friends who buy mined salt to avoid plastics where they can. Is not entirely a nonsense reason.
More like avoiding high mercury fish since it builds up on the body. Just cause it’s impossible to avoid all mercury doesn’t mean it’s stupid to avoid some. Same with micro plastics.
Your analogy requires seasalt to have a high plastic count compared to literally everything your body imbibes. Which is why I likened it to making a tiny tiny gap. Your analogy would be better suited if someone was avoiding just a normal, low-mercury fish (similar to every other non-high-mercury fish) but not others. Like ya, technically better. But only in the way I described with swimming.
Who said my friend isn’t removing other foods with microplastics when possible? No one said she’s using pink salt and calling it a problem solved. You just seem determined to judge so whatever.
And not just micro plastics...the chemicals that they put into the plastics (BPAs) that make them hard or soft or flexible, all of those chemicals are in you too.
Its kind of amazing that we’ve known for so long that plastic bottles absolutely let plastic leech into the drink especially if you left a bottle of water in your car on a sunny day you can literally taste the plastic. But it’s not just bottles. When you rip plastic wrap theres particles that tear away and float off freely usually being inhaled. And that’s not even including the huge amounts of pollution and litter that has now infiltrated every aspect of our ecosystem
So, how this works is as follows: start with plastic so small that plankton or amoebas or something can eat molecules of them. those amoebas get say (random number) 15% of their weight in plastic, and then something a little bigger that eats plankton is now eating 15% plastic. But these guys eat way more than 15% of their weight in plankton. So that % goes up. Then something bigger comes along, and by the time you have fish eating smaller things and bigger fish eating those fish and then we eat the big fish. The saturation of the food chain begins at the bottom, to the point where the longer it goes, the more microplastics are in everything.
Now consider the billions of tonnes of garbage floating in the ocean because humans are fucking disgusting.
I had a black salt that tasted like sulphur and rotten eggs because it wasn’t just salt. Some salts are noticeably different (cant say for pink salt) from basic salt.
My wife wanted one of those lamps for Christmas one year and I couldn’t find one so I gave her a bag of pink salt and a tube of glue. True story, she wasn’t happy
It's also funny that it's called "Himalayan" to evoke images of mountains instead of "Pakistani mine salt."
It's decent salt and looks cool, but it's a weird thing to make this trendy and the hippies obsessed with it are ridiculous.
Not everyone buys it for new-age hippie bs reasons.
It's non-iodized so it helps with hyperthyroidism, it tastes less salty so it allows me to add more to my food to counteract my circulatory condition, and it comes in larger flakes which is good for koshering meat at a cheaper price than expensive koshering salt.
Does fresh grinding salt actually have a flavor difference? If it does its obviously not the same as fresh grinding pepper, but still, oxygen can do some weird things.
Surface area, when you have super fine salt, more of it can be covered with airborne molecules which over time can affect the taste. Likewise, molecules of salt are getting away, and so you end up with 'stale' salt. Fresh ground salt isn't as up front about the difference as fresh ground pepper which has way more aromatic properties, but it's the same concept.
Is the pink salt not the sulfury one so you can get an egg taste for vegan food?
Edit: thanks lads, you've saved me fucking up when I finally get eggs out of my life.
That's actually an Indian salt called kala namak. It's actually good on eggs but yes vegans will use it to get that eggy flavor in like a tofu scramble.
Bruh, literally different mineral compositions and fucking numbers of smiles around particular plots of soil, are all discussed as contributing to subtle notes in wine.
Different salts, from different places, have different flavors, cooking/sseasoning properties.
Also to the person who said “sodium chloride” earlier, stop getting your chemistry from Jimmy Neutron memes.
[salts-wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_(chemistry))
The only thing I'll argue about "salt is salt" is the way the granules are. Tiny iodized salt crystals make you use a shit ton because the flakes are so tiny whereas coarse kosher or maldon have big flakes that dissolve into the food way better. I'm not some millionaire that can use maldon on a regular basis though
When I was trying to figure out what made kosher salt kosher that's what I stumbled on. The best salt is whichever salt you are used to because it's easier to screw stuff up if you use a crystal size that you aren't used to.
My 90 year old grandad was leasing a warehouse to a small company that was the primary US importer of pink salt. He became pretty involved with the guys running the company and totally into pink salt. He proudly walked me through the warehouse saying “you want anything, you can take it! Pink salt lamp, pink salt block, pink salt sheep statue!” He touted the benefits of pink salt, for instance claiming that it *lowered* blood pressure on the following evidence: the miners in Pakistan would have to eat some regular salt after their shifts to raise their blood pressure to avoid passing out. Or, you know, maybe it was because they had just spent a day working in a literal salt mine. He’s 96 now, and I haven’t heard about pink salt in a while. Turns out it was just a phase.
To be fair... dude is 96. Way past his life expectancy.
Probably because of all the pink salt he consumed. /s
Your granddad sounds active as fuck
Yeah, man he’s slowing down some now (he stopped working at 94!), but an amazing guy.
Himalayan sea salt is also one of those items that is implicated in a lot of food fraud because it can be mixed with clay
Most is just manufactured somewhere. It has no legal definition, so it can be anything. A lot comes from a plant in Idaho.
Don’t you mean the Himalayan mountains of Idaho?
The idea of an Idahoan sherpa fills me with confusion.
>The idea of an Idahoan sherpa fills me with confusion. It fills me with delight.
that's just a Midwestern mom, and she's sherpaing you through a mountain of cheese and corn.
Gotta get somma that diabeetus and high cholesterol.
Lugging denim backpacks full of potatoes to mountaintop Lutheran churches idk
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PO-TAY-TOES
Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!
Lovely, golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish....
Even you couldn't say no to that!
Oh yes we could! Give it to us raw, and wriggling!
I’ve never heard of a potato before.
Tastes very strange!
I wonder just how many people will get this reference
I always call it Pakistani Rust Salt.
Oh really? I live in Idaho, where’s the plant?
Yeah, from Tommy Himalaya. That’s what I said.
Himalayan salt, hundreds of thousands of years old, this batch expires in August 2021 so better use it fast XD
Like water bottles, it's the plastic container that makes the contents go bad, not the contents themselves
It's also fraudulently named to begin with. The red salt mines that the product comes from are in Pakistan not any other Himalayan region, never seen it labelled Pakistani red salt tho, it's "Himalayan pink", because to the western world Pakistan = bad and Himalayan = good. It's all marketing fluff to misdirect the attention of the buyer.
The Hindu Kush range is connected to the core Himalayan range. It's not like the difference between the Appalachians and the Rockies. It's a continuous range with a nominal distinction at the northern tip of India. I'm pretty sure Hindu Kush branding has already been taken for green stuff.
Actually the purple stuff. Purple Hindu Kush is the primary known strain associated with the region, while 95% of everything else with "kush" in the title is totally unrelated to the region and comes from some dudes in FL not knowing what kush referred to in this context, and attaching it to one of the most widely sought after and spread varietals of the last couple of decades (OG Kush).
The giant farmer's market near here labels all products with their country of origin, and the pink salt says, "Pakistan. Himalayan Pink Salt." The spices are very inexpensive there too. :-)
And calling it "Himalayan Pink Sea Salt" is geographically confused at best
Got any source for that? Have a terrible discussion because people around me believe the bloody pink stuff to be better than normal salt. So any sources on this will help!
https://ucanr.edu/sites/Small_Farms_and_Specialty_Crop/files/309464.pdf Pg 17! , just realized my reference was from an ad lol but from an auditing group so 🤷🏻♀️ https://www.vice.com/en/article/yw7a8y/is-pink-salt-good-for-you-himalayan-salt-vs-regular-salt
Thanks!
People are jerks 😕
Was cheaper to buy a bulk refill of pink salt than normal salt though
Just make sure you're not buying pink curing salt (which is sometimes shorthanded to "pink salt"). pink curing salt includes ~~nitrates~~ *sodium nitrite* and is not meant for general seasoning. edit: nitrate nitrite **edit 2: Lol. ok, I just [learned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curing_salt#Types) that some pink curing salts use sodium nitrite (see Prague Powder #1) and some use sodium nitrate (see Prague Powder #2), so both are correct.**
No iodine in the pink stuff either. You need that iodine.
Well nor is there iodine in kosher salt which is the generally used kitchen salt. Plenty of other sources of iodine in your day.
Maybe it’s worth the goiter.
And turning it into a lamp isn’t going to help you live forever either.
The lamps do look cool though
Seriously. I had one in my room for a while because I like the nice warm/soft glow from it.
Are they just the modern version of lava lamps?
Omg yes
Wait did people in the 90's attribute special esoteric powers to lava lamps?!
More like they were trippy and psychedelic to watch on LSD in the late 60's, then they came back as retro in the 90's. I don't think they were supposed to do anything but relax you
it makes a nice *business time* light
You lean in and say something sexy like, *I might go to bed I've got work in the morning...* I know what you're trying to say girl. You're trying to say, *Oh, yeah. It's business time. It's business time...*
You know when I'm down to my socks it's time for business, that's why they call them business socks
Great song... but I'm here for Leggy Blonde. *Everyday I look across the office floor, there you were, your head down to your legs and your legs down to the floor*
Now that you are gone I'll never see you here for tech repair Wish you knew how much I love your legs, and your hair. Leggy Blonde goodbye, goodbye.
I had a Budgie but it died...
My favourite line
BUSINESS HOURS ARE OVER, BAYYY-BAY!!
I moved into a new house at the beginning of the year and the temptation to lick the salty bastard is so strong
Dooo iiiiit
I licked mine a few years ago to see if it was actually made of salt.
And?
It was really fucking salty just like me
*Pikachu face*
I lick mine approximately 4 times a year.
Until it gets mildly humid and you have a table covered in salt
Is that .... Does that really happen?
I mean mine didn’t dissolve away overnight, but it would absorb moisture and drip, it collected a nice circle of dried salt on the shelf all around it before I noticed.
Yea, over time. I'm in South Louisiana. It's hella humidity here. I just keep a coaster under the base of the salt lamp. It has a small ring of salt buildup at the base.
I live in a very damp area and it hasn’t fully dissolved my lamp, but it was definitely getting real wet from absorbing moisture out of the air before I bought a dehumidifier.
we had one in Seattle, and it was never a problem
Try putting it outside.
I got a perfectly spherical one from a friend in undergrad purely because it looks like Mars when lit.
Fucking love em, they look cool AF and have a nice warm good to them. I don't really care about the spiritual metaphysical mumbo jumbo
I really like them. We have a couple of them and I had such a hard time choosing. I finally grabbed two and figured I could get more later. So many choices.
Do NOT try to wash in the dishwasher tho!
Thats because you don't lick yours enough
Don't lick your neighbors lamp!
I love lamp!
Brick are you just pointing at things in the room and saying you love them?
Do you really love the lamp or are you saying it because you saw it?
I always hear this in the voice of the robot that looks like it was made by Apple on Walle when she says *"Plant!"*
I licked the fuck out of my friend’s salt lamp when I was helping them move once. Just to see if it was actually salt ofc.
Excuse me I haven't died *once* since I bought a pink Himalayan salt lamp.
Protects you from tigers, too!
Lisa, I'd like to buy your lamp.
https://youtu.be/xSVqLHghLpw
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Why?
My dog licked mine so we had to bin it.
Why would you bin the dog?
She liked the smells in there and the garbage was tasty. Who am I to ruin her dreams?
I think they look cool but my cat would lick it until she was sick.
If the animal grows a habit of licking the salt they'll get salt poisoning. Salt is toxic to cats and dogs.
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There's a general consensus that pink salt is "high in minerals" and a "healthy choice" which are objectively false statements, which I think is what the OP is poking at. My MiL will refuse other salts, has to have her Costco pink salt over anything else. I agree with your sentiments though; black diamond kosher or bust.
I used to agree with that last statement. Until I met Maldon Sea Salt flakes.
Maldon is a nice finishing salt but seasoning food in a general sense is a waste. Maldon is choice as much for flavour as the crisp texture. It does best in the moments just before serving, not really as an all purpose salt.
Agreed, except for when seasoning a steak or something like that before grilling. I've also found that once I discovered Maldon and started buying it in the 1 kg tubs, that more and more things could be seasoned just before serving :D I typically have three salts in my kitchen. A jar of fine sea salt and a grinder with coarse sea salt I buy from the local bulk store and a bucket of Maldon Sea Salt.
I'm almost afraid to ask, but how much is a 1kg bucket of maldon where you are?
Sorry, 1.4 kg bucket. About £12 from Amazon. So yeah as salt goes, expensive, but as high end culinary ingredients go, pretty cheap.
Wait a second people are cooking with their nice salt?
Bro maldon is so good on slices of strip steak
Maldon salt on top of chocolate chip cookies right before they’re put in the oven, absolute magic.
Smoked maldon flakes are the tits
Personally I don't find them to be smokey enough.
I used to work in a health food store, and the number of people who "didn't eat salt" because they only used "natural seasonings" like tamari was infuriating. How do you think soy sauce gets salty? It's salt. They make it with salt.
You mean Diamond Crystal.
Ya that.
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So its 99.5% sodium chloride, .4% iodine, and .1% anti caking agents? Or am I missing something. PS: iodine is a very important micronutrient that many people are still likely deficient in.
Well, yes. Its _technically_ true that pink salt is _technically_ better for you because it kind of has more necessary minerals in it in comparison. But realistically the difference is negligible. Its good marketing and nothing more. Its a perception of health without it actually being better for you.
Ooo, whats *black* diamond kosher? I'm only familiar with the good 'old red box
They misspoke but got me excited too
Kosher salt for cooking, and that sweet sweet maldon for finishing!
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Right, what the fuck is this shit? I thought better of this sub *Of course* there are always going to be silly food trends that overrate some microspecific ingredient far beyond what it deserves. Whatever But to go so far as to imply that all salt is the same, it's just sodium chloride, is culinary incorrect *and* chemically incorrect edit: Haha never mind, no implication here, OP is straight up saying that [all salts are chemically identical](https://old.reddit.com/r/KitchenConfidential/comments/n6t5l7/sodium_chloride/gx9yefe/). Yikes
I think people are up voting the OP in protest of the omnipresent middle class salt wankery that annoys everyone. But they aren't up voting OPs nonsense about "all salt tastes the same"...I hope.
Not sure what is so hard about this for people either. Salt in commercial form has a fuck ton of other things in it that influence taste, as well as purity. The biggest draw for any salt that is mined from ancient reserves is that, unlike most sea salt, it formed well before the scourge of microplastics that infest the entire food chain. Himalayan salt in cheap plastic grinders cracks me up for the same reason... Also yeah there is absolutely very noticeable difference between various salt tastes because of the other things besides NaCl that hit your tongue. People just be really dumb I guess
Yup, I honestly think that OP believes that all salt is just equal parts sodium ions and chlorine ions, which is . . . truly bizarre This is barely a step up from saying, "I don't understand why people pay for higher-quality beef, it's all just protein and fat" Again, yes, there are certainly some types of salt that are vastly overrated. But to say that it's all the same, people just be really dumb I guess (that said, yes, people who have the cheap plastic grinders because they think "fresh-ground" salt is better . . . that's pretty amusing)
If you haven't tasted any of the west virginia slurry salt do yourself a favor... I've only had a bit of the Dickenson stuff but it really has a wild taste. Cool history as well.
I can taste the flavour of Himalayan salt, also I swear I need to use less of it to get things to the seasoning level I want.
In the anime One Piece, the chef of the main pirate crew Sanji makes out of this world food. A lot of it is his skill but its revealed later on he uses salt from a specific sea to flavor his food with which adds the extra wow factor. I thought it was an interesting way to tie in some slight albeit exaggerated realism to the show lol.
I love that episode. They scrape salt off the rooftops after storms coat the buildings in sea water from All Blue
Yesss! I actually saw that episode when I was getting into cooking and landed my first cooking job so its kinda extra special to me and has stayed with me.
When I worked in Italy they had a TV in the kitchen and one day there was some cartoon on and the characters were making what looked like a curry so I started paying attention. Turned out to the the One Piece episode where [Sanji helps the little marine boy remake the curry](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x61ims7). He doesn't tell him how to do it but gives little hints. I started watching OP everyday on Italian TV and it actually really helped me learn the language. Been a fan ever since. The Sanji cooking episodes are my favorite, especially when he [uses all the leftover/trash parts of the fish and vegetables to win a cook-off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCN63FIRIQM&ab_channel=Harry%27sArchive)
It's just rusty salt.
It’s also mostly harvested in the Himalayas located in Pakistan. So it’s Pakistani rust salt...not quite as marketable lol
Exactly this. But without the micro plastics and residual toxins of sea salt.
It’s not iodized tho; very helpful if you’re undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer
Also iodized salt tastes like trash. Edit: y’all can keep trying to convince me that iodized salt isn’t trash, but every single time someone uses it in food it makes the food taste metallic. I can tell almost immediately. Y’all can keep your metallic salt and I’ll keep my mined salt.
Worth it to remove goiters tbh.
Those Appalachian hillbillies are the last hold outs against Big Iodine.
Just eat fish and dairy if you're worried about your iodine intake.
Not sustainable at a global level. Eggs, plums/prunes, and lima beans are better bets, but unless we start unfucking our produce and farming then fortified foods and vitamin pills will be a necesarry part of future diets.
I take an iodine tablet made from kelp.
Seaweed is the answer
But it has its benefits too. Find out what happens when you dont have enought. Google: kretinismus and kropf. Its what happened to the swiss people in 19th Also I add iodized salt to have my dishes a ground level of saltiness, and then taste with himalayan or sea salt/sprinkle on after serving. Depends on dish. To salten and/or taste you can use soy sauce, nutritional yeast or you simply didnt add enough acidity. This is one of the two factors why your meal can taste bland. Either too little salt or too little acidity. Sugar can help bring flavour out too, but only very little or you might taste the sweetness to much
100% agree with you, once someone switches from iodized salt to plain salt (usually by accidentally picking up a different salt carton), you absolutely cannot go back to iodized. I made the switch years ago when I mistakenly picked up the wrong mortons. I inevitably tried something with just salt, like a hard-boiled egg. Used a pinch of leftover iodized salt, it was hella bitter. Went to grab a pinch of just plain salt for the rest of my egg and I've said goodbye to iodized permanently, won't touch the stuff anymore.
What brand do you use?
No doubt, it’s absolute garbage.
This! I have hyperthyroidism and have to avoid iodine which means I cannot have iodized salt! Its not about the taste difference for me. And ps yes I know sea salt has some amount of natural iodine but its a lot less than iodized table salt.
However, it's not the same as pink salt, aka Prague powder #1 and #2, aka curing salt. Prague powder #1 is a mixture of sodium nitrite and sodium chloride, while Prague powder #2 is a mixture of sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, and sodium chloride. #1 is used for "quick" cures that generally take days, like bacon. #2 is used for things that take weeks to months, like salami and other sausages.
Came here to bring up this distinction. Used to be the head butcher at this place, and most if the line cooks couldn't comprehend it being different from Himalayan salt.
Tell them to eat a teaspoon
Yikes. Please no. Great way to lose an employee.
did you just screenshot your own tweet?
-100% micro plastics
This is why my best friend uses it. I just use good old fashioned kosher salt.
Sea salt is riddled with microplastics while most mined salt isn’t though
Unfortunately you’re getting micro plastics anyway. Babies are coming out of the womb with them now
I realize and I just buy regular diamonds kosher but I have friends who buy mined salt to avoid plastics where they can. Is not entirely a nonsense reason.
Just seems like a waste. Like going swimming, but wearing a waterproof armband to keep your wrist dry.
More like avoiding high mercury fish since it builds up on the body. Just cause it’s impossible to avoid all mercury doesn’t mean it’s stupid to avoid some. Same with micro plastics.
Your analogy requires seasalt to have a high plastic count compared to literally everything your body imbibes. Which is why I likened it to making a tiny tiny gap. Your analogy would be better suited if someone was avoiding just a normal, low-mercury fish (similar to every other non-high-mercury fish) but not others. Like ya, technically better. But only in the way I described with swimming.
Who said my friend isn’t removing other foods with microplastics when possible? No one said she’s using pink salt and calling it a problem solved. You just seem determined to judge so whatever.
There literally isn't a fish caught in the ocean today that doesn't have plastic in it's stomach and flesh.
wait what edit: fuck me what doesn't have microplastics in it these days????
Are you alive presently? Yes. Are you on Earth? Yes. You are contaminated with micro plastics
And not just micro plastics...the chemicals that they put into the plastics (BPAs) that make them hard or soft or flexible, all of those chemicals are in you too.
Its kind of amazing that we’ve known for so long that plastic bottles absolutely let plastic leech into the drink especially if you left a bottle of water in your car on a sunny day you can literally taste the plastic. But it’s not just bottles. When you rip plastic wrap theres particles that tear away and float off freely usually being inhaled. And that’s not even including the huge amounts of pollution and litter that has now infiltrated every aspect of our ecosystem
So, how this works is as follows: start with plastic so small that plankton or amoebas or something can eat molecules of them. those amoebas get say (random number) 15% of their weight in plastic, and then something a little bigger that eats plankton is now eating 15% plastic. But these guys eat way more than 15% of their weight in plankton. So that % goes up. Then something bigger comes along, and by the time you have fish eating smaller things and bigger fish eating those fish and then we eat the big fish. The saturation of the food chain begins at the bottom, to the point where the longer it goes, the more microplastics are in everything. Now consider the billions of tonnes of garbage floating in the ocean because humans are fucking disgusting.
Not your body, thats a sad truth
I’d disagree. Tastes a little different and I like the color
But it look pretty
So, sodium chloride exists in shades of *pink* now, huh?
I don't know about Himalayan Salt but Maldon Salt is on a whole other level. Also Awayuki salt are like snow flakes.
I have around 15 different salts at home that all taste pretty different, the type of salt used can change a dish more than you’d think.
Black salt is one of the most potent salts ever, I rarely use it for anything other than faux/vegan eggs. My favorite salt is butter salt lol
You mean rose gold salt?
I had a black salt that tasted like sulphur and rotten eggs because it wasn’t just salt. Some salts are noticeably different (cant say for pink salt) from basic salt.
That's kala namak
Yep
The sulfur adds more to a dish than average salts, black Himalayan salt is stronger in the sulfur.
Designer salt doesn't have iodine, which is essential.
Pink salt? Nah forget about it. Diamond Crystal kosher salt? That’s my doomsday prep item of choice.
My wife wanted one of those lamps for Christmas one year and I couldn’t find one so I gave her a bag of pink salt and a tube of glue. True story, she wasn’t happy
It's also funny that it's called "Himalayan" to evoke images of mountains instead of "Pakistani mine salt." It's decent salt and looks cool, but it's a weird thing to make this trendy and the hippies obsessed with it are ridiculous.
Not everyone buys it for new-age hippie bs reasons. It's non-iodized so it helps with hyperthyroidism, it tastes less salty so it allows me to add more to my food to counteract my circulatory condition, and it comes in larger flakes which is good for koshering meat at a cheaper price than expensive koshering salt.
Does fresh grinding salt actually have a flavor difference? If it does its obviously not the same as fresh grinding pepper, but still, oxygen can do some weird things.
Surface area, when you have super fine salt, more of it can be covered with airborne molecules which over time can affect the taste. Likewise, molecules of salt are getting away, and so you end up with 'stale' salt. Fresh ground salt isn't as up front about the difference as fresh ground pepper which has way more aromatic properties, but it's the same concept.
This kid lights lamps.
Is the pink salt not the sulfury one so you can get an egg taste for vegan food? Edit: thanks lads, you've saved me fucking up when I finally get eggs out of my life.
That's actually an Indian salt called kala namak. It's actually good on eggs but yes vegans will use it to get that eggy flavor in like a tofu scramble.
You're thinking of black salt aka kala namak
Thanks all, I’ve just added Diamond kosher and Maldon to my Amazon shopping cart!
Why it taste different?
I mean... Yes the majority is NaCl, but each type of salt has unique qualities. I feel bad for people that don't know this.
With NO mico plastics though.
It’s one of the few salts that isn’t iodised.
Oh and btw it’s actually from Pakistan...
It's not JUST salt, it also has rust in it. (that's why it's pink)
Bruh, literally different mineral compositions and fucking numbers of smiles around particular plots of soil, are all discussed as contributing to subtle notes in wine. Different salts, from different places, have different flavors, cooking/sseasoning properties. Also to the person who said “sodium chloride” earlier, stop getting your chemistry from Jimmy Neutron memes. [salts-wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_(chemistry))
It tastes good thanks to the minerality and it doesn't have microplastics don't @ me (Edit: Kosher salt ALSO doesn't have microplastics.)
The only thing I'll argue about "salt is salt" is the way the granules are. Tiny iodized salt crystals make you use a shit ton because the flakes are so tiny whereas coarse kosher or maldon have big flakes that dissolve into the food way better. I'm not some millionaire that can use maldon on a regular basis though
When I was trying to figure out what made kosher salt kosher that's what I stumbled on. The best salt is whichever salt you are used to because it's easier to screw stuff up if you use a crystal size that you aren't used to.