Why kosher salt for pickling

Present in vast seawater quantities, salt is the primary mineral constituent. Per liter of water from the sea, the open ocean contains about thirty-five grams of solid salt per liter. Essentially, alt is necessary to sustain life. In preserving food, salt is an important method. Some earlier salt processing evidence dates back to BC when people who lived in Rome extracted salt by boiling spring water. In China, salt works dates back to about the same period.

In trade, salt became an important article and went by boat across the Mediterranean and on camel caravans in the Sahara along salt roads specially built for this purpose. The universal need and scarcity of salt have caused nations to use it to raise the revenue of taxes and to go to war over it. In religious ceremonies, salt is used extensively. There are many other traditional and cultural significance of salt as well.

Essential for human health, sodium is a necessary nutrient through its role as an osmotic and electrolyte solute. Excessive consumption of salt increases the risks of cardiovascular disease including adult and child hypertension. The recommendation is that adults should eat less than 2, milligrams of sodium daily which equals five grams of salt. Essential to animals and human health, salt is one of the five basic sensations of taste.

Around the world, many cuisines use salt and are found on restaurant or dinner salt shakers for personal use to season your food. In many processed food, salt is also a popular ingredient.

Table salt is a salt that is refined, containing up to ninety-nine percent NaCl. Anticaking agents are usually added to make it flow freely. These anticaking agents include magnesium carbonate or sodium alumino-silicate.

Potassium iodide-containing iodized salt is available widely. Some folks but a saltine cracker or some uncooked rice grains as a desiccant in a salt shaker. These are meant to absorb additional moisture and help in breaking up clumps of salt that could form otherwise.

Some additives are contained in table salt meant to be consumed. Various health concerns have been raised concerning this. From one country to the next, the amount and identity of additives widely vary. For humans, iodine is an important micro-nutrient. Element deficiencies in humans cause endemic goiter or enlargement of the thyroid gland.

It can also cause hypothyroidism or less thyroxine production. Since , iodized salt has been used to correct conditions such as these. It also consists of table salt with minuscule amounts of sodium iodate, sodium iodide or potassium iodide. Dextrose in minute amounts could also be added to help the iodine become stabilized. Around the world, iodine deficiency affects billions of people.

It is the lead preventable mental retardation cause. In countries in which iodized table salt is used, it reduces iodine deficiency disorders significantly. Due to the large consumption of salt, health risks are involved. Table salt serves a vital purpose in the human body. It contains the vital electrolyte sodium which helps muscles and nerves to function correctly.

It helps fluid balance in body organs as it is involved with osmotic water regulation. The Western diet consumes more salt than Asia or East Europe. Virtual Cooking Classes. Private Classes. Contact Us.

Different types of salt have different uses in the kitchen. However, kosher salt is not an optimal substitute for coarse pickling salt in pickling because it may contain anti-caking agents and it measures differently than coarse pickling salt, which may throw off recipes.

Emily Maggrett has been writing for more than eight years. Features Kosher salt grains have a large surface area. Uses In addition to being used in butchering, kosher salt may also be used to make brines, compose salt crusts for meats and line mixed drink glasses such as margaritas and Bloody Marys. Substitutions Kosher salt and coarse pickling salt can be substituted for each other in some applications. Significance Unlike other types of salt, both coarse pickling salt and kosher salt are not iodized.

The only drawback to using kosher salt for pickling or canning is that the grains are coarser and flakier, and can not be packed as tightly into a measuring cup as pickling salt. To get around this problem, measure by weight instead of volume.

For other brands, it is best to measure by weight rather than volume. Check out my article on the Different Types of Salt. The Craven County Sweet Pickle recipes has become a very popular recipe with cooks coming to my web site.