what salt should I buy?

[cout12]

the salt at my store seems to be iodized or have yellow prussiate of soda. are both of them really bad?

 

[Blossom]

In the U.S. Morton's Canning and Pickling Salt is a good option with no additives.

 

[cout12]

In the U.S. Morton's Canning and Pickling Salt is a good option with no additives.

Im actually in Canada. Is there any safe one you know I can order online?

 

[mt_dreams]

in Canada look for Windsor 'coarse salt'. It's produced by the same company that owns Morton's. It should cost only a couple of dollars for a 2kg box. If you like your salt fine, you will need to grind it up yourself.

 

[Ben]

In the U.S. Morton's Canning and Pickling Salt is a good option with no additives.

Crystal salt has the drawback of giving food a less salty taste than powdered salt per amount of salt though, so it makes consuming more sodium easier. I didn't like Morton's canning salt for that reason. What do you think? Are the additives in regular salt a serious issue, or is slightly more sodium more likely to be beneficial?

 

[4peatssake]

Wow I really like Morton's and found it to be exceptionally salty.
I am in Canada too and bought a case of Morton's from Amazon because you do have to grind the coarse Windsor salt and it becomes too powdery for my taste.

It's the added iodine you want to be mindful of, among any other impurities table salt may contain, caking agents etc.

 

[Blossom]

In the U.S. Morton's Canning and Pickling Salt is a good option with no additives.

Crystal salt has the drawback of giving food a less salty taste than powdered salt per amount of salt though, so it makes consuming more sodium easier. I didn't like Morton's canning salt for that reason. What do you think? Are the additives in regular salt a serious issue, or is slightly more sodium more likely to be beneficial?

I don't believe I've ever had powered salt. The Morton Canning and Pickling Salt looks like any ordinary salt you'd buy it just isn't idolized and has no other additives. I'm obviously not a salt connoisseur. :?

 

[DarrylC24]

I like Morton's too. We've been using it for a long time.

 

[tara]

I can't find those recommended brands around here, so I buy the whitest looking sea salt I can find without additives. I eventually got around to using a grinder for at the table, but in cooking etc I just use the larger crystals.

 

[4peatssake]

I can't find those recommended brands around here, so I buy the whitest looking sea salt I can find without additives. I eventually got around to using a grinder for at the table, but in cooking etc I just use the larger crystals.

Can you not find "pickling" salt anywhere?

 

[tara]

Well, I googled a few months ago and failed to find anything suitable, but just looked again now and looks like there is new specialist supplying kosher pickling salt with no additives. Don't know if it's any cleaner quality-wise than the white sea salt I usually buy, but it looks like it's fine enough to sprinkle at the table. Expensive postage, but if I buy a large quantity it's OK.

 

[4peatssake]

Well, I googled a few months ago and failed to find anything suitable, but just looked again now and looks like there is new specialist supplying kosher pickling salt with no additives. Don't know if it's any cleaner quality-wise than the white sea salt I usually buy, but it looks like it's fine enough to sprinkle at the table. Expensive postage, but if I buy a large quantity it's OK.

That sounds promising. I did the same thing when I bought the Mortons 18 months ago. Bought an insanely large amount to make the shipping worth it.

IIRC, it's the impurities in the sea salt that Ray advises against.

 

[tara]

Well, I googled a few months ago and failed to find anything suitable, but just looked again now and looks like there is new specialist supplying kosher pickling salt with no additives. Don't know if it's any cleaner quality-wise than the white sea salt I usually buy, but it looks like it's fine enough to sprinkle at the table. Expensive postage, but if I buy a large quantity it's OK.

That sounds promising. I did the same thing when I bought the Mortons 18 months ago. Bought an insanely large amount to make the shipping worth it.

IIRC, it's the impurities in the sea salt that Ray advises against.

Yes, the impurities. But some of what we can get here is very white, and I'm assuming the whiter it is the less impurities. Red salts tend to have iron, grey can have any manner of things.
I don't know whether or how they purify the kosher/pickling salt, or whether they just pick the cleanest sea salt they can find.

 

[4peatssake]

Well, I googled a few months ago and failed to find anything suitable, but just looked again now and looks like there is new specialist supplying kosher pickling salt with no additives. Don't know if it's any cleaner quality-wise than the white sea salt I usually buy, but it looks like it's fine enough to sprinkle at the table. Expensive postage, but if I buy a large quantity it's OK.

That sounds promising. I did the same thing when I bought the Mortons 18 months ago. Bought an insanely large amount to make the shipping worth it.

IIRC, it's the impurities in the sea salt that Ray advises against.

Yes, the impurities. But some of what we can get here is very white, and I'm assuming the whiter it is the less impurities. Red salts tend to have iron, grey can have any manner of things.
I don't know whether or how they purify the kosher/pickling salt, or whether they just pick the cleanest sea salt they can find.

Hmmm. I don't think they can package it as sea salt unless at least some of the trace minerals remain.
The processing is different and with pickling and table salt everything but the sodium chloride is removed and then additives like caking agents and iodine are put into the table salt but nothing is added in to the pickling salt.

All salt deposits contain the same mixture of elements. According to Marine Science, no matter how much salt happens to be dissolved in a given drop of ocean, it is “always made up of the same types of salts and they are always in the same proportion to each other”: 85.62% sodium chloride and 14.38% other trace minerals: sulphate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, bromide, borate, strontium, and fluoride (in descending order of quantity).

Sea salts retain the trace elements while table salt has been processed to remove trace elements...

Sea Salt vs Table Salt

I think the problem with the sea salt is that we just don't know what or how much of the trace elements remain.

 

[tara]

Hmmm. I don't think they can package it as sea salt unless at least some of the trace minerals remain.
The processing is different and with pickling and table salt everything but the sodium chloride is removed and then additives like caking agents and iodine are put into the table salt but nothing is added in to the pickling salt.

All salt deposits contain the same mixture of elements. According to Marine Science, no matter how much salt happens to be dissolved in a given drop of ocean, it is “always made up of the same types of salts and they are always in the same proportion to each other”: 85.62% sodium chloride and 14.38% other trace minerals: sulphate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, bromide, borate, strontium, and fluoride (in descending order of quantity).

Sea salts retain the trace elements while table salt has been processed to remove trace elements...

Sea Salt vs Table Salt

I think the problem with the sea salt is that we just don't know what or how much of the trace elements remain.

Yes about not knowing exactly what's in the sea salt.

But if all sea salt has the same stuff in it, why is some of what's labelled sea salt in the shops here (eg my local supermarket) really white, while others (eg from local wholefoods shop with a little w) are quite grey?

 

[4peatssake]

[Yes about not knowing exactly what's in the sea salt.

But if all sea salt has the same stuff in it, why is some of what's labelled sea salt in the shops here (eg my local supermarket) really white, while others (eg from local wholefoods shop with a little w) are quite grey?

I think that's the million dollar question. What and how much of the other "trace minerals" are actually in the different "sea salts" and what really goes on in the processing?

I don't know what the producers do to make it look pretty like Himalayan pink or grey or be-speckled.
But it sure is one heck of gimmick that has lines the pockets of the producers.
Some of the prices I've seen are pretty outrageous.

 

[tara]

I'm pretty sure the real himalayan salt is pink of its own nature, because it contains higher iron, not by colour added later.

 

[4peatssake]

I'm pretty sure the real himalayan salt is pink of its own nature, because it contains higher iron, not by colour added later.

Yeah, I Himalayan salt is a rock salt. I think the word Himalayan adds an "oooh factor."

The chemical composition of Himalayan salt includes 95–96% sodium chloride, contaminated with 2–3% polyhalite and small amounts of ten other minerals. The pink color is due to iron oxide.

Source

I find it all pretty sketchy but that's me and I'm happy with Morton's.

Curiously, the folks from Marine Science don't list iron as one of the trace minerals they say are in all salt deposits.

All salt deposits contain the same mixture of elements. According to Marine Science, no matter how much salt happens to be dissolved in a given drop of ocean, it is “always made up of the same types of salts and they are always in the same proportion to each other”: 85.62% sodium chloride and 14.38% other trace minerals: sulphate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bicarbonate, bromide, borate, strontium, and fluoride (in descending order of quantity).

 

[gretchen]

I recently switched to Morton's kosher. Instead of being ground up it's a grainier consistency. It's easier to swallow.

 

[Lenny]

Any recommendations on salt beside Windsor 'coarse salt or Mortons? These arn't available in the Netherlands.

EDIT: I found Morton Kosher salt, is that a good option? ty.