"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...

I love Alton Brown's show Good Eats, although he has been getting a
little
weird lately. I saw that his recipe calls for kosher salt. Why does he
always want kosher salt? Is it because it is pure salt?

I was surprised to find out that some salt has other ingredients. I've
even seen a salt in the US that has sugar in it. I'm assuming that
kosher
salt is just his way of ensuring it is pure sodium chloride (NaCl). Am I
right? Or is there some other reason?


I agree that the show is becoming more bazaar. It seems to be the Food
Network way: style above substance.

Yes, most of the new shows seem to be like that. Although, I'm mighty happy
that Michael Chiarella has a new show on the Food Network. He's been a local
treasure here in No. Cal. for years. I adore him.

I use regular salt when I bake because
it has a smaller particle size than Kosher salt and distributes better and
doesn't get left behind in a sieve like Kosher salt. Most recipes are
formulated for regular table salt. If you want the same amount of Kosher
salt by weight you would have to use 1.5 times more Morton's Kosher salt
and
2 times more Diamond Kosher salt than specified in the recipe. This is
because the different crystal sizes in each kind of salt pack together
with
different densities.

Kosher salt doesn't have iodine or anti-caking agents added. I really
doubt
that either of these things would be critical to a recipe in the amounts
used. Of course you can always get non-iodized table salt.

I use a particular French salt for everything. It is finer that regular
table salt and has a better flavor.

Martha