"The Old Bear" > wrote in message
news
> "Vox Humana" > writes:
>
> >From: "Vox Humana" >
> >Newsgroups: rec.food.baking
> >Subject: Request - Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
> >Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 16:10:34 GMT
> >
> >"Darrell Grainger" > wrote:
> >>
> >> . . . 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 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.
>
> One of the other attributes of "kosher" salt is that the crystals are
> irregularly shaped with lots of nooks and crannies. This provides a
> larger surface area for water and other liquids to be absorbed.
>
> See the excellent electron microscope photo on the Boston Museum of
Science
> web page at http://www.mos.org/sln/sem/ksalt.html
>
> Keep in mind that this salt is called "kosher" salt because it is used in
> the preparation of kosher meat. One of the religious requirements of meat
> being kosher is that the blood is removed. This is done by using salt to
> absorb the blood from the meat -- and kosher salt's granuals are optimized
> for this purpose.
>
> These irregular shaped crystals are useful for recipes which use salt on
> the surface -- sprinkled on, stuck on, etc. If the salt is to be desolved
> into the recipe, the shape of the grains makes no difference except in
> its effect on measurement as noted by Vox Humana above.
>
> Cheers,
> The Old Bear
>
>

But really, even though not all salt is certified by an agency as kosher,
there is nothing to make salt - no matter the size of the grain "un-kosher".
I feel chefs refer to the larger grain of the salt when they call for kosher
salt. I mean, why else would one call for kosher salt in a pork or
shellfish recipe?

Jewish cook in Oregon,
tgt