Quote:
Originally Posted by Mccree
So cooking experts I have a question.
When is the best time to add salt and pepper?
Is sea salt, kosher salt etc..really that different from Table (normal) salt.
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Chemically, there is almost no difference between the three salts you listed.
Table salt is preferred by bakers, because of its fine granular texture. It is easy to disperse evenly throughout the flour or batter of whatever you are baking and it dissolves quickly as well.
Because of the fine grain of table salt compared to the coarse grain of kosher or sea salt, you will get more of a salt taste with the fine table salt. In other words, if you added 1 tsp of table salt to a certain volume of one pot of soup, and added 1 tsp of sea or kosher salt to the same volume of another soup, the one with the table salt will taste considerably saltier, about twice as salty.
1 tsp of table salt will equate to about the same salty taste as 1 Tbsp of sea salt or kosher salt.
So then for other forms of cooking, in other words - not baking, cooks quite often prefer the coarser salts since it is easier to control and add to taste. Coarse salts (large grain) are also preferred for pickling since they do not produce a powdery looking brine.
The main thing to remember when you are using salt, or any other form of herb or flavoring is start with less and add to taste later on if necessary. That is particularily true for salt.
The three salts are also different in how they are processed. I believe one of the main criteria for kosher salt is it can not contain any preservatives.