Buying sea salt--questions

[daisymommy]

Is there any benefit nutritionally to freshly grinding sea salt over your food, rather than using the finely ground in a salt shaker? Will the finely ground (as in Celtic Sea Salt) come out of the holes in a typical salt shaker?

I'm trying to decide what to buy:
Celtic Sea Salt light grey Salt and Pepper grinder set, plus finely ground for cooking
OR
-Finely ground to use for cooking and the salt shaker we already have (would be the cheapest option).

I was looking at Real Salt too, but according to Celtic S.S. it has more minerals in it.

[kl5]

The Real Salt would probably work in a shaker, it is very dry and pourable. The Celtic sea salt, not so much as it is pretty sticky. I always have both in the house, for different purposes (along with about 4 other types of salt at any given time ). I don't see any advantage with grinding salt fresh other than maybe being able to use the same coarse grain salt for more purposes. I do like having some coarse salt around for salting water, etc.

[daisymommy]

Thanks So what do you use for salting food at the table? Real Salt in a shaker? Or should I get the Celtic salt in their shaker that has a lid?

And when you are adding salt to a recipe, would I use the same amount of finely ground sea salt, or does it taste different, and therefor I would use a different amount?

[Tarielena]

I use the pink Himalayan salt, and I just keep it in a canister and take pinches out to add it to food. This may not work if you have small kids with sticky fingers frequently using it

[kallyn]

Real Salt would work in a shaker, but I've always found it gritty. It has these little specks in it that I swear are sand. DH doesn't like it either.

The Celtic gray salt kind of sticks together and won't work in a grinder/shaker. We use the finely ground stuff as table salt anyway, but instead of putting it in a shaker I just put it in a tiny tiny bowl and we take pinches out of it (think like what you see people doing on cooking shows). We use the coarse gray salt in applications where it will dissolve.

For recipes, I use the finely ground and just do it 1:1. I think it is technically slightly less salt, but eh.

[Magelet]

the celtic sea salt wouldn't work in a shaker, and the coarse only grinds in a special ceramic grinder meant for wet salts.

We use the coarse because it's so much cheaper. When we need finely ground, we grind it in a mortar and pestle (easy peasy and fast, even in my 3 in mortar). For table salt, we put salt in a bowl on the table and grab pinches.

(that said, sometimes we use refined sea salt because its so much cheaper. but I know it lacks the minerals so I try to use mostly celtic. but 5 dollars a pound vs 69 cents a pound when we use A LOT of salt (between me eating a lot of salt for low blood pressure, and making a lot of veggie ferments, we go through salt fast) makes a huge difference, so we do both.

[JElaineB]

I use Real Salt (blue container, not Kosher type) for most things and it works fine in a regular salt shaker. I do have the Celtic-type sea salt as well and I use that as more of a "condiment" on certain dishes once in a while. The Real Salt is our everyday salt. I do have a few other types as well hanging around.

[kl5]

Originally Posted by daisymommy

Thanks So what do you use for salting food at the table? Real Salt in a shaker? Or should I get the Celtic salt in their shaker that has a lid?

For salting at the table I have a little salt cellar (actually, a tiny hen-on-nest, if you know what that is) that I keep Maldon salt in. It's expensive, but I only use it for finishing. I love it. It is crunchy and beautiful and easy to crush with your fingers if you want it smaller. I also have kosher salt in a salt pig, the celtic salt in one of these (a gift from my SIL who works at Williams Sonoma), and Maldon salt in one of these. That's right now. I also have various other salts in bags and jars in the cupboard.

Originally Posted by kallyn

Real Salt would work in a shaker, but I've always found it gritty. It has these little specks in it that I swear are sand. DH doesn't like it either.

Definitely gritty, yes. That is the main reason I would have a hard time using Real Salt as my only salt. You can't salt pasta water with it, for example, because the "sand" always ends up on the pasta. I know minerals are good, but I have a hard time believing that little rocks actually end up putting minerals in my system!

[SweetSurrender]

We use the pink himalayan salt and I have both the course & the fine kind but I never really considered that the fine kind would have less nutritional benefits...

On a separate note, can anyone explain to me what Real Salt is? I've never heard of it.

Also, with many of you using sea salt, are you not concerned with the pollution in the seas? I have read that though sea salt is full of healthy minerals, since so many seas are highly polluted, the salt coming from it is polluted too. That's why we use the pink Himalayan salt because I read that that kind is less likely to have been contaminated. I would love to hear you comments on this subject...I'm sure many of you are more educated than I am on this subject

[Astrea]

Originally Posted by SweetSurrender

Also, with many of you using sea salt, are you not concerned with the pollution in the seas? I have read that though sea salt is full of healthy minerals, since so many seas are highly polluted, the salt coming from it is polluted too. That's why we use the pink Himalayan salt because I read that that kind is less likely to have been contaminated. I would love to hear you comments on this subject...I'm sure many of you are more educated than I am on this subject

I've wondered about this too and would like to hear opinions. Same goes for sea vegetables.

I believe Himalayan salt is harvested from deposits left over from ancient seas that no longer exist; I'm guessing that means it wouldn't be contaminated, because the seas disappeared long before pollution would have become an issue.

I believe I can get local sea salt (I live near the ocean) and I'm very curious about that!

[kl5]

Originally Posted by SweetSurrender

On a separate note, can anyone explain to me what Real Salt is? I've never heard of it.

Real Salt is just a brand of salt, marketed by Redmond in the US. Not sure if it is available in Canada. It comes from a salt mine in Utah that was formed by a long disappeared ocean, similar to Himalayan salt in concept, if not in mineral content (comparison of which I am not equipped to do).

And no, I am really not concerned about pollution in sea salt. I feel like it is more important to get a regular and varied source of minerals in our diet than to worry about trace contaminants that might be in the salt, especially from reputable sources. We are so careful in the rest of our diet that I figure our systems can handle a little bad with the good once in a while. But I have not seen anything that points conclusively to notable pollution in sea salt. Please do share if you have seen something convincing.

[SweetSurrender]

Thanks for the info about Real salt kl5!
About the pollution in sea salt, I remember reading this and watching the associated interview which is what got me thinking. Obviously Mercola is also trying to sell you his Himalayan salt so you have to take it with a grain of salt (tee hee..I couldn't help myself!) but I just buy my himalayan pink salt either from Vitacost.com which has excellent prices or from a local health food store. Vitacost was more cost effective when we lived in the US up until a few months ago but sometimes it's still worth the extra shipping fees even to Canada.

[tallulahma]

i keep real salt for cooking and pink himalayan for finishing/raw foods...

i never really noticed grit? but most of the food we ear it pretty high texture?