# Is all salt created equal?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 24, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152 "2009-02-24T03:11:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/1 "2009-02-24T03:11:10Z")
Well? Is it? Why would I go out of my way to buy Sea Salt or Kosher Salt ( unless I kept Kosher, of course ! ) opposed to the basic Morton’s salt?
Are there flavors to it inherently from area of the earth to area? Is some salt saltier? Can that even be? How salty can salt get?
I see it as a snooty-patootie way to make me want to spend ten dollahs for Sea Salt when I could score a pound of Morton’s for much less.
I seek clarity in salinity.
Cartooniverse
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/2 "2009-02-24T03:15:01Z")
Kosher salt has a larger flake, making it easier to add with your fingertips. It is also sans iodine, which some people claim affects the flavor. It’s all we ever use around here.
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/3 "2009-02-24T03:17:48Z")
It’s not a question of the salt so much as what else is in there. Kosher salt (which is not kosher) generally has no additives, whereas regular salt has iodine. Sea salt has a bunch of minerals that affect its flavor.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/4 "2009-02-24T03:23:16Z")
Chemically, yes. Once the salt hits water – which it needs to do to be tasted – there is no discernible distance.
There are different sized grains of salt ranging from large (Kosher salt) to regular to fine (pickling salt). That can make a difference in how it dissolves (pickling salt dissolves more easily because it’s fine), but not in flavor.
Some sea salt comes in a flaked form. There is some trace minerals in it, but not enough to have any effect on flavor. And all salt ultimately is sea salt – just from a long-lost sea. All salt sold in the US is close to pure sodium chloride anyway (even sea salt). There is a trace of iodine in some salts (added specifically), but neither it nor the supposed minerals in sea salt have any effect on flavor.
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### Author:  [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/5 "2009-02-24T03:24:29Z")
Salt is salt. Sodium chloride tastes the same, no matter where it comes from. But, as has been pointed out, salt is only one of the ingredients in “salt”. The trace ingredients can make a difference in flavor, and the size and shape of the flakes (there is a big difference between kosher salt and table salt, or between table salt and popcorn salt, for example) can make a difference in the way the salt ‘behaves’ when mixed in with the other ingredients in your food.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/6 "2009-02-24T03:31:35Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> It’s not a question of the salt so much as what else is in there. Kosher salt (which is not kosher) generally has no additives, whereas regular salt has iodine. Sea salt has a bunch of minerals that affect its flavor.
Kosher salt isn’t kosher? It gets its name because it’s used for koshering meat, but I was under the impression pretty much all salt is kosher.
Anyhow, as stated above, kosher salt is great for when you want large grains. It’s pretty much the default salt around my house. I will occasionally use fleur de sel (a delicate French sea salt) to sprinkle on food at the serving table. It has a nice flaky and delicate crystalline structure to it which sort of dissolves on contact with your food. I also have some pickling salt on hand, which is sandy-grained like your typical Morton’s, but doesn’t contain iodine or anti-caking agents. It dissolves very easily and, since it doesn’t contain iodine, keeps your pickling liquid clear.
As for the differences in tastes between the various sea salts, I haven’t tried enough to really get a sense. My use of salts is basically dictated by their grain structure and, most of the time, this means kosher salt for me.
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/7 "2009-02-24T03:34:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Kosher salt isn’t kosher? It gets its name because it’s used for koshering meat, but I was under the impression pretty much all salt is kosher.
I misread the Wikipedia article. You’re right; all salt is kosher, including what’s normally called kosher salt.
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### Author:  [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/8 "2009-02-24T03:36:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Chemically, yes.
No, unless you are talking about straight NaCl. There are many different sorts of (culinary) salts with different minerals included. I mentioned in another thread today Sel Gris, for example.
See [here](http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_gourmet_reference.asp). Many mineral salts are “finishing salts”, that is, they are used at the table rather than in preparation. Like others, I use Kosher salt during prep because it is easy to handle and doesn’t taste as sharp to me.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/9 "2009-02-24T03:38:18Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> It’s not a question of the salt so much as what else is in there. Kosher salt (which is not kosher) generally has no additives, whereas regular salt has iodine…
Every supermarket I’ve ever seen carries simple table salt with and without iodine. There is no discernable difference between the two if you pour some out and look at it.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/10 "2009-02-24T03:49:10Z")
Isn’t the iodine desirable though? I thought it was a good idea to buy the salt that contained iodine. Or do we get enough of it through other food?
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Peste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Peste)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/11 "2009-02-24T03:51:10Z")
What always got me was the fact that most “plain old” table salt contains sugar.
It just always makes my mind bleed a little.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/12 "2009-02-24T03:55:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> Isn’t the iodine desirable though? I thought it was a good idea to buy the salt that contained iodine. Or do we get enough of it through other food?
You get enough from other sources, especially with all the processed, over-salted crap we eat every day.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/13 "2009-02-24T03:59:41Z")
> [@Doctor\_Peste](#):
>
> What always got me was the fact that most “plain old” table salt contains sugar.
>
> It just always makes my mind bleed a little.
I had to look this up, because I never knew this, but apparently, iodized salt needs a hint (0.04%) of dextrose to stabilize it. Interesting.
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### Author:  [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/14 "2009-02-24T04:00:52Z")
I used to think they were all the same until I found Kosher salt. What was I thinking?
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### Author:  [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/15 "2009-02-24T05:25:52Z")
What, no mention of [fleur de sel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_de_sel)?
There’s apparently a salt blend (one that _doesn’t_ contain NaCl) which helps to _lower_ one’s blood pressure. I can’t remember the name of it, or what the composition of it was, thought I think it had magnesium or manganese in it.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/16 "2009-02-24T05:41:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I had to look this up, because I never knew this, but apparently, iodized salt needs a hint (0.04%) of dextrose to stabilize it. Interesting.
“Stabilize it?” What does it do otherwise, decay into Strontium-90? :eek:
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/17 "2009-02-24T05:42:13Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> “Stabilize it?” What does it do otherwise, decay into Strontium-90? :eek:
You know as much as I do. The info came from Morton’s website.
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### Author:  [@Doctor\_Peste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Peste)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/18 "2009-02-24T06:08:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> “Stabilize it?” What does it do otherwise, decay into Strontium-90? :eek:
Dextrose acts as a reducing agent to prevent the iodides from oxidizing into a form which, I’m guessing, would either not be readily absorbed by the thyroid, separate out and look nasty, or taste terrible. Not exactly sure _what_ horrid [Helvetica-Syndrome-esque](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2k9JwGpm1w)scenario is avoided by sugaring up the salt, but hey.
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### Author:  [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/19 "2009-02-24T07:36:32Z")
I have read that potassium, which has the same valence as sodium, when taken in as part of potassium chloride, reduces blood pressure. Why this is supposed to be, I don’t understand. Many lite salts have potassium chloride as an ingredient. It tastes vile. Too much can be very harmful. Also, some people have conditions which cause ingesting too much potassium to be dangerous so what is too much for them is quite a bit lower than for most people.
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### Author:  [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2009, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-all-salt-created-equal/487152/20 "2009-02-24T09:43:54Z")
I am sure there are different kinds of salts etc. But tehy looked into this once in a dutch tv show called _Keuringsdienst van waarde_ in which they check all these kinds of things. They found out that all the different salts you can buy here in the supermarket - whether it be called seasalt, normal salt, rock salt, etc - are essentiale won from the same salt mountain in Italy. Moreover, the big lumps of salt that are given to cows and horses to lick from are also from this same source.
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