# What is a "salt" / "double salt"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 3, 2012, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832 "2012-12-03T07:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/1 "2012-12-03T07:11:16Z")
And why can’t I find it anywhere? In a bid to stay the historically savvy person I am, :dubious: I took a trip to the local museum, which happened to have a showcase of decorative Russian serving plates. Amongst the tureens and custard dishes was a “salt” and a “double salt” (the double-salt having a lid with two depressions in it). I’ve never heard of any tableware being described this way, and apparently neither has the internet. They didn’t look like shakers at all, but could certainly have contained salt for serving in some other way. Oh hey - after a lot of searching, I’ve found [this](http://www.estateloot.com/store.php/pd3693713/hutschenreuther_sylvia_double_open_salt) “double open salt”, but it doesn’t help explain how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/2 "2012-12-03T07:28:53Z")
A ‘salt’ is just a small dish in which salt would be presented at the table. Served by spooning a little out with a salt spoon. A double salt would, I think, just be one of these with two compartments. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/3 "2012-12-03T07:32:00Z")
The Wikipedia article on salt spoons may help > **[Salt spoon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_spoon)** > > A salt spoon is a miniature utensil used with an open salt cellar for individual service.\[citation needed\] It is a historical and nostalgic item from a time before table salt was free-flowing, as it is today. The spoon itself ranges from 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) long and has a circular bowl measuring approximately 0.5 to 0.75 inches (1.25 to 2 cm). They can be found in a wide range of materials including glass, Sterling silver, plastic, wood, ivory, bone and shell. > As a unit of measurement ... ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/4 "2012-12-06T03:56:07Z")
I notice that the Wikipedia article on [salt cellars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_cellar) lists “salt” as a synonym, but it wasn’t on the salt disambiguation page for some reason. So thanks! I guess you find out a little about salt when you’re eating everything. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/5 "2012-12-06T04:09:01Z")
So what’s the value of a double? Is it the same salt on both sides? ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/6 "2012-12-06T04:24:55Z")
I think the double would have been placed between two people for them to share. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/7 "2012-12-06T04:36:50Z")
No passing? So for a dinner party you’d need _several_ double-salts? ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/8 "2012-12-06T05:12:32Z")
Depending on the size and design, you could use one for the table and pass, but smaller salt cellars are placed at each cover (place setting). There are even little salt spoons to use with them. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/9 "2012-12-06T05:17:27Z")
And I thought this was going to be about either chemistry or licorice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/10 "2012-12-06T20:38:48Z")
My mother has a large collection of salts, to which she (and now others as well) continues to add. One at every place setting. By now she has enough to pick which ones she wants to use at Rosh Hashanah. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/11 "2012-12-06T21:14:09Z")
Judith Martin (Miss Manners) once mentioned in a column (perhaps facetiously) that she collects obscure pieces of Victorian tableware with which to baffle dinner guests, who are inevitably nervous about using the wrong fork when dining with her. I think she said her favorite was a silver pair of grape shears. The Victorians loved elaborate table settings, so a double salt cellar between every two guests (an a matching single salt cellar for the guest at each end, one presumes!) would be nothing. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/12 "2012-12-06T23:15:03Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > And I thought this was going to be about either chemistry or licorice. 🙂 I guessed cryptography. > **[Salt (cryptography)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_%28cryptography%29)** > > In cryptography, a salt is random data fed as an additional input to a one-way function that hashes data, a password or passphrase. Salting helps defend against attacks that use precomputed tables (e.g. rainbow tables), by vastly growing the size of table needed for a successful attack. It also helps protect passwords that occur multiple times in a database, as a new salt is used for each password instance. Additionally, salting does not place any burden on users. > Typically, a unique salt is ra... ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-salt-double-salt/642832/13 "2012-12-06T23:31:07Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > So what’s the value of a double? Is it the same salt on both sides? I saw a double used with salt one side, pepper the other.