# Which shaker does the salt go in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262 "2012-01-22T00:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/41 "2012-01-23T17:20:34Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I use identical clear glass shakers which elimnates confusion. Ditto. My shakers both have 11 tiny holes. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/42 "2012-01-23T17:27:03Z")
Usually people are concerned that their food is too spicy or peppery so the pepper always goes in the shaker that doesn’t allow too much to come out. Which inspires me to unscrew the damn thing cause I want pepper, and not just a few little specks. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/43 "2012-01-23T17:36:36Z")
In my family it’s more holes for the salt, fewer for the pepper. I always assumed we had it backwards but my folks are salt-aholics so it works for us. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/44 "2012-01-23T18:24:56Z")
More holes for salt. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/45 "2012-01-23T19:43:40Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Seems ike this is another UK/US difference. I’m with **njtt** on this one. Salt - fewer but larger. Pepper - more but smaller. > > In my house though I have pepper and sea salt grinders. Same here. Perhaps it’s because, according to another thread on here, we use brown pepper more, at least in cafes (not so sure about restaurants and definitely not sure that’s true for people’s homes), which is finer and not as strong as black pepper. I only have grinders too. They’re shaped like rubix cubes. 🆒 > [@SiXSwordS](#): > > I guess I’m missing something as I’m not sure why those are British. The description says they’re made by A.H Woodfull for British Industrial Plastics and a gives a history of the company, which was English. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/46 "2012-01-23T20:35:06Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > The description says they’re made by A.H Woodfull for British Industrial Plastics and a gives a history of the company, which was English. That explains a lot. I went back to my original post and realized I used a different link. When I went back to look at the same image, the web page _that_ image came from didn’t include that description. But there are plenty of images out there where the salt shaker is marked SALT, or as in my last link NaCL. That’s definitive. And in most of those cases, I found the salt shaker had fewer holes. I suspect it’s a bit of reversified logicking on my part that, in assuming that salt shakers have fewer holes, I further assumed it was because the salt flowed more easily and so was more restricted. The way some people pour it on, it’s a wonder there’s a lid on the damn things at all. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/47 "2012-01-23T21:29:25Z")
I can’t believe how incredibly and obviously wrong the majority of you are. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/48 "2012-01-23T22:57:30Z")
More holes for pepper. You use more salt, but it also comes out easier/faster, so you don’t need all those holes unless you want to raise your sodium too high. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/49 "2012-01-24T00:08:10Z")
Wow. You crazy Americans. Every time I start to think we’re not that different, along comes some bizarre little difference where you are doing things totally wrong. 😛 The correct way ( 😉 ), is the salt shaker always has less holes, however the hole(s) are larger, while the pepper shaker has multiple smaller holes. Makes sense to me on the basis that salt is far courser than pre-ground pepper so needs the larger hole to flow properly. Presumably this is some Commonwealth solidarity from the convict colony. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/50 "2012-01-24T00:11:39Z")
Thanks for explaining, **SciFiSam**. And thanks for the penises, **SiXSwordS**. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/51 "2012-01-24T00:13:43Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > I use way more pepper than salt, but I know that the salt goes in the one with more holes. I’m sure if you want to Google salt and pepper shaker images you will see many examples. Personally I use a grinder for both the pepper corns and the sea salt. I do, too, but I think that is a recent phenomenon. Back in the day (1950s America), most people put lots of salt on their food. This was the pre salt=bad days. Some pepper shakers have only one hole. Salt always has more, though. And for me, I’ve gotten accustomed to less salt, and prefer that taste now. Same with sugar. When I was a kid, sugar was used like crazy on everything. I couldn’t have imagined drinking ice tea without sugar. Now, I can’t imagine drinking it with sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/52 "2012-01-24T00:16:57Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > But there are plenty of images out there where the salt shaker is marked SALT, or as in my last link NaCL. I think the mate for that one would have been better labelled _Piper nigrum_. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/53 "2012-01-24T00:38:15Z")
More holes for salt makes sense to me. Over here at restaurants salt usually has three holes, pepper just one. I use a mill for both at home. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/54 "2012-01-24T01:55:02Z")
> [@phantom\_lamb](#): > > More holes for salt makes sense to me. Over here at restaurants salt usually has three holes, pepper just one. > I use a mill for both at home. I don’t understand this. You invert a salt shaker and salt pours out. You invert a pepper shaker and you get 18 grains of pepper, until you start shaking. It seems obvious that salt goes in the shaker with fewer holes. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/55 "2012-01-25T02:11:28Z")
I use a mill for pepper and a small flip-top crock for sprinkling kosher salt. Thinking back to how my mom did things, though: more holes = salt. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/56 "2012-01-25T02:13:44Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > thanks for the penises Who doesn’t like a good phallus now and then? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/57 "2012-01-25T10:07:48Z")
> [@SiXSwordS](#): > > Who doesn’t like a good phallus now and then? Is this not the fallacy of the extruded pizzle? ---
**Author:** ![Barrington\_Trout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Barrington\_Trout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrington_Trout)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/58 "2012-01-25T12:52:45Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > What I’m saying is that it does definitively identify it _if you’re British_. Which it absolutely does, because they’re British shakers. If you’re American, clearly the jury’s out. Agree 100%. I’ve never seen anything other than one hole salt shakers in Britain. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/59 "2012-01-25T17:18:26Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I don’t understand this. > > You invert a salt shaker and salt pours out. You invert a pepper shaker and you get 18 grains of pepper, until you start shaking. It seems obvious that salt goes in the shaker with fewer holes. Someone mentioned that people usually use more salt than pepper on their meals. So that’s the main reason. But also from my experience when you invert a salt shaker I’ve never seen it “pour out”, a certain amount comes out and then you have to shake for more. Same with pepper. I’m sure it depends on the size of the hole, so yeah, maybe your shakers have wider holes. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262/60 "2012-01-26T01:48:45Z")
Maybe it depends on the type of salt. I use Morton’s plain old iodized. Is Kosher or sea salt more common elsewhere? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shaker-does-the-salt-go-in/610262.md?page=2)