# Why does salt come in pourable containers instead of scoopable containers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394 "2018-10-23T18:58:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/21 "2018-10-24T02:02:51Z")
I actually meant to post this in GQ, because I thought there might be a factual answer. > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I do a lot of cooking and I have used multiple cups of flour and sugar many times, but have never once used 1/4 cup of salt for anything, although I’ve never brined a chicken either. (I never measure salt except if it’s for baking pastry or bread or something where the chemistry might matter.) If you use salt like that you may want to check into restaurant supply services–maybe they come in a different kind of dispenser. > [@DrCube](#): > > It sounds like you think the specific volume of salt is important in a brine. It’s not. Being a teaspoon (or two) over or under is probably no big deal. “Around” a quarter of a cup is fine. No need to level off the scoop. The specific amount of salt matters a lot more in baking, but I’d suggest weighing your ingredients for those applications. You can get a kitchen scale for under $10. > > In neither case do you need to flatten off a scoop of salt to get an exact volume measurement. Also, remember that different types of salt have different volumes. A teaspoon of table salt is equivalent to probably two teaspoons of kosher salt. Yet another reason to use a scale when precision matters. The vast majority of the time I measure salt, it’s not for a brine, it’s for baking and other recipes that call for like 1/2 tsp. How are you supposed to measure that? You have to fill the 1/2 teaspoon to overflowing, then level it off with a knife. With other dry ingredients, you can do that and scrape the excess back into the container. With salt poured from a spout, you can’t, and you waste salt every time. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/22 "2018-10-24T02:11:19Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The spout allows for easy pouring right into a salt shaker. If you scoop it instead, then what do you do with that scoop of salt? I guess you could try to pour it from the scoop into the salt shaker, but you’d spill a lot more than you would if you poured it directly through the spout on the box. In other words, it makes no sense. I still use a funnel anyway. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/23 "2018-10-24T04:54:39Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I actually meant to post this in GQ, because I thought there might be a factual answer. > > The vast majority of the time I measure salt, it’s not for a brine, it’s for baking and other recipes that call for like 1/2 tsp. How are you supposed to measure that? You have to fill the 1/2 teaspoon to overflowing, then level it off with a knife. With other dry ingredients, you can do that and scrape the excess back into the container. With salt poured from a spout, you can’t, and you waste salt every time. The amount of salt called for in a recipe is just rounded off to the nearest 1/2 or 1/4 or full teaspoonful in the first place. The recipe isn’t going to be scaled to the amount of salt, so the amount of salt is just going to be the nearest approximation. You really don’t have to be that precise in your leveling off with a knife. Just pour as close as you can eyeball it and jiggle it level. Unless you’re massively over or under, you’ll be fine. - Ex-pastry chef ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/24 "2018-10-24T05:04:27Z")
A 1/2 teaspoon is easy to eyeball. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/25 "2018-10-24T05:25:37Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Almost all commercially available table salt has had anti caking agents since before WWI. So unless you live in Atlantis, you should be ok. > > mc Mostly, no doubt, but not always. [There are actually some really humid places in the real world.](https://www.lovebigisland.com/wp-content/uploads/MeanRFAnn_Hawaii_in.jpg) See that dark blue spot on the island of Hawaii, indicating really high levels of rain? My house is in the middle of that spot. It’s always really humid here, so salt storage and usage is an ongoing problem. Salt pigs are utterly out of the question; even the old trick of putting rice grains in the salt shaker doesn’t work. I pretty much have to empty my salt into a container and pinch or measure out the wet-sand-textured amount I need. It’s okay, though. It’s a minor price to pay for living in such a lovely place. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/26 "2018-10-24T06:53:47Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Mostly, no doubt, but not always. [There are actually some really humid places in the real world.](https://www.lovebigisland.com/wp-content/uploads/MeanRFAnn_Hawaii_in.jpg) See that dark blue spot on the island of Hawaii, indicating really high levels of rain? My house is in the middle of that spot. > > It’s always really humid here, so salt storage and usage is an ongoing problem. Salt pigs are utterly out of the question; even the old trick of putting rice grains in the salt shaker doesn’t work. I pretty much have to empty my salt into a container and pinch or measure out the wet-sand-textured amount I need. > > It’s okay, though. It’s a minor price to pay for living in such a lovely place. OK, well, if you want to MISLEAD PEOPLE with your username when you actually live a world away, how can we trust you? :)🙂 I live in (arid) Southern California and have problems with salt clumping. I only use sea salt or kosher salt and I do use the dried rice “trick,” which doesn’t actually work. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/27 "2018-10-24T06:58:28Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > OK, well, if you want to MISLEAD PEOPLE with your username when you actually live a world away, how can we trust you? :)🙂 I know, right? My only defense is that I actually did live in Cairo, Egypt (driest of all dry places … salt flowed smoothly, and cake decorating was easy) when I started posting. But yeah, in retrospect my user name was a poor choice. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/28 "2018-10-24T12:01:56Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > When I am cooking I pour salt from the salt box directly in my palm. This. I can’t remember the last time I measured salt or pepper. On the table we currently use grinders for S&P. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/29 "2018-10-24T13:11:31Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Semi-childproofing is my guess, in addition to making it easier to fill shakers. Having a container that opens easily could enable a child, or some other person who may be mentally impaired, to eat it by the handful. I have to ask; has anyone done that (eaten salt by the handful) _ever_? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/30 "2018-10-24T13:58:22Z")
The salt shaker I use for cooking has a pop-out spout for pouring, if needed. I can’t imagine using a salt pig, too easy to contaminate or spill. Although I do keep my large-grain koshering salt in a plastic tub with a lid. I scoop that out. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/31 "2018-10-24T14:12:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have to ask; has anyone done that (eaten salt by the handful) _ever_? I remember someone daring my cousin to eat a teaspoonful as a kid, he could barely swallow it and nearly threw up afterwards. I can’t imagine anyone eating a handful. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/32 "2018-10-24T14:16:47Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > If the top of the lip of the opening was straight rather than curved it would work real swell-like for leveling measuring spoons. I bet someone makes one like that. The [salt boxes](https://www.google.fr/search?q=salero+de+cocina&rlz=1C1GCEA_enFR818FR819&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiQ75mHop_eAhUQ_aQKHcfwApMQsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1440&bih=758) used through much of Europe to keep cooking salt are straight. And if you want to verify how high does the pitch of a Spanish cook’s voice reach, propose buying salt with additives (inc. anti-caking agents). ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/33 "2018-10-24T22:34:20Z")
[Morton salt in the cylinder container](https://www.amazon.com/MORTON-Iodized-Supplies-Cooking-Essential/dp/B015FDIPSU/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1540420108&sr=8-3&fpw=pantry&keywords=morton+salt) is easy to open up the top of. If you run a finger a bit below the top of the blue main label, you feel where the cylinder that makes up the sides meets the top. Drag a knife around the label at that point, and you can take the top off, and put it back on. Way back when, when I was making a couple of loaves of bread a week in a bread machine, I decided to put all my main ingredients into containers with their own measuring spoon/cup. I didn’t bother washing them, just tucked them back into the salt/yeast/flour/sugar container. It was way easier to scoop out a 1/2 t of salt and put the lid back on, instead of pouring out a bit into my hand each time. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/34 "2018-10-24T22:42:09Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I remember someone daring my cousin to eat a teaspoonful as a kid, he could barely swallow it and nearly threw up afterwards. I can’t imagine anyone eating a handful. Forcing salt water down a child was once considered a method to induce vomiting if the child swallowed poison. This recommendation was abandoned when too many kids were poisoned BY THE SALT because they didn’t throw it up (and ipecac too, but that’s a thread for another day). One of my FBFs, a high school classmate, has 3 grown children, and she said she called Poison Control on each of them; one ate Vicks Vapo-Rub, another a similar nonfood product, and the third, table salt that she had spilled all over the kitchen floor and was licking up. :eek: Guess which one was the only one she had to worry about? You guessed it - the table salt. They told her to try to get her daughter to drink as much water as possible, and described the symptoms of hypernatremia. Fortunately, that didn’t happen and her daughter was fine. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/35 "2018-10-24T22:44:25Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I have to ask; has anyone done that (eaten salt by the handful) _ever_? I’ve definitely heard of people with dementia doing that, often because they thought it was sugar and couldn’t taste the difference. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/36 "2018-10-25T15:11:57Z")
To me, the argument that a spout is more desirable because of filling up salt shakers is absurd, unless you use one hell of a lot of salt on your food. My wife and I don’t need to refill the salt shaker on our kitchen table more than once every 2-3 months, and we rarely eat out. But we need to measure out salt (in quantities of a teaspoon or less) for a recipe maybe twice a week. > [@needscoffee](#): > > The amount of salt called for in a recipe is just rounded off to the nearest 1/2 or 1/4 or full teaspoonful in the first place. The recipe isn’t going to be scaled to the amount of salt, so the amount of salt is just going to be the nearest approximation. You really don’t have to be that precise in your leveling off with a knife. You may be right, but no freakin’ way I’m gonna take a chance on over-salting a recipe. And conversely, I want to be sure I have enough salt in there to do its job of bringing out the flavors in food. > [@](#): > > Just pour as close as you can eyeball it and jiggle it level. Unless you’re massively over or under, you’ll be fine. If I pour, I will be massively over or under, \>90% of the time, with ‘over’ being the Markov absorbing state, of course. So I’ll level with a knife and throw away more salt than I put into the recipe. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/37 "2018-10-25T15:47:13Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > …The vast majority of the time I measure salt, it’s not for a brine, it’s for baking and other recipes that call for like 1/2 tsp. How are you supposed to measure that? You have to fill the 1/2 teaspoon to overflowing, then level it off with a knife. With other dry ingredients, you can do that and scrape the excess back into the container. With salt poured from a spout, you can’t, and you waste salt every time. For soups and stews and such, I use kosher salt and just sprinkle some onto the dish. For baking, I use a canister with anti-caking qualities. I bake regularly. I pour salt into the measuring spoon until it’s just over, then shake gently to remove the excess. Salt is cheap, I don’t mind wasting a tiny amount every time i need a teaspoon of salt. My cooking salt does flow freely, and this is quite accurate. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/38 "2018-10-25T16:49:28Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Almost all commercially available table salt has had anti caking agents since before WWI. So unless you live in Atlantis, you should be ok. > > mc Yes, but the packaging evolved before they were added. I know what I grew up in the 60s, it was a big problem (I lived by the water). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/39 "2018-10-25T23:16:50Z")
Pouring into a measuring spoon is a pain - you will spill and waste a significant percentage of what you need. We use little enough iodized salt that it isn’t an issue. We’re likelier to use kosher salt for cooking (and we use large-crystal salt in grinders for table use). We solve the OP’s problem by tearing the box open and pouring it into a plastic container for storage (Tupperware’s Modular Mates are great; the Oval 3 is about perfect for a box of kosher salt). We have a smaller container for the iodized salt. And we have a still smaller one for the kind of things where we want a little pinch here or there for cooking. We use little enough like that, that something like a salt pig would not be all that useful. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394/40 "2018-10-26T01:01:28Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Pouring into a measuring spoon is a pain - you will spill and waste a significant percentage of what you need… I’d guess I waste about 5%. That doesn’t feel significant to me. That being said, I have canisters or glass jars for sugar, several kinds of flour, brown sugar, white and brown rice, quinoa, barley, and all the spices I buy in bulk. So I completely endorse the idea of buying canisters for kitchen staples. I just happen to find the cardboard salt box (with spout), the baking powder box (with the handy flat bit for leveling a spoon) and the baking soda box (with a flat cardboard side that is good enough to level a spoon, although not as nice as the baking powder box) convenient enough that I’ve never wanted to buy a special container for them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-salt-come-in-pourable-containers-instead-of-scoopable-containers/823394.md?page=3)