# Why is all Passover matzo unsalted?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 18, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192 "2006-04-18T18:30:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/1 "2006-04-18T18:30:47Z")
You can buy pre-salted matzo for use during the rest of the year, but all Passover matzo is unsalted. Why?
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### Author:  [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/2 "2006-04-18T18:45:28Z")
Kosher for passover matzah can only have two ingredients: flour and water. Don’t ask me why.
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/3 "2006-04-18T18:51:06Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#):
>
> You can buy pre-salted matzo for use during the rest of the year, but all Passover matzo is unsalted. Why?
This sounds like it could be one of the four questions from the seder:
On all other nights we eat matzo with salt. Why on this night do we eat our matzo unsalted?
;j
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/4 "2006-04-18T19:16:50Z")
> [@cainxinth](#):
>
> Kosher for passover matzah can only have two ingredients: flour and water. Don’t ask me why.
Yeah- no idea why. Salt certainly is OK for Passover (some people even dip matzo in salt at the seder), so it’s not that.
> [@Eonwe](#):
>
> This sounds like it could be one of the four questions from the seder:
>
> On all other nights we eat matzo with salt. Why on this night do we eat our matzo unsalted?
Yeah, it kind of does sound like one of the Four Questions… ;j
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/5 "2006-04-18T21:53:19Z")
Tell that “only flour and water” bit to the [Manischewitz](http://www.manischewitz.com/products/passover/matzo-p.php) people ;j :
> [@](#):
>
> home \> products \> passover products \> matzo category
>
> Matzo
> Matzo, 5lb and 1lb
> Passover Egg Matzo
> Passover Thin Tea Matzo
> Passover Whole Wheat
> Spelt Matzo
> Yolk Free Egg Matzo
> White Grape Matzo
> Concord Grape Matzo
> Passover Thin Unsalted Matzo
> Schmura Matzo
>
> Crackers
> Passover Matzo Crackers
> Passover Egg Matzo Crackers
> Whole Grain Lightly Salted Tam Tam Crackers- NEW!
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/6 "2006-04-18T22:18:15Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#):
>
> Tell that “only flour and water” bit to the [Manischewitz](http://www.manischewitz.com/products/passover/matzo-p.php) people ;j :
I thought about this while contemplating the back of a box of matzo crackers at my in-laws’. The box said it was available in “two great flavors: Unsalted and Egg”. It got me to wondering why pre-salted matzo is evidently not OK for Passover. I mean, meal offerings in the Temple were salted, according to [Leviticus 2:13](http://bible.cc/leviticus/2-13.htm).
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### Author:  [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/7 "2006-04-18T22:41:18Z")
I suspect the issue is that Kosher for Passover salt cannot include iodine; ISTR that the binder in iodine is chametz.
But that begs the question: Why can’t ISO-613 Passover matzah be made with KfP deiodined salt? Does salt cause the flour to (gasp!) ferment?
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### Author:  [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/8 "2006-04-18T22:42:14Z")
> [@cainxinth](#):
>
> Kosher for passover matzah can only have two ingredients: flour and water. Don’t ask me why.
Zev Steinhart is the one to answer this question, but I’m sure he won’t be checking the boards untill Thursday evening, at least.
;j
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### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/9 "2006-04-18T22:42:51Z")
Flour + water + salt rises more quickly than flour + water, and does so an a rate not Rabbinically determined. So matzos with no salt are known to be properly unleavened if baked within 18 minutes of kneading; matzo dough with salt would become leavened at some point and we’d never know when.
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### Author:  [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-all-passover-matzo-unsalted/353192/10 "2006-04-18T22:48:11Z")
> [@cainxinth](#):
>
> Kosher for passover matzah can only have two ingredients: flour and water. Don’t ask me why.
When all else fails, RTFM.
> [@Shulchan Aruch CX.7](#):
>
> If any thing colorific fell in the dough, such as **salt** , spices or quick-lime, even a particle thereof, and was kneaded therein, the use of the entire dough is forbidden, inasmuch as it became heated thereby.
Bolding added for emphasis.