Salt (II.1)

There is something about the little grains of shiny white that we call salt which transforms any food to somehow enhance its flavors. Many are familiar with standard issue plain table salt – which one may find at a restaurant. However, many other “types” of salt are available, and some may be sitting on the shelf of a local store. For the ease of readability, the different types of salt may be referred to as a “species.”

Kosher salt (or more accurately koshering salt) is another common salt with which people cook. It is popular for its coarse flaky structure. The coarse texture gives this particular salt a unique ability to adhere to moist surfaces (like meat) and not dissolve. Despite the name, most salts are kosher certified. So cooking with it doesn’t necessarily make one’s food that much more kosher. But cooking with kosher salts can cause a slight problem.

Actually this scenario can be true with any salt which is not the species mentioned in a recipe. Consider the following:

Two jars of equal volume are filled with marbles of similar density (mass per unit volume). The first jar is filled to the rim with small marbles, the latter with large marbles. Although they are both filled to the top, would you expect them to be equal in weight? No. Because the second jar is filled with larger marbles there is more room (of air) between the marbles, and therefore less weight compared to the more compact smaller marbles.

The same principle can be applied to kosher salt and plain table salt. Because there is more room between the grains of kosher compared to grains of plain table salt in 1 unit, there is technically less salt mass in 1 cup of kosher. In smaller quantities, this is a miniscule difference. However, beyond 1 teaspoon, depending on the recipe (and the purpose of the salt) this minutia can interfere with the taste, texture, and even presentation of food.