Sea Salt or Regular Salt?

[wren]

Do you think sea salt is worth the extra cost?

I used to buy it at the bulk food store, but after reading about the radiation from Fukushima going into the ocean, I wondered if that would be in the salt. We don't use much salt, but the fancy Himalayan designer salt, which is not available in bulk, seems way overpriced. At the moment, I'm just buying ordinary table salt until I figure this out. It all came from the ocean at one time, didn't it?

[kib]

I recently bought something called "Redmond Real Salt" which is billed as sea salt but ... I believe it's mined, having originally come from "the sea" millions of years ago. Or something. It supposedly has more minerals. Or something. I had a coupon. - not or something, I definitely had a coupon.

I think it might taste slightly different from regular salt, but honestly I don't know that I'll buy it again, I've always felt salt is salt and this hasn't been an earth shifting experience.

[kimberlyf0]

We used Redmond's Real Salt for years, but it turns out that my thyroid is shot so we went back to iodized salt.

[Packy]

Salt described as "Sea Salt" is produced from water from briny springs or saltwater lakes, not the Oceans. It contains a slight amount of impurities that account for it being touted as a gourmet flavor enhancer or having health benefits, but these are dubious claims. Salt(sodium chloride) is an essential nutrient(in moderation) and flavor-enhancer. S'why humans and animals crave it. Salt is recovered from underground mines, as well. More than two-thirds of salt consumption is for industrial uses, such as aluminum production. Another scarce nutrient that has been added to most(but not all)refined table salt is iodine. A deficiency in iodine can be as serious as one of inadequate salt intake. My thought is, choose the table salt that is iodized. Sea Salt, insofar as having some health benefit, is more of a marketing gimmick, as far as I am concerned. Hope that helps you some.

[rodeosweetheart]

WE have been doing nothing but the Himalayan salt for 2 years and find there is no going back, it is so much better.
That being said, my husband did find a block of it at Tractor Supply for horses, on sale for 5 dollars, and he has been breaking it up for us (remarkably time consuming but fun) and then we put it in a grinder.

[IshbelRobertson]

I use Maldon sea salt for cooking and preparing dishes and fleur de sel at the table.

[rodeosweetheart]

What do you know, Tractor also has Redmond:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchDisplay?searchType=&filterTerm=&maxPrice=&showResultsPage=true&langId=-1&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&metaData=&pageSize=20&manufacturer=&resultCatEntryType=2&catalogId=10051&pageView=image&searchTerm=himalayan+rock+salt&minPrice=&storeId=10151

[lessisbest]

I've used nothing but "sea salt" for nearly 40-years, leaving the cheap iodized salt in the store. Actually, all salt is sea salt, whether it's mined in Hutchinson, Kansas (Carey Salt Co.) from old salt beds, or evaporated from sea brine like natural Celtic Sea Salt (http://www.waterbenefitshealth.com/celtic-sea-salt.html). To supplement iodine I also include sea vegetables in our diet (https://www.seaveg.com/shop/). Sprinkle your food with kelp granules (a low-sodium salt alternative), which is a superior source than iodized salt.

For bread making, the high-mineral salts are preferred to common table salt. For fermenting I use Himalayan Sea Salt. I like (fine) Redmond Real Salt for popcorn. There are any number of gourmet salts available that are just fun to try for their interesting appearance, aroma, texture and taste. I recently purchased a package of red Hawaiian sea salt (Red Alaca), which is mined from ancient salt beds.

[catherine]

I am not a salt snob at all, but DH is. He will only use sea salt or kosher salt. We just spent $6.00 for Mediterranean salt, whatever that might be. I would rather save $5 and go for the Morton's. I don't see a difference. In fact, I've complained that the fancy salt is too…salty. Those big chunks are harder to control and they land on your tongue and I just don't like that much salt.

[pinkytoe]

I recall my mother telling me that growing up in the mountains (and before idodized salt) was the cause of her thyroid issues as a young woman. She actually had her thyroid removed and thereafter purchased iodized salt exclusively. I wonder if certain kinds of sea salt have more iodine than others or very little at all?

[lessisbest]

This link includes 22 foods highest in iodine, including different types of salt. http://bembu.com/iodine-rich-foods I think you will be surprised by the list and how many of these foods we commonly consume.

[Glo]

We use both. Mortons for the table and other types for cooking.

[JaneV2.0]

I like kosher salt, or any salt uncontaminated with sugar and other additives, given a choice.

[kimberlyf0]

Thanks for the food list; I actually don't eat most of those foods. (Although I disagree with including foods that provide 2% daily value, some were quite significant). I live in an area that had a perchlorate plume (due to rocket fuel production) and contaminated water, resulting in issues with iodide uptake and thyroid hormone production. I'm still working on finding a good specialist, but the fact that my average body temperature is now 97.7 and that I am always cold suggests to my doctor that we follow up the basic testing with more in-depth tests. In the meantime I was told to go back to iodized salt.

As for the OP, we buy "iodized sea salt" but I think the question is really over fancy sea salts and regular table salt. I'd buy whatever my palate prefers and my budget allows and let it go at that.

[Gregg]

I use kosher salt for most cooking, maldon for finishing off a nice dish and a little sprinkle of flaky, pink, Himalayan salt on top of chocolate chip cookies before they go in the oven. Really. It makes a difference!

[lessisbest]

Thanks for the food list; I actually don't eat most of those foods. (Although I disagree with including foods that provide 2% daily value, some were quite significant). I live in an area that had a perchlorate plume (due to rocket fuel production) and contaminated water, resulting in issues with iodide uptake and thyroid hormone production. I'm still working on finding a good specialist, but the fact that my average body temperature is now 97.7 and that I am always cold suggests to my doctor that we follow up the basic testing with more in-depth tests. In the meantime I was told to go back to iodized salt.

As for the OP, we buy "iodized sea salt" but I think the question is really over fancy sea salts and regular table salt. I'd buy whatever my palate prefers and my budget allows and let it go at that.

kimberlyf0-

Have you ever read Broda Barnes book "Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness"? http://www.amazon.com/Hypothyroidism-Unsuspected-Illness-Broda-Barnes/dp/069001029X I checked it out from our local library many years ago and it was a big help at the time. It's another reason I use sea vegetables.

[Packy]

I ONLY use the very finest Dead Sea Salt, that is made in small batches by an order of monks. It possesses curative properties; it even alleviates high blood pressure-you only need to use it sparingly, to take advantage of the health benefits. A small, 3 oz hand-crafted shaker of it only costs $39. But, it is worth every penny-- It has the highest Sodium Chloride Content of any of the upscale table salts. Ha. Of course, I am VERY discerning. How do you like that? Thankk Mee.

[pony mom]

One of my coworkers at the health food store buys only Himalayan salt. She says the body doesn't recognize regular salt and doesn't use it. I don't know. Years ago people got goiters because of the lack of iodine in their diets, so iodine was added to table salt.

[bae]

I used to buy it at the bulk food store, but after reading about the radiation from Fukushima going into the ocean, I wondered if that would be in the salt.

It won't, in any level that you can detect that is meaningful.

[bae]

She says the body doesn't recognize regular salt and doesn't use it. I don't know.

Everyone I've stuck an IV into seemed to use the salt. Weird.

[SteveinMN]

I use kosher salt for pickling and cooking and Pink Himalayan salt at the table because it's one of the few salts that doesn't cake up in the salt mill. (Yes, we have a salt mill. It was a gift. And matches the pepper mill.) I can't say as I detect that much of a difference except for the kosher salt not having any extraneous ingredients for fermentation.

[creaker]

One of my coworkers at the health food store buys only Himalayan salt. She says the body doesn't recognize regular salt and doesn't use it. I don't know. Years ago people got goiters because of the lack of iodine in their diets, so iodine was added to table salt.

Sodium Chloride is sodium chloride regardless of where it comes from. I was surprised, though, in the list that was posted that Himalayan salt is high in iodine, I did not know that.

Trace elements with the salts will be different, I expect that is good, bad or indifferent depending on which. Table salt has its own list of added ingredients, again in very small amounts.

[wren]

Thank you to everyone who replied. It's interesting to hear so many perspectives.

If Kosher salt is pure enough for fermenting foods, does that mean it is not iodized? I'm beginning to see that different types of salt are for different purposes. Perhaps I should experiment with this.

Re: Pink Himalayan salt, Could those big blocks of it that are sold as lamps, be ground up for cooking? And do the salt lamps really ionize the air as claimed? SteveinMN mentioned that the pink salt does not cake in the salt mill; That must be why it's used in lamps, since if they attracted atmospheric moisture, it would corrode the wiring. I always wondered about that.

We consume lots of local shellfish (humble clams and cultivated mussels, not the lobster!) so we probably don't have a deficiency of iodine. I actually save all the briny broth from steaming them (there is a lot), and freeze it in cubes, to use in place of dry salt when cooking potatoes or chowders.

[rodeosweetheart]

Wren, we use a 10 lb block of Himalayan from tractor supply, which we purchased for the horse.
We figure that is around 50 cents a pound. Earlier in the thread, I put a link to TS, so you can see it for yourself.

[wren]

Wren, we use a 10 lb block of Himalayan from tractor supply, which we purchased for the horse.
We figure that is around 50 cents a pound. Earlier in the thread, I put a link to TS, so you can see it for yourself.

Thanks, rodeosweetheart. I didn't click the link before, because I thought you were referring to those 25# pre-formed bricks of livestock salt, which come in many colors, including red. For $5.? Now I see it is the same natural salt as the Himalayan salt lamps. We live in Canada, but not close to the border; they don't seem to have any stores here, and the salt is only available in their stores, not online. But now that I know there is a product like that, I might be able to track down a source close to home. There's a farmers' co-op here.

[bae]

Wren, we use a 10 lb block of Himalayan from tractor supply, which we purchased for the horse.


Genius, thanks for the frugal tip!

[rosarugosa]

I'm going to agree with Packy (his first post) and Creaker on this one. I like Penzey's and I think they seem to do business in a reasonably honorable fashion (those in their neighborhood can correct me if I'm wrong). I read in one of their catalogs something along the lines of (paraphrasing liberally), " Fancy salts are a rip-off, salt is salt, but since our customers keep beseeching us to offer fancy salt, we reluctantly will do so. We're going to prominently feature white Pacific sea-salt since we'll be ripping you off the least with this product." That said, and I know this is crazy, but we do buy pink Himalayan salt in a glass grinder bottle at Trader Joe's, because I like the coarse texture in salads, and hey, it's pink! :) We mostly use regular iodized salt and not too much of it though, since DH only has one kidney and isn't supposed to consume a lot of salt. I think we fulfill most of our iodine needs via shellfish.

[creaker]

Spices in general are a ripoff - as long as you buy those little bottles. Bulk is much cheaper.

If you're happy with the little bottles, check out the drug store. I haven't checked in a while, but they used to have a selection that was around a buck a bottle.

I like Penzey's - it's one of the companies I use.

[Blackdog Lin]

rosa: I remember when Penzey's did that. A year or two ago? I remember it as you paraphrased it. It made me appreciate them all the more.

We use (cheap iodized) table salt for most applications, though I buy sea salt (a cheap brand from Sam's Club) and use it for cooking (mostly because it lives in the cupboard beside the stove and is handy). The coarser texture seems to be a little more flavorful to us for cooking. And of course I use only canning salt for canning. I do think that is the only way to go for preserving.

Love Penzey's. We still remember and laugh about when we thought paprika for only for color on deviled eggs and potato salad because we were using the McCormick's crap - who knew paprika was actually bright and flavorful, when you buy the good stuff?!!

[Tiam]

I like kosher salt, or any salt uncontaminated with sugar and other additives, given a choice.


I was waiting for some to say kosher salt. That's what I use.

[Tradd]

I use kosher salt, as well. I love the taste. I find I don't need to use as much.

[bae]

I was waiting for some to say kosher salt. That's what I use.

I love kosher salt for putting salt crusts on roasts and steaks of red meat or fish. It makes a much nicer crust than "regular" salt without making the resulting dish too salty.

[rosarugosa]

Lin: This is off topic, but Smoked Paprika is wonderful stuff!

[Blackdog Lin]

rosa: yes indeedy. I have it. :)

[domestic goddess]

Sodium chloride is sodium chloride. As far as I know, your body isn't real particular about the source. Sodium and chloride are needed for some cellular functions and, as far as I can tell, I'm not missing any. I use very little salt, but some in our household use quite a bit, and paying an atrocious amount of money for such a simple item is really prohibitive. I do sometimes use kosher salt; you get a nice little burst of saltiness in a bite because of the larger grains, without using a whole lot of it.

[Initable]

Sea salt and table salt have the same nutritional value. The real differences between sea salt and table salt are in their taste and texture.

Sea salt is harvested from seawater through evaporation. Table salt is typically from rock salt, which is mined from mineral deposits. Both types of salt can be fully refined, and the end result is pure sodium chloride. Variations in the refining process result in different forms of salt.

Table salt is a fine-grained salt that often contains added iodine (iodized salt). Iodine is necessary for normal thyroid function. Some table salt may also contain anti-caking ingredient.

[JaneV2.0]

I do supplement with iodine (potassium iodide/free iodine) because I rarely eat seafood or iodized salt and want to support whatever thyroid function I have left.

Table salt generally contains dextrose--I guess because you can't have a manufactured food without sugar. It's a law or something. :~)