Kosher salt
 Kosher
salt (sodium chloride) (or more correctly,
Koshering Salt), is one of the most commonly
used varieties of salt in commercial
kitchens today. Kosher salt, unlike common
table salt, typically contains no additives
(for example, iodine), although kosher salt
produced by Morton contains sodium
ferrocyanide as a free-flow agent. Kosher
salt has a much larger grain size than
regular table salt, and a more open granular
structure.
Kosher salt gets its name, not because it
follows the guidelines for kosher foods as
written in the Torah (nearly all salt is
kosher, including ordinary table salt), but
rather because of its use in making meats
kosher, by helping to extract the blood from
the meat. Because kosher salt grains are
larger than regular table salt grains, when
meats are coated in kosher salt the salt
does not dissolve readily; the salt remains
on the surface of the meat longer, allowing
fluids to leach out of the meat.
Kosher salt can be used in nearly all
applications, but it is not generally
recommended for baking with recipes that use
small amounts of liquid (wet ingredients).
If there is not enough liquid, the kosher
salt will not dissolve sufficiently, and
this can result in small bits of salt in the
resulting product. In certain applications
this is undesirable. In recipes where there
is enough liquid to dissolve all the salt,
table salt can be replaced by kosher salt,
but the volume must be adjusted. Because
kosher grains occupy more volume (for equal
weight) the volume of kosher salt should be
increased. Because kosher salt grains can
vary in size considerably from one brand to
another, it is recommended that one check
the box for a conversion guideline, which is
generally provided. If there is no guidance
provided, twice as much kosher salt (by
volume) to replace table salt serves as a
rough estimate. Conversely, to replace
kosher salt with table salt in a recipe, the
required quantity of salt should be reduced
by half.
Chefs often prefer kosher salt because its
texture allows the chef to pinch a larger
quantity of salt and evenly sprinkle the
flakes on food. Also, because of the absence
of iodine, kosher salt tends to make flavors
cleaner and brighter than iodized salt,
which has a slightly metallic flavor.
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