Subject: Re: Kosher Salt

From: [email-masked] (Barry Shein)
Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 23:01:09 GMT

From: [email-masked] (Nichola Collins)
>In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Ted Remerowski) wrote:
>
>>  I keep seeing kosher salt  in recipes and the only kosher salt that I
>> have been able to purchase has been fine grained salt without iodine.
>> Have I got it wrong? I thought kosher salt was like rock salt.  And
>> why do so many recipes call for kosher salt?
>
>Kosher salt is usually just coarse salt, without any additives (as well
>being declared as OK for use by those who observe Jewish dietary laws).

The term "kosher salt" is somewhat of a misnomer, it's being declared
"OK" for use by those who observe jewish dietary laws is pretty much
irrelevant (it would be odd for a reasonably pure salt *not* to be ok,
but agreed some who follow strictly prefer to see an approval on
everything.)

The more correct term would be "koshering salt".

To make meat kosher involves rubbing it with salt and letting it sit
with the salt on it for a short time, among other things, then it's
rinsed off. This coarse salt is generally preferred for that
process.

The intention is to remove most of the blood, not to "salt" the meat,
so coarse salt draws out the blood (or so it's believed, remember,
we're not talking science here, we're talking religious ritual)
without much of it dissolving etc. The jewish dietary laws forbid
eating blood (and, as usual, best effort counts, again, this isn't
science, perhaps a better way to put is it forbids making a meal of
blood, blutwurst is out.)

-- 
        -Barry Shein

Software Tool & Die    | [email-masked]          | uunet!world!bzs
Purveyors to the Trade | Voice: 617-739-0202        | Login: 617-739-WRLD

---

From: [email-masked] (Nichola Collins)
Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 13:48:37 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]
(Nichola Collins) wrote:

> The term, kosher salt, has come to be used interchangeably with coarse
> salt to distinguish it from fine table salt; though coarse salt is not
> necessarily kosher.
> 
> When making pickles, for instance, coarse salt is called for because the
> iodine added to most table salt can discolor the pickles.

Correction:  When making pickles, coarse salt is called for because it is
the additive which makes table salt free-running that is supposed to
discolor the pickles.  I have since seen the additional comment that
additives can cloud the pickle brine.

I think the point made by [email-masked] (Barry Shein) is a good one. 
The term should be koshering salt to reduce the confusion.

---

From: [email-masked] (Ted Remerowski)
Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 04:19:23 GMT

---

From: [email-masked] (Nichola Collins)
Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 17:58:05 GMT

---

From: [email-masked] (jeff lehman)
Date: 26 May 1995 12:42:34 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] says...

>iodine added to most table salt can discolor the pickles.

Salt may be coarse or fine, kosher or non-kosher (tref): these qualities
are unrelated to one another.  

Kosher salt is called "kosher salt" because it is used in the process of 
"Koshering", that is, cleaning and preserving food.  The preservation is
often a form of pickling, and is used for meat as well as vegetables.