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I made a brine up from a recipe in "Charcuterie" the recipe stated 2 ounces of kosher salt which I could not find here so I used 2 ounces of table salt.
My end product turned out to be very salty.
I now believe that table salt is a lot stronger than kosher.
Does anyone know what the conversion factor is between the two salts.
Thanks
wallie

Hi Wallie

Please see explanation of Kosher salt below, as you can see it is just coarse salt, I would suggest that if your products are too salty then it is more than likely due to too much salt being used, this is especially true when using old cook book recipes & methods as we tended to use more salt then as opposed to now.

"Kosher salt usually has no additives, and it has big crystals with large surface areas. This size and shape allows it to absorb more moisture than other forms of salt, and this makes kosher salt excellent for curing meats. That is essentially where the name comes from. The salt itself is not kosher, meaning it doesn't conform to Jewish food laws, but this salt is used to make meat kosher. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, prohibits consumption of any blood, which is why kosher meat must be slaughtered and prepared in a specific manner. A common way of removing the final traces of blood from meat is to soak and salt it."


Hope this helps
Regards
Sausagemaker

Wallie,

I've used table salt asa sbustitute in some curing recipes a number of times and always found that the end product was excessively salty. I switched over to Franco's pure/kosher salt sold on this site and am planning on trying it out to see houw it goes.

My recent experiment with mallard breasola has been a great success apart from its saltiness. The outside of the "salami" is completely covered in salt crystals. I only cured it for 3-4 days thuogh, (smallish bits of meat though)

Let us know if you try the alternative as it would be interesting to know your results too.

Rgds,
FB

Beware stateside recipes which include salt. Two reasons. 1) I am an American 40 years resident in Britain; I have lost my salt tooth, so to speak. For all their health obsesions American recipe writers (generally) specify too much salt. 2) Kosher salt, even fine grained, is not as fine as normal British table salt. Since Ameican recipes almost invariably measure things like salt by volume (1 level teaspoon, etc.), when they specify kosher salt a lot of the volume will be taken up by the air spaces between the crystals So -less NaCl per unit of volume.

Wallie,
To put it another way, Kosher salt is less dense than ordinary granulated salt. The ratio is approximately 1.5 to 1; that is, 1.5 teaspoons full of Kosher is equalled by only 1 teaspoon full of regular granulated salt.

The trouble is, that there is no standardization and that ratio may vary. It is OK to use any non-iodized salt that is reasonably pure, but the substitution should be done on a weight basis--after a suitable trial to determine the weight needed.

Your recipe is, unfortunately, now too salty. If you can tolerate the salt or if you can soak the end product, eat it.

Hi

beardedwonder5 wrote:Beware stateside recipes which include salt.
[snip IMH]
Since American recipes almost invariably measure things like salt by volume (1 level teaspoon, etc.), when they specify kosher salt a lot of the volume will be taken up by the air spaces between the crystals So -less NaCl per unit of volume.

Not correct I'm afraid. The original recipe specified 2 ounces. Now two ounces of feathers weigh the same as two ounces of lead, or even two ounces of platinum.

So it makes absolutely no difference what kind of pure salt is used. Kosher salt is merely Kosher because it doesn't have various additives. The only problem with using UK Table salt, is that its stuffed full of additives - some, like fluoride is relatively benign for curing purposes and others which are added to keep the salt free-flowing, can make a cloudy and even add a slightly bitter hint.

Had the recipe in fact specified volumes, your point would have been valid.

Ianinfrance wrote:Hi

beardedwonder5 wrote:Beware stateside recipes which include salt.
[snip IMH]
Since American recipes almost invariably measure things like salt by volume (1 level teaspoon, etc.), when they specify kosher salt a lot of the volume will be taken up by the air spaces between the crystals So -less NaCl per unit of volume.

Not correct I'm afraid. The original recipe specified 2 ounces. Now two ounces of feathers weigh the same as two ounces of lead, or even two ounces of platinum.

So it makes absolutely no difference what kind of pure salt is used. Kosher salt is merely Kosher because it doesn't have various additives. The only problem with using UK Table salt, is that its stuffed full of additives - some, like fluoride is relatively benign for curing purposes and others which are added to keep the salt free-flowing, can make a cloudy and even add a slightly bitter hint.

Had the recipe in fact specified volumes, your point would have been valid.

The weight is the same but which would you rather have fall on your head...a tonne of feathers or a tonne of lead?

www.peacocksalt.co.uk. they deliver in 25kg bags (refind medium crystal salt)

2 ozs by weight or by volume, is my first thought???

I also find that depending on the type of salt gives a different strength to the taste. I find that the same amount of kosher salt and table salt ( by weight) the table salt is much stronger.

deeps-23 wrote:www.peacocksalt.co.uk. they deliver in 25kg bags (refind medium crystal salt)

FWIW the Nitrite Salt they sell is 0.5% Nitrite.

Phil

This may help, the salt I use for most things is commercial water softener salt. It is food grade and has a good crystal size.

I usually use half the amount in the recipe but I am on a low/salt free diet.

Iamarealbigdog wrote:2 ozs by weight or by volume, is my first thought???

I also find that depending on the type of salt gives a different strength to the taste. I find that the same amount of kosher salt and table salt ( by weight) the table salt is much stronger.

2 oz by weight of course. A liquid measure would be 2 fl oz.

As for the strength of salts. All double blind tests have shown no measurable difference in strength of flavour. I've often heard these differences suggested, but never by anyone who's actually done some kind of scientific blind test. You might find it interesting.

Kosher salt is pure salt with no additives at all, but in large crystals. That's what Jewish law requires. Table salt is usually finer, and has one or more additives to make it flow better, to stop it deliquescing, to compensate for dietary shortfalls of iodine and to help reinforce tooth enamel with fluorides. Not all table salts will have all these additives, but their presence is unlikely to make the salt stronger.

Sorry to contradict you, but my training was as a chemist and as an ex scientist I find it hard to let factual inaccuracies go uncorrected.

For me table salt or iodized salt is definitely stronger, we refine our own from rock sea salt here, and in the beginning I took an equal weight of each salt and diluted it in water, then tasted myself, and had others taste and found all said the iodized solution was strong in salt taste. Suggest you try this.

Here's one reference, not scientific, but its the first one I found and pretty much says the same thing:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Beyond-Table- ... &id=206532

I'd recommend sticking with one type of salt, and that one not be iodized or with other additives. Calibrate to that to your taste, then never change.

I have to stand by my original assessment, I concede the chemical composure of salt is still salt. When measured by weight the overall effect "chemically" is the same, you can not change science.

However, we are not talking about pure salt here, there are differences which give each style a different "feel". Table salt dissolves at a faster rate on meat then Kosher flakes being an example. Kosher salt has a difficult time dissolving in cold water.

In my experience, the style of salt will have different strengths in taste. We all use extensive amounts of salt in the production of this craft and I have to rely on experience (because, I'm not a chemist)

I would like to point out that different types of salt will react with trace minerals. The question than becomes how are the different types of salt absorbed on the human taste receptacles. Is there a difference in the speed of absorbing may differ, a faster rate may cause a stronger taste.
( we need a biologist here)

I reiterate my opinion, different salts do not have the same taste and differs when it comes to strength.