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Cooking Recipes - Salt Vs Sea Salt
Kosher salt appears frequently in all cooking recipes, from barbecues to basic salads. But what is it, and what's so special about it? Kitchen salt is the traditional scientific name for kosher salt. This type of salt contains a distinct red color and is often confused with table salt (kosher and table salt are completely different, although some cookbooks list both as 'salt'!) This seasoning is the salt of choice for cooks across the world, since it is very fine and evenly salty. This is not the same as table salt and needs to be used with care.

Salt has long been used as a means of seasoning food, but its use and application have changed greatly over the years. In the beginning kosher salt was coarse in nature, used mostly to season meats and fish. Today we use much finer grained salts to cook with, and the majority of kosher salts are now coarse.

When I first began cooking, my mother would never buy me kosher salt or any cooking salt for that matter. It wasn't until I learned of the fact that kosher salt comes in a variety of colors that she began buying it for seasoning her cooking. My grandmother's recipes were passed down from generation to generation, so I guess she felt that she had to impart a special flavor and texture to it that only this kind of salts can provide.

My mother learned that by using kosher salt and cooking with it, you can add a rich flavor to any dish without using any cooking oil or butter. Traditional recipes called for large amounts of butter or cooking oil to be added during cooking. The problem with this method is that while these oils and butters add flavor and nutrients to the dish they also tend to make the food stick to the pan, requiring several additional minutes for the pan to heat up fully. In many cases it can take up to 30 minutes for the food to be fully cooked. This not only makes traditional dishes take longer to prepare, but the final dish is generally more watery than it could have been if the cook had used butter or oil.

My grandmother had learned that cooking with kosher salt reduced the time required for cooking her special meals. One of the most popular of her classic meals was chicken soup. She would start her day by cooking a large batch of potatoes, which she'd add to her soup at night in the same old way.

Over the years since then she has developed a reputation for being one of the best cooks in the family. Her unique style of cooking - slow-roasting vegetables and meats over a hot open fire with a thick layer of fat splashed on top - is something that not only works well in her meals but also adds an aesthetic sense of quality to them. My mother, who has tried a lot of cooking recipes as well, attributes part of her liking to the fact that kosher salt used in Mortonovits didn't add any chloride, making it taste better.

What my grandmother didn't know was that her cooking method was a bit different from the norm, in terms of using kosher salt. Traditional salt is made from sodium chloride and other elements. cooking on a salt block is very rarely prepared this way, instead relying on table salt as a very inexpensive substitute. The difference between kosher salt and table salt is the content of sodium chloride in each. Although both have similar mineral content, kosher salt has a higher percentage of magnesium, calcium, and potassium, while table salt does not.

In cooking on a salt block , kosher salt works better with certain cooking recipes because it enhances the flavor, reduces burning and cooking time, and adds value to the meal. If you want to try kosher salt in your recipes, buy some today and learn how to use it to its full advantage. If you've never used sea salt, I highly recommend that you buy some; it will change the way you look at cooking and add an entirely new dimension to your meals. You'll find that it improves the flavor and nutrition, is much easier on the stomach, helps prevent and fight common food poisoning, helps you get a more energetic feeling when you eat, and can help your body retain moisture better than other salts. Best of all, it's great for your health.
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