Kosher Salt – What You Need to Know
Kosher salt is a term used to refer to all sea salts including: salt from marine areas, salt from the sea floor, and salt produced in a commercial facility. There are four types of Kosher salt currently on the market, all made from minerals that are naturally occurring.
Salt, usually a natural mineral, is added to sea water or ground up sea shells to produce sea salts. Many sea salts are kosher in any country where it was grown.
Salted sea salt comes from salty seas. Salt is not kosher if it was derived from any other source. However, some suppliers claim they use kosher salt in their product without ever informing their consumers that it is not in fact kosher.
Sea salt is a salt used in restaurants and to have at home. Sea salt is generally far less expensive than table salt, but is often more expensive than table salt in the stores. It is a well known fact that table salt is made from ground sea rocks, which is more costly than sea rocks themselves.
Sea salt comes from ocean water, such as Californias Monterey Bay. Sea salt is created by dissolving sea water in huge containers. With the explosion of tourism in California, sea salt production has gone on the rise, and many people believe the sea salt they use should be kosher.
Salt mines were once the main salt producing areas. Recently salt production has become industrialized, but it is still dependent on salt from the sea. The most common salt mined is mined from the Ganges River.
Although salt mines are few and far between, the new technology of high-speed, electrically powered salt-bearing equipment is giving salt producers a competitive edge. Salt mining is on the rise and this technology is only going to make things easier for saltminers. This is because these machines are capable of extracting salt from all types of rocky formations, from sea floor to mountains.
Salt produced in a commercial facility is usually made of Kosher salt, because kosher salt is mined. Salt manufactured at a commercial salt mill is not kosher, although many salt companies will declare their products as kosher. Kosher salt does not come from commercial salt mines and does not require the kosher certificates from the Kosher authorities.
Kosher salt is kosher because it is made by a different method than regular salt. Kosher salt has been processed from sea salt by the addition of chemicals, enzymes, heat, and agitation. This process converts sea salt into Kosher salt.
It is often difficult to tell the difference between sea salt and Kosher salt. Sea salt is usually available in bags and can be sprinkled on the salad.
Salt from sea floors is best used for baking or for cooking. It is usually not used for other uses, such as dipping vegetables or mixing salad dressings, since it is obviously not kosher, and is consequently not considered to be a dietary ingredient.
