If you found yourself cooking a recipe that has kosher salt in it, but does not have this ingredient at home? This article is for you! Below you will find what is kosher salt which are the best substitutions for it.
Salt is a natural mineral gathered from rock-salt in miners or from the seawater and used to enhance the flavor of other foods and ingredients. But, to produce the salt we cook with the water must be completely drained from it leaving just the salt crystals.
This water evaporation process is what makes the difference on the different types of salts. The kosher salt has no iodine in it, and it is largely used to cook, but not at the table. The lack of the iodine makes the kosher salt purer and with no metallic taste.
The name kosher salt comes from the use of this salt to remove the blood from meats, so it is actually a koshering salt.
The difference between it and the table salt, is that the table salt is processed in smaller granules and has iodine on its composition.
Substitutions For Kosher Salt
Kosher salt can be easy to find and quite affordable, but if you do not have it stored at your cupboard, we will list the best substitutions for kosher salt.
1. Coarse Sea Salt
The Coarse Sea Salt is also mainly used for the cooking process and it is the best substitution for the kosher salt you can find.
Both of them have the same crystal sized shape – the coarse type is just a little bit bigger – and with just a few pinches you can make your meat and dishes more crusty and salty, enhancing the flavor of all the other ingredients.
This salt, differently from the table salt, has a natural process: it is naturally crystallized from evaporated sea water by the action of the sun and wind.
But be careful with the proportion: the coarse sea salt has bigger crystals and should be used in a smaller quantity if compared to the kosher salt and be a little tougher to dissolve. So that is why it is recommended when your recipe requires the crusty texture.
2. Himalayan Pink Salt
The Himalayan pink salt can also be used as a substitution for the kosher salt. This rock salt is mined from Pakistan and has this pink characteristic color due to the mineral impurities.
It is normally used as a table salt, but it can also be used for cooking, especially for finishing and decorating the dishes – the pink colored appearance can add a lot of personality to your recipe so you can rock its presentation.
It also has the crystal shaped size and will add the crusty texture to your recipe.
This type of salt can be a good kosher salt replacement for the cooking process, but since it is more used as a table salt, it has some additive types of nutrients. Another con is the price: it is a little bit more expensive than the kosher, coarse and the table salt. So not recommended for those on a tight budget.
3. Pickling Salt
The picking salt – or canning salt – has none of the additives you may find on the table salts, like the iodine or the anti-caking, so it is a possible replacement for the kosher salt.
The pickling or canning salt is the purest form of salt. The process to make this type of salt keeps all the minerals in it and does not add any additives.
But when talking about texture it does not have the same crystal sized shape as the other salts mentioned above.
So, it will be a great substitution for the kosher salt for the cooking process, but not for the finishing and decoration parts. This salt will not add the crunch texture to your recipe, so do not use it if you need those. But since its granules are smaller and more refined, it will be much easier to dissolve it.
It has this name since it is commonly used for canning and manufacturing pickles.
4. Flake Salt
This salt has even larger crystals (flakes) than the kosher salt – or the coarse and the Himalayan pink salt – but it has a considerable fast dissolution process.
The flake salt is harvested from the sea and the water can be evaporated by the natural process from the sun and the wind or by solar evaporators. The flakes shapes and structures do not have a pattern, since it depends on the action of the evaporation, so it makes it perfect to decorate the dishes. They will definitely add a unique look to it.
Although it is also naturally made as the kosher salt, so no additives or iodine are part of its composition, the flake salt has a lower mineral content, which could make its taste a little more salty. So just be careful to use it on a smaller proportion than the kosher salt.
Conclusion
The kosher salt is a popular type of salt – especially in North America, but it is getting its recognition in the rest of the world – since it is a non-expensive and with no additives solution to the iodized salt (or the common table salt). So, it will add a lot of taste and personality to your recipe without the bitter taste of the table salt while boosting the other ingredients’ flavor.
If you need to do salt crusts on meats, fishes, chickens, bums, breads – or even those delicious margaritas, cookies and ice cream – this is the perfect solution. Just take care to always consider what your recipe is using the kosher salt for.
But it is also not commonly purchased by everyone at the supermarkets and it is not easily found already sitting in your kitchen ready to be used.
So, that is why we listed above all the best substitutions for the kosher salt you can find. Let us know if you already had any of those at home and if they were useful on your recipe.
