Talk:Kosher salt

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Is "nearly all salt" really kosher?

[User:68.3.216.218|68.3.216.218]] asks:

Could you explain why all salt is kosher? Thanks.

I'm not intimate with the technicalities of Jewish dietary law, but I suspect that the answer is similar to the following:

Ironically, nearly all salt could be kosher, were its production to be supervised by an appropriate rabbinical authority; there is nothing inherent in the production of salt that is non-kosher.

But we really need a subject matter expert to come along and bless one version or the other :-).

Atlant 11:52, 27 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I read once that it had to do with the whitening process, and if it used bone, and if so, what animals the bone came from. But I'm no expert. I also read that it often still contains anti-caking additives. FireWorks 22:12, 30 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Like all minerals and plants, salt is kosher. However during processing, if it comes in contact with anything not kosher it can become not kosher. The role of the rabbi is to make sure that doesn't/didn't happen. Also any additives need to be checked (where did they come from, anything non kosher in them?). Ariel. 21:03, 3 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Basically, 'salt is kosher' because there is nothing in it that is not kosher. Kosher is actually defined by the reverse - if it doesn't have anything in it that is not kosher, then the default is 'kosher'. The list of what is not kosher is very specific, and I'm sure wikipedia has an article on it elsewhere. Ariel. 21:03, 3 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Kosher foods Potatoswatter 01:14, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why "Kosher" salt?

Why is it called Kosher salt? Is there any historical context like when it was first called that and by whom.

It's used to make meat Kosher by removing the blood from the meat (or so I've heard). If that's really true and the article doesn't already say that, someone should add it.

Atlant 20:32, 2 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The article half said it; I've now completed the thought.

Atlant 20:37, 2 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Techincally it's actually called 'Koshering salf', not 'Kosher salt'. Ariel. 21:03, 3 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"or more correctly, koshering salt". If this is true, perhaps the name of the article should be changed to koshering salt, with something like "commonly referred to as kosher salt" at the beginning, and kosher salt as a redirect. Also, in an absence of protest, I'm removing the food network line. 67.160.147.2 (talk) 19:06, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've lived in the US all my life (and I'm nearly sixty), and I've been Jewish all my life, and I have hardly ever heard it called "koshering salt". I think the article should be under the name that is most often used for it. Google gives about 653,000 hits for "kosher salt" (in quotation marks to search for the phrase, not just both words) and about 769 for "koshering salt". -- I've added a redirection page "Koshering salt". If anyone looks for it under that name (which I think unlikely), they'll be redirected here. I'm also changing the description of the term, since "koshering salt" might be more accurate but is probably just confusing, since almost nobody uses it. -- Thnidu (talk) 00:41, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Food Network

Shouldn't the 'Food Network' extra be removed? It doesn't do much to help the article's informality. That's like putting a link to Harmon Kardon or Dolby on a speaker Wikipedia link. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.25.101.18 (talk • contribs) .

Relative Volume of Kosher v Regular Salt

I'm changing the reference to doubling the amount of salt called for in a recipe if using kosher instead of table. The average grain size of kosher salts can vary considerably from one brand to another. I will change it to reflect the difference. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 209.74.195.60 (talk) 21:26, 11 December 2006 (UTC).[reply]

Manufacturing

Do you have any information you could add that explains how Kosher salt is manufactured that makes it different from table salt? Is it mined, evaporated, what? Thanks. 69.232.79.251 12:52, 19 January 2007 (UTC)Sandy][reply]

I think its just the size of crystals. Its not ground as fine. Donkay ote 08:51, 30 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it's ground at all: "Kosher salt has a much larger grain size than regular table salt, and a more open granular structure." Come to think of it, I was reading that as "crystal structure". What does "more open granular structure" mean? -- Thnidu (talk) 00:53, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Iodine content belongs in the article?

Could someone please clue me in as to why the paragraph about iodine is needed? I could understand mentioning that kosher salt has (or does not have) iodine, but shouldn't a dissertation and a link belong in the Salt article? Thanks, GlobeGores 22:04, 11 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, this paragraph contains a link that was previously removed by Ariel. , for being "unrelated to kosher salt". Is this link okay? Sincerely, GlobeGores 22:12, 11 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I, too, felt it should be removed. TJFox (talk) 16:30, 9 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Americanism?

I've finally found out what kosher salt is! It's coarse cooking salt. I've never heard the term outside the USA, and had thought it was some kind of yuppie thing. Does anybody know of the use of the term outside North America? Groogle (talk) 06:12, 26 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"leach"

The article says

the salt remains on the surface of the meat longer, allowing fluids to leach out of the meat.

That link is to a disambiguation page. None of the processes described in any of those articles mention using a solid to remove a solute from a substance; they all refer to using a liquid, or to processes that all occur above the boiling point of water. Neither do any of the definitions in Merriam-Webster (leach, 2, verb) or the Oxford English Dictionary. Wiktionary has one definition,

(transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

which pretty well summarizes most of the M-W and OED senses. Changing the verb to "draw out", as used by http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/rfcj/kosherfaq.htm. -- Thnidu (talk) 00:31, 19 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]