The Truth about Salt.......

Salt, good or bad?

     Salt is one of the most important ingredients on earth, and has been for the history of the world. Cities have been born and died, wars fought and civilizations built all for the sake of salt.   

     Salt was has been used for currency since the beginning of time. The saying worth your weight actually refers to salt. Roman soldiers were paid in salt. Great cities were founded on salt mines. Salt has been referred to in scripture and text. It' s importance is so significant that we cannot live without it.   It is necessary to sustain human life. In fact most life forms are dependent on salt one way or another.       

     There are two types of salt, sea salt and rock salt beds. Salt beds are found all over the world and more are discovered all the time. Salt is mined from the salt mines with machines or water. From the sea, salt water is collected in huge vats and the salt is allowed to crystalize.   

     SO what is the problem with salt? It all comes from the sea or natural salt mines, so it would seem that it is great for us. Right and Wrong?  Pure salt mined from the earth or taken from the sea is perfect for the body and necessary for health and nutrition.  

    

      The problem with salt is what man does for with it after it is mined or evaporated. Man, for economic reasons, takes the salt and refines it. The refining process is taking the salt and extracting the minerals from the salt. Salt is full of tons of minerals, that is what makes it so good for us. They take the minerals and sell them off for lots of money and then they take the salt and kiln dry it at 1000 degrees.  It totally destroys what salt is meant to be and do for our bodies. It tastes salty, but that is all that remains. All the minerals are gone. They started adding back iodine in the 1950 because people were having problems.  

     So salt is good for you, not what man does with it. Mans salt causes all sorts of health problems.  And the bad salt is in everything. We get to much of the bad stuff.  

     How do you know if a salt is good or bad? There are a couple of ways to tell good salt from bad salt. The label is not always the best way. Labels are deceiving and can lead us astray. Some say sea salt and we assume that it is good. Most salt comes from the sea, so the label is not lying. But what they do not tell you is what they do took out of it. So here are the ways to tell.

     1~Check to see if there are a list of minerals on the back. Good salt is filled with minerals. Bad salt  will say just salt. 

     2~The color will tell a lot. Pure white salt is probably processed to death and pure white salt is devoid of minerals.

     3~Check out the source. Remember even healthy companies even use marketing to deceive the public. So just because the company says its a good one, be careful.

     4~Good salt is not dirt cheap. Bad salt is.  

Celtic Salt

This my personal favorite for health reasons. It will restore the electrolytes to your body. Better than Gatorade. It is packed with minerals. In fact about 14% is minerals. I like to add it to my bottles water to help hydrate the body. It tastes great. Celtic salt is pure sea salt. It is harvested in large ceramic pools in France. The ocean is protected all around the area. 

Real Salt

         This is my personal all purpose favorite salt. I love to use this one for baking.  This salt is mined from the earth in Redmond Utah. It is excellent and has not been altered by man. You can actually see the minerals in this salt.   love using it and feel good about it when I do. It is actually heart friendly.

Artisan Salts

     Artisan Salts are really popular right now. They come from all over the world. I love them, they are often called finishing salts. The last thing you put on the food. Some are absolutely beautiful to look and and taste great.   From lava salts in Hawaii to pink Himalayan salts, artisan salts are popping up all over. There are smoked salts and pyramid shaped salts, so many and all are wonderful.  I love collecting them and enjoy using them for the taste and color. They are perfect for finishing.  

Kosher Real Salt

     This is my most used salt. Real Kosher Salt,  kosher is the texture of the salt. It is flakey and I adore it's texture and flavor. I love other salts, but this one I buy by the 25 pound bag. It is perfect for flat breads and just finishing off dishes. I keep this one in my Chef Brad salt box. That way I have it on hand for what ever I need.

Pure Salt

      Salt is important to us, and yes I think it is one of the most important ingredients in cooking. Even a bad dish can be saved with salt. Salt is powerful. It is so important for the body, we cannot survive without it. Just like everything in life we need to be wise and make sure we are getting the right kind of salt in our diets. We cannot control everything we eat, but we can make sure the salt we add to cooking in our home is the right one. Have fun finding the right salt for you.  

Have a great day.  Chef Brad~America's Grain Guy