Adjusting salt quantities with different salt brands/types

[pietradoro]

I've been messing around with some artisanal salts, trying to figure out how to adjust quantities to suit various recipes.  I've concluded this is probably impossible, because there is so much variation to the salinity, intensity, and overall flavor of these differnet salts, it is hard to imagine that a relative formula would apply.

FWIW, the salts I've  been experimenting with are:

1. Ittica 'd'Or Sicilian sea salt
2. Maldon
3. Real Salt (coarse)
3. PacificSalt, Marborough flaky sea salt

All of them are superb, but all are quite different.  Any thoughts?

[David]

Are you adding additional salt to your pizza or just adding it to your Dough?If adding it as a topping seasoning do you notice a discernable difference between the flavors using different salts?
                       David

[Pete-zza]

pietradoro,

I wouldn't worry too much about trying to figure out how much of each type of salt to use. I have conducted weighing tests on different salts and have also converted packaging information for several different salts to teaspoon quantities. Here are some examples:

1 t. table salt (the kind in the tubular containers) = 0.196875 oz.
1 t. Morton's coarse Kosher salt = 0.169322 oz.
1 t. fine sea salt = 0.209375 oz.
1 t. coarse sea salt = 0.211640 oz.

It would be difficult to differentiate the different salts on even a very good digital scale, and almost impossible to do it using volume measurements. When using Kosher salt, however, I generally add a bit more when substituting it for table salt.

Peter

[pietradoro]

Are you adding additional salt to your pizza or just adding it to your Dough?If adding it as a topping seasoning do you notice a discernable difference between the flavors using different salts?
                       David

Adding salt to the dough mix.  As far as sprinkling on top, I've experimented with types and brands, and clearly the coarse salts that cannot be easily crushed between two fingers are not very user friendly for this purpose, I find, but the Maldon and PacificSalt are very soft and flaky and taste great sprinkled over a pizza.  Also the fine Real Salt is superb, and tastes unlike all the others I've tried.

[pietradoro]

...

1 t. table salt (the kind in the tubular containers) = 0.196875 oz.
1 t. Morton's coarse Kosher salt = 0.169322 oz.
1 t. fine sea salt = 0.209375 oz.
1 t. coarse sea salt = 0.211640 oz.

... When using Kosher salt, however, I generally add a bit more when substituting it for table salt.

Yes, and that appears to be the case as well in many of the Reinhart recipes that use Kosher salt.  If I recall correctly he occasionally adds twice as much Kosher salt as regular table salt.  But the artisanal sea salts are quite differnet from Kosher salt, at least as saltiness and complexity of flavor goes.  For example, it seems to me that someone on these boards indicated they like to use 1.5 Tablespoons of Sicilian Sea Salt per 5 cups of flour, which is nearly double what I've been using.  Next pizza I think I'll try this Sicilian Sea Salt at that ratio.  I'd be curious to how you might compare that ratio (1.5 Tablespoons of Sicilian Sea Salt per 5 cups of flour) with your indication of 1 t. coarse sea salt = 0.211640 oz.

[Pete-zza]

Pietradoro,

I don't have any Sicilian sea salt on hand to be able to compare with the coarse sea salt I have (Baleine coarse sea salt from France), but if you assume that they are quite similar and that the 5 cups of flour weighs 25 ounces, the percent usage at one and a half tablespoons for the 5 cups of flour would be around 3.8% (4.5 t. x 0.211640/25 = 3.8%). In my case, I wouldn't be able to use the Baleine sea salt in the dough itself, as I might be able to do with the finer salts, because it is too coarse. I might be able to dissolve it in warm water or I could crush it in a mortar and pestle before measuring it out.

Peter

[freshflour]

I've got several salts on hand.  Morton's kosher is a good, commonly available salt.  It's robust and tasty.  Think of a good thick pretzel, and that's Morton's flavor.  I'm not a fan of Morton's iodized salt.  The iodine imparts a peppery chemical flavor that's not suitable for baking, IMHO.  The French sea salts are wonderful in any bread product - smooth, mellow, aromatic, with some subtle variations depending on the other mineral content.  Any sea salt will give you better results than an ordinary iodized table salt.  I'd say the only "rule" for me, though, is not to use an iodized salt.

[drbill28]

Personally I only use Kosher salt.  I use it for everything.  For baking, as a table salt.  Table salt doesn't have much of a place in my kitchen other than putting on a hamburger.

I haven't been making pizzas for a long time.  But I had two brands of Kosher salt, Morton's and some no name brand.  I tried it with both.  The recipe I use calls for 1.5 tsp of kosher salt.  I noticed that there was a huge difference in taste between the two.  I realized that that much like flour, the weight you get can vary.  The grains of salt in Morton's was small in comparrison.  In the end I found I have to adjust the recipe based on what brand of salt I was using.  Granule size varies.  The no name brand left an overpowering taste.  When reduced was fine.

I don't see how anyone could use iodized salt at all really.  Perhaps in recpies of convenience for people use it normally.  But it leaves a terrible taste in baked goods.

[Pete-zza]

drbill28,

Even among different brands of Kosher salt there are differences. For example, the Morton's Coarse Kosher salt, the brand I use, weighs about 7.7 ounces per cup. From what I have read, the Diamond Crystal brand of Kosher salt, which is the major competing brand to the Morton's Kosher salt, weighs about 5 ounces per cup. By contrast, ordinary table salt weighs around 10 ounces per cup. Even with those differences, the instructions on the package of Morton's Coarse Kosher salt say to use it measure for measure for table salt. It's far easier to say that than to tell users to use about 25% more of the Kosher salt. It's unlikely in any event that one will measure it out that precisely using ordinary measuring spoons.

You will often read instructions that say to use 1 1/2 to 2 times Kosher salt for table salt (on a volume basis). That would work for the Diamond Crystal brand of Kosher salt but not for the Morton's brand of Kosher salt or other like brands.

Peter

[drbill28]

Pete,

That's pretty much what I was saying.  The difference in grain size from brand to brand of kosher salt can very much affect the taste because you can get more or less weight.  For the pizza dough I made, one brand I couldn't taste and the other it was like I was eating a salt lick.

As for table salt, I try to stay away from recipes that call for it in all areas.  Even if you adjust it right, you end up with a different product sometimes.  I just assume not take that chance.  I'm poor.  But I can't stand using table salt for baking/cooking.  It's chemically made and as it desolves it ruins the taste.  It meant to put on after cooking when all else fails.  IMHO