How does Kosher salt differ from sea salt and regular table salt?
Kosher salt, a sodium product characterized by coarse crystals in comparison to standard table salt, is kosher in two ways.
First, it complies with labeling regulations for foods certified to be kosher. This means that a rabinnical inspection institution has verified that the product meets standard kosher specifications for use by Jewish people who keep a kosher table. In contrast, table salt that does not carry the kosher symbol on its label and has not received such certification.
Secondly, kosher salt is used by butchers or home cooks to render meat kosher by drawing out the blood prior to prepararing it for eating. According to Jewish law, the blood must be removed from meat and fowl through a process called melichah–or salting. This involves rinsing, soaking, salting, and more rinsing to remove the blood. Because kosher salt has crystals that are larger, or coarser, than fine table salt, it works better for "koshering", remaining crystallized whereas table salt would simply absorb into the flesh.
Kosher salt differs from sea salt primarily in that sea salt, gleaned by similar evaporation methods but with trace percentages of other minerals that may add color or flavor, is far more expensive than kosher salt. Additionally, standard sea salt is not certified as kosher.
Types of salt All salt is originally from the sea. It may be harvested from seawater by means of evaporation, or from salt deposits from which the water has evaporated. Or it may be mined from underground deposits that were left by ancient seas and later covered by geological strata. –Table salt, or granulated salt, is refined to remove trace minerals, so it has a higher percentage of sodium chloride than unrefined salts — as high as 99.9 percent. Mass-produced in small, uniform grains, it usually contains an anti-caking agent to keep it from clumping in damp conditions. In the case of iodized salt, potassium iodide is added to correct iodine deficiency, which was a common medical problem before the advent of iodizing in North America. Table salt, not the coarser kosher or sea salt, should be used in baking; as Kimball points out, “it dissolves better and provides more even flavoring.” Sea salt may be produced through mechanical evaporation, or it may be allowed to evaporate naturally
