Talk:Kosher salt

message: Could you explain why all salt is kosher? Thanks. 68.3.216.218
: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)
replies: text: 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)
replies: text: 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?). 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)
replies: text: Kosher foods Potatoswatter 01:14, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Is "nearly all salt" really kosher?

message: 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)
replies: text: The article half said it; I've now completed the thought. Atlant 20:37, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Techincally it's actually called 'Koshering salf', not 'Kosher salt'. Ariel. 21:03, 3 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: "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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title: Why "Kosher" salt?

message: 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)
thread_title: Relative Volume of Kosher v Regular Salt

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title: Manufacturing

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title: Iodine content belongs in the article?

message: 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 . 
-- Thnidu (talk) 00:31, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It's an osmotic process. The salt creates a high concentration of solute on the outside of the cell membranes which draws fluid out.  The word leach was actually OK.  It's a variant of "leech" and "leech" has an intransitive verb sense meaning "to drain a substance of".  It's fine to make this sort of change as you see fit though, without a talk page discussion.  Be bold.  Gigs (talk) 04:15, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: "leach"

message: This article talk page was automatically added with  banner as it falls under :Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 15:53, 3 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: [[WP:FOOD|WikiProject Food and drink]] Tagging

message: In Britain it's known as cooking salt or rock salt. For centuries, the British Isles have been fundamentalist Christian, and would NEVER have used the term "koshering". There was no Jewish taboo against eating blood. It's a foreign concept. The British "Black Pudding" is almost entirely blood.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.171.129.74 (talk) 09:34, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I wouldn't call the population of the British Isles "fundamentalist Christian" and Jews have a long history in the UK (see: List_of_British_Jews ).  On the other hand I don't think a link to a site which sells a product called "koshering salt" in UK Pounds really demonstrates that this is a British term.
Nolandda (talk) 23:06, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: You're both missing the point. British Jews or non Jews who know about it (tradesmen, suppliers etc) call it "koshering salt", not "kosher salt". That's all. --Dweller (talk) 13:21, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: To this end, I've removed the confusing "British term" wording, which was repetitive anyway. --Dweller (talk) 16:22, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It's known as rock salt in the UK. I've never heard of kosher(ing) salt, and looking at a couple of on-line supermarkets they only sell rock salt.ƕ (talk) 11:52, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

text: Try a Google-UK-only search for "koshering salt" -- 132 results. "kosher salt" gives 9500, and "rock salt" 65000. I know proof by Google is no good, but the reference I deleted was just a single recipe -- hardly evidence of geneneral usage! ƕ (talk) 11:57, 4 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Most UK kosher establishments have weak or no internet presence, so this is hardly surprising. Further, your POV that a RS was "just a single recipe" is irrelevant. And to boot, you actually blanked two sources, not one, the second of which is an industry source. --Dweller (talk) 12:53, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

text: Should we also remove any entries that mention transubstantiation, as this is also a term not used by the general population? --Dweller (talk) 23:32, 13 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: No, but if something is described as "usually" then I think it is sensible to use the term that is usually used.  As a forty-something British citizen, I had never heard the term Koshering salt until I read the entry today.  I have amended the entry accordingly.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.27.50 (talk) 11:38, 10 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: "British" term?!

message: I've initiated discussion with the editor who moved this page at his talk page. I'd appreciate it if no-one edit warred on moving it backward and forward until consensus emerges. --Dweller (talk) 10:32, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: the original title i moved this article from in my opinion failed to live up to WP:NPOV. "Kosher salt" is a quasi marketing term in the U.S, not anywhere else where it is large grain salt and the such. the original purpose of "Kosher salt" was for "kashering meat" in the process described, and it should have more of an emphasis in the lead section of the article too, not just that it is now a major commercial commodity by its name. ephix (talk) 19:34, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I've not heard of the term "kosher salt", but it seems to be a US term. If it's a brand name, I'd be concerned naming the generic article for it. In any case, it does have problems as the article states, because it misleads one into thinking ordinary salt is not kosher. I'd therefore prefer it to be at koshering or kashering. The two terms are fairly interchangable, but we have RS for the former. I'd therefore suggest it ends at Koshering salt with redirects from kosher salt and kashering salt. But I'm keen to hear from some American editors. --Dweller (talk) 10:50, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It's not a specific brand name.  As mentioned above, the salt was originally used for drawing the blood out of the meat.  This led to the name "koshering salt".  In the United States, this is almost always shortened to "kosher salt", regardless of which company sells the salt.  Anyhoo, I have never heard it referred to as "kashering salt" before this page was moved.Haschel47 (talk) 09:49, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: If it's not a proprietory name, I have no strong objection for reverting to Kosher salt. I couldn't tell you whether Kosher salt or koshering salt is the more common usage, but I'd probably go with the American in terms of numbers of English speakers who'd use the stuff. --Dweller (talk) 11:44, 10 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Since there wasn't any more input, I went ahead and moved the page to "Kosher Salt".Haschel47 (talk) 22:43, 16 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Page move

message: Where can I obtain this kosher cheeseburger? I think a citation is needed.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.203.20.239 (talk) 18:20, 22 May 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: That section was (properly) removed from the article because it's total nonsense. Not even the most secular Jews do that. Ariel. (talk) 09:00, 11 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Kosher Cheeseburger

message: I was surprised to see there was no he: link - I assumed they'd have an article on this topic. I can't type hebrew, so thought I'd be clever and click through to the he: article on Salt... but there doesn't seem to be an article on salt in he: either! Anyone? --Dweller (talk) 10:15, 8 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I highly doubt there's a Hebrew article specifically on Koshering Salt. I did however add the interwiki link for salt in general. Breein1007 (talk) 02:14, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks --Dweller (talk) 09:39, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Interwiki

message: In the south San Francisco Bay area of California, one salt supplier floods shallow areas with sea water, then closes dikes, and lets the water evaporate during the dry summer. The lsat is left behind, then purified. But at an intermediate stage, brine shrimp live in the very salt water, and their remains will be in the salf before purification. Shrimp is not kosher. Could that be related? This is not an informed opinion, merely a point for discussion.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.249.112.62 (talk) 01:08, 30 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possibly related to shrimp? 

message: The "gourmet salt" fad has resulted in a huge number of variations on salt.  SaltWorks offers a kosher salt guide. They distinguish between salts which are certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, and "kosher-style" salt, "characterized by its distinct small, flake-style crystal". They offer other salt varieties with much larger grains. Most of their products other than their flavored and colored salts are certified kosher, including both sea salt and mined salt product lines. Their comment is "Interestingly enough, it is believed that this style of salt took on the name “kosher,” because the unique texture and shape are useful in the process of koshering meat. Of course, this name created the confusion!"  --John Nagle (talk) 05:37, 20 September 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Added refs from Salt Institute and SaltWorks, so we now have some reasonable sources. --John Nagle (talk) 18:04, 29 November 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Added ref to Orthodox Union re koshering procedure.  We now have citations for all but the cooking/seasoning section.  Anybody into cooking? --John Nagle (talk) 21:20, 29 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Varieties of salt 

message: Someone added "powerful extracting power of removing blood from meat" re koshering salt.  Koshering doesn't go all the way to full dessication. It's just a surface treatment for meat that will be cooked.  Removing all the blood and water yields salt-cured meat or jerky. --John Nagle (talk) 18:51, 5 December 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Koshering vs. salt curing 

message: During the Middle Ages, a small amount of animal blood was sometimes added to the salt brine to separate impurities.  Would that have made the salt non-kosher? and could this be related to the origin of the term--i.e., that kosher salt had not been made with blood. Such use is noted here:   and in the recent book Salt:  A World History
Ecambrose (talk) 17:22, 26 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  does the term originate in the use of blood to separate impurities in the salt itself? 

message: It seems to me from reading the article, the Talk: page, and this advertorial reference that one can distinguish different senses of "kosher salt" as follows:
 Types of salt
               	Yes                  	Not necessarily
Yes            	Koshering salt       	Kosher-style salt, Cooking salt, flake salt, etc
Not necessarily	Kosher-certified salt	Salt
I suspect that for the following groups, "kosher salt" means:
# Jews: Koshering salt
# American non-Jews: Kosher-style salt
# other non-Jews: term not used.
The article is mainly about sense #2 with some mention of sense #1. Given that "kosher salt" is ambiguous, and the article's focus is blurred as a result, I think it makes sense to move the article to cooking salt or kitchen salt. The term "kosher salt" can be explained succinctly by delegating to kashrut, dry brining, and hechsher. jnestorius(talk) 11:30, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree It is primarily a North American term. The mystified comments above from readers in other countries underscore this. Having it as the Wiki article name is US-centric and could even be offensive in a certain light: Calling the article "Kosher" salt just because US salt executives saw it used by Jews is little different than Chinese Rice, Negro Watermelons or Muslim Couscous—vestiges of earlier generations—all of which would likely be inappropriate article names today. Lexlex (talk) 12:28, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: For example in Germany it is exclusively "Kitchen Salt" (Küchen Salz) See this Google image search Lexlex (talk) 12:38, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Move page? 

message: ok, after reading the article and looking at this page I'm more confused than ever.  the options seem to run from "nothing inherently kosher, just used in koshering process" to "refers to process to guarantee nothing unkosher is added" to "is approved by a religious body".  
Taking this last point first, is there actually a certification process?  On what grounds?  Which rabbinic union?
If not, then is this just a marketing ploy?  And if not, then is the second point moot?
If the term is actually used ambivalently, then that could be clearly stated in the article.  There's nothing wrong with ambiguity, if it's in the topic itself, not the article.Richardson mcphillips (talk) 18:29, 19 May 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Salt is inherently Kosher so no certification process is needed. However the need to cite religious doctrine to clarify a Wikipedia article name choice seems ridiculous.Lexlex (talk) 14:17, 20 May 2019 (UTC)

text: As the article says Kosher Salt is just what it's called in the US, because of it's association with the process of koshering meat. Outside of the US it's simply known as kitchen salt or coarse salt and presumably only orthodox Jews worry about whether or not it's actually kosher. As you can see from the talk page there's been a lot of debate about using a name only known in one country, but since it doesn't seem to have a special name anywhere else in the world there isn't a clear alternative. If there is an organisation that certifies salt as being kosher in the USA that could probably be mentioned instead of the generic "approved by a religious body". But for anyone who isn't Jewish and is outside of the USA all you need to know is it's an unusual name for kitchen salt. Danikat (talk) 18:47, 1 June 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  more confused than ever 

message: Currently the short description reads "Coarse additive-free edible salt", and the first sentence makes the lack of additives a primary characteristic of kosher salt. In what way does the lack of additives distinguish kosher salt from any other non-table salt? None of the references support this, nor does the article body. --jpgordon𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇  13:48, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: It is the go-to product when cooks need a pure, unflavored salt. Added four references supporting this, please advise if not satisfactory. Lexlex (talk) 18:31, 19 July 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Defining characteristic 

message: This section claims that kosher salt is used because it has "a purer flavor due to the lack of metallic or bitter-tasting additives such as iodine, fluoride or dextrose, it is often used in the kitchen instead of additive-containing table salt".   It links to 50 year old text which mentions tests without elaborating how these tests were performed. The WHO source is not identifiable as the bulletin number is missing. I removed a third source as it does not support any of these claims. Also, who adds sugar (dextrose) into salt and for what purpose?There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 00:59, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Dextrose is put into iodized salt to stabilize the iodide. You can look it up.  --jpgordon𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇  18:14, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Dextrose is sweet and has no metallic taste whatsoever. It certainly not a common ingredient in iodised salt everywhere. An impact on taste cannot be expected in such concentrations cannot be expected and glucose concentration of any food that is to be cooked is most likely much higher than what is added in the salt. And of course the claim that a few milligrams of any of the other additives have a noticeable effect on cooked food is already refuted in one of the sources given. There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 23:23, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd like to see your source that dextrose is "not a common ingredient in iodised salt". What does iodized salt use for stabilization in the absence of dextrose? I've seen papers suggesting other compounds have been unsuccessfully tested. (The sodium iodide will otherwise break down into molecular iodine; more than half of it will be gone in three years.) --jpgordon𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇  15:48, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: First of all without the word "everywhere" you're twisting what I said. I didn't say it was not a common ingredient. An antioxidant is not required with iodates as they are more stable. The iodised salt I have at home contains potassium iodate and no glucose. British salt standard iodised salt contains potassium iodate and again no glucose. There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 18:36, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

text: That not only sodium iodide is used is obvious btw from iodised salt related WP pages. Some of it may not be properly sourced and some sources e.g. links to saltinstitute.org are defunct, yes, but definitely in plain sight. There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 19:06, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

text: Making definitive claims on taste, meanings, topic relevance, etc. without references is in fact WP:Original Research. Lexlex (talk) 23:33, 16 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: What are you trying to say? Are you asking for a reference that glucose is sweet or for a reference that glucose does not taste metallic? Or are you saying that the claim in the article is original research? There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 13:01, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

text: Rather than claiming the subjective taste of the salt as a result of additives, the taste of the additives themselves is referenced which is prima facie. Good?Lexlex (talk) 16:24, 19 April 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Usage 

message: I removed this section from the article. A similar section already exists in sodium chloride and the cleaning capacities of salt are not specific to kosher salt. There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 02:58, 17 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Please explain why you reverted my edit. You seem to claim that the source provides evidence for the general use of "kosher salt" as a cleaning product for cookware. Frankly, I don't see such claim in the source. The author of the cited article simply says that he uses kosher salt for cleaning. The cleaning action is based on the fact that it is salt. He does not make any claims specifically related to this type of salt, neither does he claim that kosher salt is frequently used for this specific purpose. Besides that, the source is unacceptable according per WP:SPONSORED. How far away from the topic do we want to go here? I can provide some nice sources where kosher salt is used in Christmas decorations. There-is-life-on-mars (talk) 09:45, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

text: The article is about kitchen salt which has a common use in the kitchen as a food-safe, water-soluble, coarse material to clean cookware. The section is on-topic, well referenced, and at two sentences long, not undue. None of the points posted above apply. Lexlex (talk) 21:43, 22 July 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cleaning