Phew - a simple challenge for everyone this week (but also VERY important for everyone). I've photoed a few of the sea salts that I am currently using. I will explain how I use each and where I got them, but first some tips.
Some tips concerning sea salt:
1. Throw away your table salt or use it to make 'play dough'. It is that bad for you and it is dirt cheap so not much of a loss.
Table salt is what is left when sea salt is processed by man and all the trace minerals are removed and then iodine and various chemicals are added to prevent clumping and caking. This man-made salt has transformed a healthy necessity that God created into a toxic substance which creates numerous health problems. After realizing table salt was causing health problems, man using the world's wisdom decided salt was not good and began to recommend low salt and no salt diets, instead of going back to God-made sea salt. Sea salt has been a part of man's diet since the beginning of time. Don't be misled by this misinformation. A good quality sea salt contains about 80 trace minerals, 2% of its composition. Trace minerals are essential for good health.
2. Get the best quality sea salt you can find. Look for one that is minimally processed: hand-harvested or sun-dried. Don't go for cheap. Though a good sea salt may be 10 times as expensive as table salt, it is only the cost of one or two Starbucks and should last you for months. A bag or shaker of good sea salt typically costs about $5 to $10.
3. Don't put a salt shaker on your table. While the many trace minerals in sea salt are essential to our health, most Americans tend to use too much salt in their foods. Try to break yourself of the habit of salting your food at the table. As you eliminate man-made foods from your diet and your taste buds reawaken and as you begin you use other spices in your foods, you will no longer crave an excessive amount of salt.
4. Use only good quality sea salt in everything you cook and bake. Some people tell me, "I don't use salt so I don't need to buy an expensive sea salt." But if you are eating a diet of God-made foods, even if you don't cook much, you will need to have a good sea salt available to put in your foods. You will definitely need it for the recipes I will be sharing with you.
Advanced challenge for those who already own and use a good quality sea salt:
Buy a second or third type of sea salt to use. I like to have different sea salts from different places for a couple of reason. First, the naturally occurring mineral content within the sea salt is going to vary from place to place. Thus by using different salts, I am potentially get a more even mix of the trace minerals that my body needs. Second, our world is heavily polluted. Though the hand-harvested sea salt should be coming from clean deposits, just in case, I use different ones to spread out my exposure to potential pollution from a single source.
The sea salts I am currently using:
The salts shown above are just some of the many different sea salts that I have used over the years. There are many other good ones. Read the label about how it is made and where it comes from.
For baking, I like to use the Swanson Himalayan sea salt (on left in top photo) because it is very fine and thus distributes well throughout dough. I order this on-line. It comes in a small and large size. The Celtic sea salt, on the right in the second photo, is a somewhat fine grain and an acceptable option also for baking. Any of the grinders could be used, but it is more work to grind and then measure.
For soups and stews, I exclusively use the coarse Celtic sea salt, pictured on the left in the second photo above. I use it in dishes which I am cooking that have a liquid base in which it will dissolve. This sea salt in the staple that I always have on hand and that I have used since the boys were born. I buy this from local natural foods grocery stores.
For salad dressings or any dish that needs an unmeasured amount of salt (salt to taste), I use the salt grinders, such as the two Frontier salts shown in the top photo. These are my fun salts and an extravagance. I purchased the Frontier shakers on-line directly from Frontier. The Himalayan pink salt on the right in the top photo I purchased at Costco.
I do not recommend buying cheap sea salts - you do get what you pay for with salt. These two sea salts both cost less than $2 and they are the ones I use to clean my chicken prior to baking (I salt the inside of my chicken to clean it). The salt is all completely rinsed out of the chicken before stuffing and baking. I do not recommend buying either of these as your good quality sea salt. I do not use either of these in the food I eat.
If you are just beginning the weekly challenges, be sure to read the posts under Weekly Challenges - In Advance.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." Matthew 5:13
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