Basically, does salt absorb scents/flavors?
Or, is it simply mixed in with herbs and such because it’s needed anyway?
I’ve tried searching this answer but can’t seem to find any information. I suppose I could try my own experiment where I put salt and herbs in a container and had a solid barrier to prevent any mixing and see if the salt became flavored, but I thought someone would have done that and discussed it.
My inclination is that it does absorb some of the flavor/scent, but not a lot.
I have some smoked salts that are pretty smokey.
Can’t wait for the expert answers.
My sense is it’s more about aroma than flavour ( I know they are linked) or just gimmick. The only seasoned salts per se (ie excluding spice rubs etc) that I’ve had are a “merlot” salt for steaks which as far as I could see merely added a little purple colour, and truffle salt which I use (v sparingly) with eggs. But this has flecks of truffle, so maybe doesn’t count. I generally avoid these. (Also avoid seasoned rubs etc for meat, it’s easy to make one’s own. )
I feel like that is just an attachment of the creosote to the salt rather than the salt actually absorbing the scent. Smoke is a little different (in my mind anyway) in that it’s actually physical particles. But, you sort of get into the grey zone of is that any different than the aromatic molecules for anything.
@Richard - The truffle salt is a good example of my question. Is it just that the flecks of truffles are in there (plenty even at a microscopic level), or did the salt absorb the scent? That might be a good experiment. Take a whole truffle and put it in a container with salt, but physically separated so that only vapor can be exchanged. Then again, you may be back to my point above.
Salt is salt. NaCl. You can’t dissolve anything in it. You can mix things with it. They taught me that in my Federal Jurisdiction class in law school.
Are “salt crystals” 100% salt? Answers should cover, for example, regular Maldon Salt.
Jay, did your chemistry class in high school teach jurisprudence?
I’m thinking since salt is a crystal nothing is going to infiltrate the crystalline structure. The surfaces can be coated and things can adhere on macro and microscopic scales. Not a chemist here so I could be totally wrong, but I suspect not.
I guess my question is … are sea salt flakes pure crystals? Impurities are in there somehow, at least they sure taste like it.
Put a few different (unseasoned) salts on your tongue. Especially Maldon, it just tastes of the sea.
Isn’t this the same thing? Salt is a solid, and a crystal at that. It’s not going to take the other flavor into solution the way a liquid would (like an infused spirit). So it’s not going to “absorb” anything unless that thing adheres to it (like smoke particles in the quoted example) or chemically reacts with it to change it into something other than NaCl. I’m not a chemist but I can’t think of any other examples - you either have salt mixed (loosely - no adherence) with other flavorings, or salt with other things physically stuck to the crystals, or salt that has reacted with something else to adhere chemically or to transform into another compound. Aren’t those the only options, chemists?
I’m a chemist, but don’t claim any expertise re salt lol. But my guess is that “seasoned salts” of any kind are just a mixture of salt and other ground/powdered ingredients, possibly enhanced by whatever oils come along with the other ingredients (onions, garlic, herbs, etc.).
Salts can incorporate impurities in their crystalline structure (and certainly do, particularly at the level of purity you would find in a kitchen product), but once crystallized, I wouldn’t think they could absorb anything else. Not like oils or alcohol, where you can infuse the organic compounds that make up flavors of various herbs, fruits, or plants.
I bought Maldon smoked salt out of necessity (all the regular Maldon was gone from the shelf) and it’s definitely smoky per se. Does it impart an extra smokiness on the meat (I do short dry brining)? I don’t think so tbh.
I use seasoned salts a bit for cooking/finishing, and it seems to me that they are mostly just finely ground up herbs/flavors mixed in there.
The Applewood types of smoked salts might be different though. Very handy for making ribs on a plain old gas grill though!
[quote=“RichardFlack, post:8, topic:284783”]
I guess my question is … are sea salt flakes pure crystals?
[/quote]it’s not pure sodium chloride but other salts also. Calcium, magnesium, other salts . . .