What type of salt do you use for boiling pasta?

Arterion · Monday at 20:18

Scam said:
Salt with sweet stuff is great. Salted caramel, chocolate etc. Open your mind

Chocolate-covered pretzels with a little salt :eek:

This thread inspired me to try using pasta water in brown butter. Absolute game-changer. I've used pasta water in sauces for years, but never thought to do it for brown butter for some reason.

aVdub · Monday at 20:34

m@rty · 2025-01-14T12:14:33+0000

I bet these people who don't salt their pasta also don't butter their toast

adidan · 2025-01-14T12:28:15+0000

BUDFORCE said:
There was another thread about someone using pink Himalayan salt or something.

Absolutely ridiculous.

It wasn't me but we use that.

It's more salty. So I've been told.

If I was on .my own I doubt it would pass the threshold of my door unless it was a bargain buy.

E: Yup and always salt pasta, rice and potato water - anything with starch.

mattyfez · 2025-01-14T15:23:15+0000

adidan said:
It wasn't me but we use that.

It's more salty. So I've been told.

It's actually less salty as it's not pure... Trace minerals give it it's colour.

Now that might seen be a good thing if you are lacking things like calcium, magnesium and potassium in your diet, but the amounts are so small you may as well call it homeopathy. The pinkish/reddish colour is actually from iron oxide.

adidan · 2025-01-14T16:37:01+0000

mattyfez said:
It's actually less salty as it's not pure... Trace minerals give it it's colour.

Now that might seen be a good thing if you are lacking things like calcium, magnesium and potassium in your diet, but the amounts are so small you may as well call it homeopathy. The pinkish/reddish colour is actually from iron oxide.

More salty, more minerally - I can't say I was 100% interested in listening at the time :cry:

Deluxe1 · 2025-01-14T20:32:51+0000

Bog standard table salt.

mattyfez · 2025-01-14T22:00:37+0000

We've discussed the type of salt, and whether one should even use salt at all, but have we considered the delivery mechanism?

A close sprinkle won't give you an even spread, it should be spinkled from a height.

The downside to that is you get salt all over the kitchen worktop, and the kitchen floor.

FIGHT!

inogen · 2025-01-14T23:24:36+0000

TBF, last time I looked Aldi fine ground rock salt was cheaper than Co-Op table salt.

Isn't there a thing about "table salt" being an industrial by-product? I'm not that bothered. Sodium chloride is what it is. Lo-salt is potassium chloride isn't it?

mattyfez · 2025-01-14T23:56:36+0000

inogen said:
TBF, last time I looked Aldi fine ground rock salt was cheaper than Co-Op table salt.

Isn't there a thing about "table salt" being an industrial by-product? I'm not that bothered. Sodium chloride is what it is. Lo-salt is potassium chloride isn't it?

Salt (in this context) is sodium chloride, 'NaCl',

Nothing more, nothing less, it's a chemical that is either pure, or not.

Table salt is often 'impure' as it has an anti caking agent in it to stop it turning into one big lump of rock hard salt if it gets damp from the moisture in the air. The anti caking agent is typically 'Sodium ferrocyanide (E535)'.

'Pink/Hymalayan' salt is also impure, as it contains traces of magnesium, potasium and iron, among other things....

'Lo salt' is something else all together... typically a 50/50 mix of sodium chloride and potassium chloride, may also include an anti-caking agent, YMMV.