Salt: Morton's vs. Diamond Crystal

[Texas St. Armadillos 1,381]

I love them both.  Thoughts?  Pros and Cons.

[Sam Lin 3,559]

Just be aware of the density difference if you volume measure, or always weigh your salt. Then which salt you use is totally irrelevant.

[Etexhorn13 3,052]

My dad, who has been a chef his entire adult life and restaurant owner for nearly 40 years, swears by diamond crystal. I know that’s what he uses exclusively at his restaurant, and every time my parents visit and I’m cooking he makes a comment about my salt (I use Himalayan rock salt in a grinder because it’s easy to find in Houston). 
 
when someone that went from places in Austin (I forget the names) to the French Room in Dallas to having their own place for 40 years, I don’t question, I just do. 
 

Diamond crystal. 

[elfenix 34,315]

where are y'all getting diamond crystal?  heb doesn't have it, lots of recipes use it and stupidly use volumetric measurements for salt (use weight/mass, fuckers!) and i don't want to figure out the conversion of 3/4 of a tablespoon to morton (which is available literally everywhere)

[ztejas 43,478]

Y'all measure salt when cooking?

[ChickenSandwich 9,843]

3 hours ago, Etexhorn13 said:

My dad, who has been a chef his entire adult life and restaurant owner for nearly 40 years, swears by diamond crystal. I know that’s what he uses exclusively at his restaurant, and every time my parents visit and I’m cooking he makes a comment about my salt (I use Himalayan rock salt in a grinder because it’s easy to find in Houston). 
 
when someone that went from places in Austin (I forget the names) to the French Room in Dallas to having their own place for 40 years, I don’t question, I just do. 
 

Diamond crystal. 

Basically only brand available at restaurant depot in ATX. 

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,107]

5 hours ago, elfenix said:

where are y'all getting diamond crystal?  heb doesn't have it, lots of recipes use it and stupidly use volumetric measurements for salt (use weight/mass, fuckers!) and i don't want to figure out the conversion of 3/4 of a tablespoon to morton (which is available literally everywhere)

I think I used to get it at Central Market or Whole Foods.  

Personally, I use French Sea Salt for everyday cooking, but Diamond is the go to for my fried chicken brining needs.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, ztejas said:

Y'all measure salt when cooking?

That was my second question...

after, who the fuck has a palate so refined, they can tell which salt I used in a recipe?  That's Princess and the Pea bullshit right there, where the lady said she was bruised from a pea under the mattress.

[Bevo&Pevo 5,207]

ya'll do know that salt is pretty much made the same way?

[burntorangebongos 10,747]

Is kosher salt the same as this diamond crystal stuff?  I use kosher for brining and when I want big grains. 

[elfenix 34,315]

2 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

Is kosher salt the same as this diamond crystal stuff?  I use kosher for brining and when I want big grains. 

they might make other salts as well but i assume this thread is about kosher salt. 

 

6 hours ago, ztejas said:

Y'all measure salt when cooking?

do you even bake bro?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

ya'll do know that salt is pretty much made the same way?

we're also a nation that buys a fuckton of bottled water.

We make up shit to spend more money on.

Edited January 16, 2022 by slorch

[Texzilla58 4,738]

I use several. Table salt is Morton’s. I use Morton’s coarse kosher salt for most things. Their rock salt for baked potatoes. And my wife uses pink Himalayan in a grinder to grind into a spoon of honey as a sleep aide. (Go figure…works better than a handful of Xanax)

[Jerry Callo 8,704]

Why not both? I like the coarse grind of Morton for most things, but use Diamond Crystal sometimes as well.

I bought Diamond Crystal because it was supposed to match the size of 16 mesh black pepper (Dalmatian rub), but it seems much more fine.  Morton is more coarse, though.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Jerry Callo

[RPM 26,323]

Quote

Morton Salt produces flat kosher salt while Diamond Crystal produces pyramidal.

Both are run by yankees.

[hornimal 80]

8 hours ago, elfenix said:

where are y'all getting diamond crystal?

central market or amazon.

I cook with diamond crystal.  the morton I use for brining, seasoning briskets and scrubbing pans because its more coarse.

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

3 hours ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

ya'll do know that salt is pretty much made the same way?

About a decade ago, I was sitting next to a muckety-muck of Bolner’s Fiesta.

We start talking spices the whole flight. Very interdasting convo. About halfway in, salt comes up.

He says salt is salt. It’s all the same. Doesn’t matter where it comes from or who “makes it.”

He then jumps into pepper… changed my whole outlook on pepper. Pepper there’s a BIG difference. 
Toward the end of the flight, dude asks for my address and sends me a big ass box of what had to be every spice they make. 
/csb

Don't care, had free spices (which is almost better than sex. Almost.)
 

[South Austin 52,520]

3 hours ago, slorch said:

after, who the fuck has a palate so refined, they can tell which salt I used in a recipe? 

No shit. 

If I’m making a small-plate appetizer where salt might be more noticeable, I might break out a fancy sea salt. But otherwise, for gumbos, stews, sauces, and the like, HEB brand works just fine.

[ztejas 43,478]

2 hours ago, elfenix said:

do you even bake bro?

Not really. That's the only time I'd ever measure salt.

3 minutes ago, South Austin said:

HEB brand works just fine.

Yeah I usually just get whatever is cheapest and the grain I'm looking for. Typically regular coarse sea salt. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,788]

1 hour ago, RPM said:

Morton Salt produces flat kosher salt while Diamond Crystal produces pyramidal.

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/1946-our-favorite-kosher-salt

[Brisketexan 105,158]

“Diamond Crystal” is my stripper name.

[elfenix 34,315]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

“Diamond Crystal” is my stripper name.

only made enough money to buy a box of salt

[WhatTheBuck 28,788]

2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

“Diamond Crystal” is my stripper name.

Mine is “Kosher Rock.” I’m not Jewish, but I am circumcised. 

[Guest Lobo]

Well if my mattress scale business ever goes under, I guess a salt scale business model could obviously work.  

Gotta be honest, never gave salt much of a thought.  Use a little bit here and there for a brining/smoking project...but otherwise---never really gave brands/types any thought.  I've probably bought 10,000 pounds of salt over my lifetime and used 9,998 pounds of that to cover sidewalks/driveways.  Snorted a pound in a drunken stupor and put the other pound on my food.  I tried to get into that pink himalayan salt craze awhile back for dry rubs but I just don't like salt I guess.  I am a pepper snob though.  I've got several kinds and am very particular about which/how much I use on certain meats and meals.  

Anyway, we're raising a seed round for our Salt Scale facility if you're interested. 

[We’reTexas 1,473]

5 hours ago, Bevo&Pevo said:

ya'll do know that salt is pretty much made the same way?

 

More than you ever wanted to know about kosher salt. I’ve converted to team Diamond since discovering how much more forgiving it is. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,788]

If the only difference between Morton kosher salt and Diamond Crystal kosher salt is the size and shape of the crystals then, if you’re cooking with them, there’s no difference between the two once the salt is dissolved in whatever you’re cooking. The difference is when they’re used as a finishing salt, adding them to food that’s already been cooked. Right?

I use Morton kosher salt to season before and during cooking. I’ve got grinders with sea salt and Himalayan pink salt that I use for finishing.

[Rimbo 25,979]

5 hours ago, burntorangebongos said:

Is kosher salt the same as this diamond crystal stuff?  I use kosher for brining and when I want big grains. 

i pretty much use Morton's Kosher Salt exclusively for any kind of cooking now

occasionally I use this stuff

sometimes I use sea salt that my wife gets when I have to have a finer grain

[We’reTexas 1,473]

10 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

If the only difference between Morton kosher salt and Diamond Crystal kosher salt is the size and shape of the crystals then, if you’re cooking with them, there’s no difference between the two once the salt is dissolved in whatever you’re cooking. The difference is when they’re used as a finishing salt, adding them to food that’s already been cooked. Right?

I use Morton kosher salt to season before and during cooking. I’ve got grinders with sea salt and Himalayan pink salt that I use for finishing.

Diamond is basically half as “salty” as Morton’s so there’s more room for error. That’s really it. They’re the same price so might as well go for the one that makes it harder to screw up a recipe. 

[tx 3 putt 77,076]

12 hours ago, ztejas said:

Y'all measure salt when cooking?

[Bateshorn 9,928]

Beyond the courseness and it’s more dense than Diamond, Morton’s Kosher has some anti caking agents added to keep it free flowing. I use Morton’s because it’s easier to find and resists clumping in my salt dish.

As somebody pointed out above, the reason most chefs use Diamond is because it’s ubiquitous in the cooking industry supply chain. 
 

if you are dissolving salt in eyeball measured quantities in a hot dish, it’s all the same.  If you are finishing a dish, then I notice a flaky salt like Maldon makes a real texture difference. 
 

Baking, otoh, is chemistry and you should be measuring your salt. There are conversion charts, but I keep fine table salt for that, as recipes are almost always measured to that. 

[TheStoicPaisano 9,922]

Only Mork-ass tricks use Morton’s. Robble robble.

 

[deadshank 24,653]

I really wanted to post a joke about salt on this topic but a thought “Na” nobody would get it.  

[brown water 3,778]

That joke is so dium 

[CooterBrown 18,015]

21 hours ago, South Austin said:

No shit. 

If I’m making a small-plate appetizer where salt might be more noticeable, I might break out a fancy sea salt. But otherwise, for gumbos, stews, sauces, and the like, HEB brand works just fine.

I use the HEB branded sea salt so I can be smug and cheap at the same time.

[52-80 19,168]

On 1/16/2022 at 1:44 PM, slorch said:

That was my second question...

after, who the fuck has a palate so refined, they can tell which salt I used in a recipe? 

anyone can.  when eating a product that's *finished* with salt, the differences in texture is perceivably different.  a slice of steak with sparse but big grains of salt hits different than one equally covered in table salt. 

if you're eating a stew where it's already been fully dissolved in the solution, obviously it makes no difference.

i prefer to use flaky sea salt for everything.  its nicer to pinch and easier to distribute.  it looks better in presentation (esp if colored).  and barely costs much more than standard table salt.  table salt is only used when dumped in big batches e.g. for pasta water.

[Guest]

Finishing=/= cooking. Not at least with regard to the general discussion.

Yeah, of course if it’s the final dusting of the entre or dish, sure, texture is a factor.

Edited January 17, 2022 by slorch

[Bateshorn 9,928]

Salt is kinda like vodka: if you are blending it, just get the cheap shit. 
 

[Celery Man 20,968]

Also like vodka in that if you are consuming enough where the price is a factor in your budget, you have a problem and it may not just be the poors

[956 Worldwide 34,715]

If you’re baking, use regular iodized table salt. That’s almost certainly what the recipe was written with in mind unless it says otherwise. 
 

I like Morton’s kosher for finishing meat because the crystals don’t dissolve as quickly.  And yeah…sodium chloride is sodium chloride once it’s melted in a sauce or stew or something like that.

[956 Worldwide 34,715]

Fun fact about Himalayan pink salt— all of it comes from a massive salt mine in some hills a few hours away from Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan.  No snow-capped peaks or glaciers in sight.  Very hot, very dusty. It’s also a sea salt— the deposit of an ancient lagoon from eons ago. 

[WhatTheBuck 28,788]

2 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

Salt is kinda like vodka: if you are blending it, just get the cheap shit. 

Suddenly I have a craving for a salty dog. 

[HouTex 1,878]

Except for the texture thing and measuring, salt is salt.  Julia Child covered this topic.  

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Fun fact about Himalayan pink salt— all of it comes from a massive salt mine in some hills a few hours away from Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan.  No snow-capped peaks or glaciers in sight.  Very hot, very dusty. It’s also a sea salt— the deposit of an ancient lagoon from eons ago. 

So in the end, it’s all pink. 
Amirite?

[WhatTheBuck 28,788]

7 minutes ago, HouTex said:

Except for the texture thing and measuring, salt is salt.  Julia Child covered this topic.  

Salt is salt but some salt isn’t just salt. Some salt, like Himalayan pink salt, contains additional minerals and other trace elements. (Mmmm...taste the Magnesium!) I assume that’s probably true of all salts that are mined rather than formed by growing crystals in an evaporating brine.

[956 Worldwide 34,715]

You can’t taste the trace minerals that come with pink salt. It’s good for being pink and costing more.

[Bateshorn 9,928]

Srsly.  I like pinching salt and putting it in my stews and sauces, so I use Kosher, but that’s just a personal thing.  And I do think a flaky sea salt adds a certain je nais se quois to finished meats, bread crusts, and other things where the texture is noticeable. 
 

But if you want to be cheap and practical, just get some grocery store fine grain iodized salt, as it will cover all your salt needs, unless you are literally koshering meats.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Bateshorn

[sidis 9,832]

1 hour ago, Bateshorn said:

And I do think a flaky sea salt adds a certain je nais se quois

i've never seen anyone use exactly the right letters, but just on the wrong words.  je ne sais quoi.  one pedantry point to gryffindor.

rule of thumb i learned from actually spending time reading all these books by thomas keller and joel robuchon that i fucking own...if you are using it for purposes of cooking a recipe, use kosher salt.  i prefer diamond myself.  if you are using it to season or finish, use volcanic, himalayan, gris, or fleur de sel, etc...whatever your preference is.

[jimmyjazz 45,978]

2/3 tsp of Morton's coarse kosher salt per pound of food (savory dishes only).  Adjust for Diamond, equal mass.  Done.

[Bateshorn 9,928]

52 minutes ago, sidis said:

i've never seen anyone use exactly the right letters, but just on the wrong words.  je ne sais quoi.  one pedantry point to gryffindor.

rule of thumb i learned from actually spending time reading all these books by thomas keller and joel robuchon that i fucking own...if you are using it for purposes of cooking a recipe, use kosher salt.  i prefer diamond myself.  if you are using it to season or finish, use volcanic, himalayan, gris, or fleur de sel, etc...whatever your preference is.

[52-80 19,168]

dont forget the halal salt for those who observe