True, but when measuring by volume it IS important to be clear about whether you’re using coarse or fine salt. The distinction is not important if you measure ingredients by mass like a civilized person.
Let me rant about sour cream. In America, land of the free, home of the brave, we measure things by volume. Why? Because fuck you, that’s why, I guess. When you need sour cream, you look at it and see “oz”, ahh, ounces, okay, so how many fluid ounces are in a cup? Alright, let me look that up and… Wait a second. That’s “oz” not “fl oz”. That’s the weight ounce, not the volume fluid ounces!
It was at this point in the conversation that my wife got frustrated and said it was probably the same. To which I protest, no, it’s not, they’re different! To know how much volume is in this stupid container of sour cream I need to look up the fucking density of sour cream or just guesstimate based on if I think it’s gonna fit in a measuring cup or whatever. And you know they’re playing with shrink flation and that thing where your brain has trouble with certain shapes and thinks it’s bigger than it really is.
So imagine my frustration when writing this post that I randomly decide to look up how much a fluid ounce of water weighs, because I think at one point that was brought up and I said we shouldn’t assume water and sour cream have the same density. But apparently a fluid ounce of water weighs 1.041 ounces. And also, apparently the density of sour cream is extremely close to water. According to this god-forsaken website it is 1.0125 ounces per fluid ounce.
SO IMAGINE HOW STUPID I FEEL THAT AFTER WRITING ALL THIS TO VENT ABOUT IT, THAT YES, IN FACT, AN OUNCE OF SOUR CREAM IS ABOUT A FLUID OUNCE.
Exactly - this is usually why chefs are recommending a specific brand. For volumetric measurements used in backwards countries using a different brand with a different grain size can significantly alter what a teaspoon of salt ends up tasting like. Some salts are also “saltier” than others even at the same mass so brand can make a difference on multiple levels.
If used as a garnish, course or flaky salts take longer to dissolve into your saliva, so the salt flavor isn’t as profound. But if it’s cooked into the dish, there’s no difference. Everything is already dissolved, so equal masses of salt produce equal results.
There’s a little to be said for “mineral salts” where there are trace elements besides NaCl. But that path leads into pseudoscience pretty quickly.
If there’s one ingredient where you really don’t need to use a specific brand it’s salt.
True, but when measuring by volume it IS important to be clear about whether you’re using coarse or fine salt. The distinction is not important if you measure ingredients by mass like a civilized person.
Let me rant about sour cream. In America, land of the free, home of the brave, we measure things by volume. Why? Because fuck you, that’s why, I guess. When you need sour cream, you look at it and see “oz”, ahh, ounces, okay, so how many fluid ounces are in a cup? Alright, let me look that up and… Wait a second. That’s “oz” not “fl oz”. That’s the weight ounce, not the volume fluid ounces!
It was at this point in the conversation that my wife got frustrated and said it was probably the same. To which I protest, no, it’s not, they’re different! To know how much volume is in this stupid container of sour cream I need to look up the fucking density of sour cream or just guesstimate based on if I think it’s gonna fit in a measuring cup or whatever. And you know they’re playing with shrink flation and that thing where your brain has trouble with certain shapes and thinks it’s bigger than it really is.
So imagine my frustration when writing this post that I randomly decide to look up how much a fluid ounce of water weighs, because I think at one point that was brought up and I said we shouldn’t assume water and sour cream have the same density. But apparently a fluid ounce of water weighs 1.041 ounces. And also, apparently the density of sour cream is extremely close to water. According to this god-forsaken website it is 1.0125 ounces per fluid ounce.
SO IMAGINE HOW STUPID I FEEL THAT AFTER WRITING ALL THIS TO VENT ABOUT IT, THAT YES, IN FACT, AN OUNCE OF SOUR CREAM IS ABOUT A FLUID OUNCE.
I hope this brought you joy.
Exactly - this is usually why chefs are recommending a specific brand. For volumetric measurements used in backwards countries using a different brand with a different grain size can significantly alter what a teaspoon of salt ends up tasting like. Some salts are also “saltier” than others even at the same mass so brand can make a difference on multiple levels.
Some salts being “saltier” is mostly not true.
If used as a garnish, course or flaky salts take longer to dissolve into your saliva, so the salt flavor isn’t as profound. But if it’s cooked into the dish, there’s no difference. Everything is already dissolved, so equal masses of salt produce equal results.
There’s a little to be said for “mineral salts” where there are trace elements besides NaCl. But that path leads into pseudoscience pretty quickly.