What is it they say about great minds? This morning's Washington Post addresses a topic close to my post last evening -- measuring quantities of table salt. In this case, Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, discusses how to adjust recipe amounts of salt when using the two types of kosher salt available (hint: use 1.5 times as much Morton Kosher Salt and twice as much Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt). And, says Wolke, don't bother using sea salt in cooking; if you use it, add it at the table.
You've all seen contests where people are asked to guess how many jelly beans are in a glass jar. Amaze your friends with this alternative: Pour a 26 oz. "round can" of salt into a jar and ask your friends to guess how many salt crystals are in the jar.
Ever wonder how much a single crystal of table salt weighs? The Salt Institute hadn't given that question a thought until this just-received request arrived. Thanks to Lead Research Chemist Lorrie Ann Fisher of Morton Salt, the world now knows (but your friends may not) that the average weight of a single crystal of table salt is 0.16 milligrams. Thus, a typical 26 oz. "round can" of table salt would contain over four and a half million salt crystals (4,606,800 give or take). Now you know!
Bargain? What other crystals can you buy at 10 million for a buck?
Put another way, that means the FDA's "Daily Reference Value" (FDA food labels do NOT provide a "daily recommended value") for sodium is more than 37,000 crystals of table salt.
