Guest guest Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 > > Is there any drawback to adding salt while food is cooking? Such a big > deal is made about unrefined sea salt, but I can't see how heat would > make a difference since it's just minerals. > Tom, There's no drawback to the salt when cooking, but the salt may toughen certain foods, like meat or beans/legumes, so it is added after the cooking is complete. As far as the refinement process, it is not stovetop/home-cooking heat that is used in processing, but extremely high heat that denatures (?) the salt in some way, making it unhealthy iirc. B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 Thanks, ! I've only had basic chemistry but I don't see how sodium chloride can become " denatured " by heat. Does anyone know? I've heard that refined salt is bleached, so I think the problem with regular salt is that there are compounds there besides salt and minerals. Tom downwardog7 wrote: > > >>Is there any drawback to adding salt while food is cooking? Such a big >>deal is made about unrefined sea salt, but I can't see how heat would >>make a difference since it's just minerals. >> > > Tom, > There's no drawback to the salt when cooking, but the salt may toughen > certain foods, like meat or beans/legumes, so it is added after the > cooking is complete. > > As far as the refinement process, it is not stovetop/home-cooking heat > that is used in processing, but extremely high heat that denatures (?) > the salt in some way, making it unhealthy iirc. > B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 - >As far as the refinement process, it is not stovetop/home-cooking heat >that is used in processing, but extremely high heat that denatures (?) >the salt in some way, making it unhealthy iirc. Denaturing is something that only happens to proteins, so salt can't be denatured. Maybe there's something biochemically significant that can happen to salt when it's heated to extremely high temperatures, but I sure can't think of what it might be. I've heard the same thing that Tom has -- that the problem with regular table salt is what's in it and what's not in it. There are residual chemicals from the bleaching process and from the origins of the salt if it's not sea salt (as most table salt is supposedly from chemical waste, essentially) and of course it doesn't contain all the extra minerals Celtic sea salt does. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 > Denaturing is something that only happens to proteins, so salt can't be > denatured. Maybe there's something biochemically significant that can > happen to salt when it's heated to extremely high temperatures, but I sure > can't think of what it might be. I've heard the same thing that Tom has -- > that the problem with regular table salt is what's in it and what's not in > it. There are residual chemicals from the bleaching process and from the > origins of the salt if it's not sea salt (as most table salt is supposedly > from chemical waste, essentially) and of course it doesn't contain all the > extra minerals Celtic sea salt does. , That's what I get for using big words late at night... Here's some of the propaganda, don't know if it's accurate: http://askwaltstollmd.com/archives/salt/290243.html " Commercial refined salt is not only stripped of all its minerals, besides sodium and chloride, but it is also heated at such high temperatures that the chemical structure of the salt changes. " and http://www.edenfoods.com/issues_goodfood_salt.html " Microwave drying of salt crystals is common practice; heating the crystals to high temperatures that cause them to harden. These types of salt require a long time to dissolve. They impede energy production of cells, and lengthen the time of digestion of food. Good quality sea salt dissolves faster, nurtures far better, and serves to catalyze digestion of food. " The stripping away of minerals other than sodium, the bleaching, and the adding in of whatever else contribute their own offenses. B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 - >>but it is also heated at such high >>temperatures that the chemical structure of the salt changes. " Sounds unlikely, but maybe Christ can comment. His chemistry is fresher than mine. >> " Microwave drying of salt crystals is common practice; heating the >>crystals to high temperatures that cause them to harden. These types >>of salt require a long time to dissolve. Perhaps, but I doubt it's a meaningful difference in most culinary applications or ever in the body. Food sits in the stomach getting churned into chyme more than long enough for table salt to dissolve. - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 >-----Original Message----- >From: >[mailto: ]On Behalf Of Idol > > >- > >>>but it is also heated at such high >>>temperatures that the chemical structure of the salt changes. " > >Sounds unlikely, but maybe Christ can comment. His chemistry is fresher >than mine. And surely more ancient as well. Congratulations on your conversion ;-) Suze Fisher Lapdog Design, Inc. Web Design & Development http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine http://www.westonaprice.org ---------------------------- " The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " -- Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher. The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics <http://www.thincs.org> ---------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Suze- >And surely more ancient as well. Congratulations on your conversion ;-) LOL! One of the funnier typos I've ever committed! - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 That's always been my feeling. How can the chemical structure of sodium chloride change? It's not a fragile protein or other complex organic compound, it's a simple ionic solid that turns into ions in aqueous solution. Yeah, good call , clearly you were thinking of Christ's comment in the Sermon on the Mount: " Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. " * 5:13) Sounds like he's saying refined salt should be tossed out and used to deice your sidewalk. Tom Idol wrote: > - > > >>>but it is also heated at such high >>>temperatures that the chemical structure of the salt changes. " > > > Sounds unlikely, but maybe Christ can comment. His chemistry is fresher > than mine. > > >>> " Microwave drying of salt crystals is common practice; heating the >>>crystals to high temperatures that cause them to harden. These types >>>of salt require a long time to dissolve. > > > Perhaps, but I doubt it's a meaningful difference in most culinary > applications or ever in the body. Food sits in the stomach getting churned > into chyme more than long enough for table salt to dissolve. > > > > > - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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