What is the purpose of kosher salt in peanut butter? Can it be replaced with something else?
From here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-peanut-butter-recipe/index.html
Ingredients
15 ounces shelled and skinned AB's roasted peanuts, recipe follows
**1 teaspoon kosher salt**
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
- What is the purpose of kosher salt in Peanut butter? Can it be replaced with something else?
Best Answer
Alton Brown just generally prefers kosher salt, for reasons that don't really apply to peanut butter, which will be ground down anyway.
What matters is the total weight of salt. Remember, kosher salt tends to weight approximately 1/2 as much (depending on brand) as table salt, per unit of volume.
So you can replace the kosher salt with sea salt, or any locally available salt on a weight per weight basis. The absolute amount of salt to use is also completely a matter of taste and preference.
The purpose of the salt in peanut butter is only to enhance the flavor. It does not participate in any chemistry, and is not sufficiently concentrated to have any preservative effect.
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Does kosher salt really matter?
But really, kosher salt is called kosher salt because the size of its crystals is ideal for drawing out moisture from meat, making it perfect for use in the koshering process. That's also why we love to use it for cooking almost everything. Kosher salt is the MVP of our breakfast, lunch, and dinner seasoning game.Why is salt added to peanut butter?
The absolute amount of salt to use is also completely a matter of taste and preference. The purpose of the salt in peanut butter is only to enhance the flavor. It does not participate in any chemistry, and is not sufficiently concentrated to have any preservative effect.How do you stabilize peanut butter?
Stabilizers commonly used in commercial peanut butter include hydrogenated canola and cottonseed oils. Use of these stabilizers results in a firm but spreadable peanut butter that does not exhibit oil separation over time.Are kosher salt and regular salt interchangeable?
Do not substitute coarse kosher salt one to one for table salt in a recipe. Unless you are using Morton brand, and in that case you can (for amounts less than a teaspoon.)Home Made Peanut Butter | One Pot Chef
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Answer 2
The best peanut butter, in my subjective opinion, contains peanuts and nothing else. Liquidize the nuts in a food processor until it's as smooth as you want it; and you're done.
Peanut butter made this way might go a bit stiff if you leave it, but give it a good stir and it'll go back to normal.
Good wholefood brands sell ready-made peanut butter of this kind, with only peanuts on the ingredients list.
In your recipe:
- Salt and honey are added for flavour
- Peanut oil is added to make the consistency thinner
If you like those flavours, then by all means add salt and honey.
Kosher salt comes in flakes or large grains. If you add it late, or don't process the mixture for long, then there will be grains of salt in the mixture; you may like this. I'm fairly sure that since peanuts are oily, not watery, it's possible for grains of salt to remain in there a long time without dissolving.
If you use table salt -- or if you use kosher salt and process for a long time -- the salt will fully dissolve and its flavour will be evenly spread through the mixture.
Answer 3
Salt is salt if dissolved into a liquid or blended into a paste.
Kosher salt is just larger crystals, it tastes and works the same as any other salt. It is mostly called for because it has become "fashionable".
Kosher salt does have specific culinary uses, but not as a dissolved or blended ingredient.
There is no global standard on table or kosher salt crystal sizes.
As with most recipes that do not specify a weight, use your better judgement on the amount of salt you require. You can always add more latter. Obviously the larger the crystals the less weight per volume there will be.
Also salt that is dissolved or blended tastes stronger than table salt sprinkled on top. Unrelated hint: if you want stronger table salt, grind it a little finer.
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