On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1214

sodium chloride does, and so can be
separated. The sodium chloride in turn
crystallizes before the magnesium salts,
whose slight residue on the crystal surfaces
canthenbewashedoffinnewbrine.
Crystal Shapes These days both edible rock
saltandseasaltsareproducedfrombrinesby
evaporating the water away. The evaporation
process determines the kinds of salt crystals
produced. If the brine becomes concentrated
rapidly in a closed tank and crystallization
takes place throughout the brine, then many
small, regular cubic crystals are formed: the
familiar granulated salt of the salt shaker.
However, if the evaporation proceeds slowly
andatleastpartlyinanopencontainerorseaside pool, so that crystallization occurs
primarily at the brine surface, then the salt
solidifiesintofragile,hollow,pyramid-shaped
flakes, a useful shape for sticking to the
surfaces of baked goods, and for dissolving


rapidly. To be preserved, the flakes must be
scoopedoffthesurfacebeforetheysettleand
sink into the brine, where they fill in and
becomethelarge,coarsecrystaloftenseenin
minimallyprocessedseasalts.
Oncecollectedanddried,bothgranular
andflakesaltscanberolled,compacted,and
crushedtomakevariousparticlesizesand
shapes.

KindsofSalt

Worldwide,abouthalfofallsaltproduction
comesfromthesea,andabouthalffromsalt
mines;intheUnitedStates,95%ismined.
Dependingonhowthey’vebeenprocessed,
ediblesaltsrangefrom98to99.7%sodium
chloride,withthelowerfigurestypicalof
tablesaltstreatedwithanticakingadditives.
GranulatedTableSaltGranulatedtablesalts
come in the form of small, regular, cubic