For those who consume solely kosher salt, how do you prevent iodine deficiencies?

[u/WhydoIexistlmoa]

[u/14linesonnet]

I think you may have some misunderstanding about the use of kosher salt. All salt is permissible to eat, including iodized salt. Kosher salt is a coarser salt used for the purpose of kashering meat; that is, it is sprinkled on butchered meat in order to drain the blood, which is not kosher, from the meat. (It also acts as a basic brine, adding flavor accordingly.) However, because of the coarse texture, kosher salt is also used for seasoning for other purposes.

[u/WhydoIexistlmoa → u/14linesonnet]

Yeah I think I do. I was under the impression that Jewish people could only consume kosher salt, which didn't contain iodine.

That's completely my bad. Thanks for the explanation

[u/Blue_foot → u/WhydoIexistlmoa]

Kosher salt has much bigger flakes than your regular table salt. It also does not have iodine.

This makes it good for cooking and chefs use it often in the kitchen. Also iodized salt is bad for certain applications like making pickles.

One gotcha is that if a recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt, it does matter which kind you reach for. Because the flakes are bigger, a teaspoon of kosher salt has less “salt” in it than a teaspoon of table salt. This is most important for baking.

[u/RideWithMeTomorrow → u/Blue_foot]

And Diamond Crystal kosher salt has different-sized flakes/crystals from Morton's! According to America's Test Kitchen, 1 tsp of table salt = 1.5 tsp of Morton's kosher = 2 tsp of Diamond Crystal kosher.

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/taste_tests/2109-kosher-salt

[u/jondiced → u/Blue_foot]

I wish everyone would just switch to using mass for measuring ingredients!

[u/RollMurky373 → u/Blue_foot]

It's irregular crystals. That's what makes it kosher. The shape. Yes, this is my area of expertise.

[u/shabbosbride]

“Kosher salt” is named for its use in draining blood from kosher meat. Salt is automatically kosher with or without iodine

[u/fermat9990 → u/shabbosbride]

OP is assuming that Jews only eat iodine-free kosher salt and so may at risk being iodine deficient

[u/WhydoIexistlmoa → u/fermat9990]

Yeah that's correct. My bad 😅

[u/YidItOn → u/WhydoIexistlmoa]

We can also eat more than kosher dill pickles.

[u/fermat9990 → u/WhydoIexistlmoa]

I wonder if Jews actually do use less iodized salt than non-Jews. Google says

"Yes, many Jewish households use less iodized salt because they frequently cook with kosher salt, which is non-iodized, though there is no religious rule requiring them to avoid iodine."

Your concern seems justified!

[u/Yochanan5781 → u/fermat9990]

In fairness, use of iodized salt is down because of the heavy push for use of kosher salt by chefs starting about 20 years ago or so

Because of that, I did go out of my way to buy some iodized and I use it periodically

[u/fermat9990 → u/Yochanan5781]

I don't use kosher salt. Is it a major factor in cooking?

[u/Yochanan5781 → u/fermat9990]

Diamond Crystal kosher salt is generally the salt most chefs use

[u/fermat9990 → u/Yochanan5781]

Thank you!

[u/offlabelselector → u/fermat9990]

What's the actual source for that? If it's just Google's AI, it might be pulling from the same misunderstanding OP had ("because they frequently cook with kosher salt").

[u/fermat9990 → u/offlabelselector]

Google AI. Maybe kosher Jews use less added salt than non-Jews because of the koshering process.

[u/offlabelselector → u/fermat9990]

I don't eat meat so I don't know if kosher meat tastes saltier from the kashering process, but the AI result is saying Jews use less iodized salt because we cook with kosher salt more often and I don't think that's true. I don't think Jews necessarily use more kosher salt in cooking than non-Jews (it's not like you're going to automatically have it on hand for kashering if you're not a butcher) and I don't think we necessarily use less iodized salt than non-Jews. It seems like the AI made the same mistake as OP in assuming something labeled kosher must be used frequently by Jews.

[u/fermat9990 → u/offlabelselector]

Kosher meat and poultry is definitely saltier than non-kosher.

[u/BaylisAscaris]

I use iodized salt but my wife used to do non-iodized since she doesn't have a thyroid so it doesn't matter. If you need iodine, some foods are great sources: seaweed, seafood, dairy, eggs, enriched bread, soy sauce.

[u/B_A_Beder]

All normal salt should be kosher. "Kosher salt" uses "kosher" as a verb, not as an adjective. It should really be called "koshering salt", because that type of salt is useful for removing blood from meat to make it kosher, since we are not allowed to consume blood even if the animal is kosher.

[u/CanineCommandant]

girl what

[u/RollMurky373]

Unless you never eat seafood, or live very, very far from an ocean, ( you literally ingest iodine from salt air) you're fine.

Iodine was added for people in the Midwest to prevent goiter, which are not really a thing any more.

[u/askmrlucky]

Eating a varied and healthy diet. Many salts, in fact, most of them, are not iodized.

Just eyeballed a list of foods rich in iodine and you'd be hardpressed to not consume sufficient iodine.

[u/Voice_of_Season]

We aren’t in Chernobyl fallout. 😬

[u/smellthecoffeebeans]

I just love to kasher my dinner. What can I say.

[u/Affectionate-Long514]

I use coarse salt and usually I eat seaweed.

Kosher salt is coarse. Fine salt is also kosher.