gourmet salts.... anyone ever cooked with pink salt or black salt or red salt etc?
 

I was looking at some different salts that were expensive but interesting.

they had a black salt that had a high charcoal content from the mediterranean somewhere

there was a rusty red chunky salt that was from Hawaii and had a high clay content

there was a light pink salt from asia somewhere I think

some were up to $18 for a small container, but most were in the $7 range

any gourmet cooks here ever tried any of these?

yeah.. we have used them. They are great to cook with. As with most things that are more expensive, it's nice to have, but certainly not necessary. Kind of like saying... do you really need that $40 bottle of wine? or $80, or $200? Nah... but sometimes its quite nice to have it.

The light pink one sounds like Himalayan Pink Salt... good stuff. Try the smoked salts.. they are really good.

They really are not cooking salts. They are finishing salts.
Yes I have a wide collection of them and cooking with them would be well crazy. Kosher and or sea salt for cooking and table salt (preferably not iodized) for baking.

Assorted specialty salts are used to finish off a dish. Such as a sprinkle over something you want texture and or flavor for.

i use kosher salt for my margaritas and salad

cool, so they are meant to be added at the end or at the table.... I was intrigued by a bag of some really charcoal looking salt that was priced at $85... what exotic salt would you recommend for a first try for a chateaubriand or something like that?

http://i37.tinypic.com/15nnb4h.jpg

I was just reading that "fleur de sel" is one of the most expensive, so I guess that is a good one to try

Yup used that way for the most part unless due to your location that is your normal salt.
I would start in the sea salt range and work yourself more towards the mineral type salts. Go with a high end but more common fleur de sel (spelling) first. If not that perhaps a good grey salt. Little latter I would suggest one of the more mineral based ones like the Hawaiian you mentioned or another that is at the tip of my tongue but I can not think of right now that is from a land based mine in the mid west area.

One of the best ways to figure out salt tastes is during tomato season, get a sampler of salts and taste each on a slice of tomato. Swig of water after each taste. Another option is to use a radish or a seeded English cucumber when tomatoes are not in season.

Word of caution though. Specialty salts do not contain any anti-caking agents. So keep them in a sealed container and I still suggest stirring them periodically regardless as even the small amount of air that does get in has moisture in it, or do as I do and store in mini mason jars and use a vacuum sealer to seal it up after use.

I will have to try it now that I read this but I really can't imagine what you could do to salt to make it worth paying 100x what normal salt costs.

You can get a variety pack of them from Williams-Sonoma for $39.50 - http://www.williams-sonoma.com/produ...t&cm%5Fsrc=SCH and if you want to try the smoked salt it is on sale now at WS too. I think the smoked salt is normally over $40 but is on sale for less than $20.

I have with black salt its great

Agreed. Smoked salts definitely rock. (No Pun Intended)

Im a big fan of medeterrain Sea Salt. Use it for almost everything.