Cook on a Slab o' Salt

[Special K]

In this week's NYT food section there was a short piece about the Himalayan Salt Plate sold by Sur la Table: http://www.surlatable.com/product/kitchen+...urPicks&page=1a

Too cool - be the first on your block!

Apologies if this doesn't work or isn't allowed.

Edited to say: Sorry, the link doesn't go directly there - just search for Himalayan Salt Plate.

Edited May 1, 2009 by Special K (log)

[slkinsey]

Excerpted from this thread on an Ideas in Food dinner:

Getting used to another kitchen can be daunting, though I think Alex and Aki settled into this one rather quickly and easily. Another special piece of equipment they brought with them was a set of Himalayan pink salt slabs that they would grill scallops on.

The kitchen started to get fired up.

I first became aware of these salt blocks and the myriad of potential uses for them at David Burke's Demonstration at the Starchefs ICC. Ironically Aki and Alex missed that demo as they were busy with the Pacojet Competition at the same event.

Scallop searing in butter on the salt griddle.

Coffee Cavatelli, salt seared scallops, cucumber-walnut, gruyere

The scallops were sweet and delicious, but I can't say that I noticed any real difference from other nicely seared scallops. The cavatelli were made using freeze-dried coffee, a process that Alex said that had grown out of an email conversation that he had with Wylie Dufresne over how instant coffee was made. Wylie noted that he had been making gnocchi and spaetzle with instant coffee. The compressed cucumber-walnut by itself was interesting, but not of particular interest. The cavatelli, cucumber and gruyere together, however, were synergistic to the point that they were more than interesting. They were also delicious, especially with the beautiful scallops. We stayed with the reisling through this course.

[Special K]

Thank you, SLKinsey - next time I'll do a site search before I post.

[Kent Wang]

I think this deserves its own thread.

How do you clean one of these blocks? You just scrap off the browned bits?

I've also been served dishes at restaurants (Uchi in Austin) with items served on the salt blocks. How do they clean the block afterwards? I wonder if the health department would complain, though certainly I don't mind.

[slkinsey]

The salt is pretty hard stuff. You just scrape/scour/rinse them.

[gfron1]

Yeah, I think I got mine about 18 mos ago. I've done small fish, scallop, etc. My favorite use was when I took a few edamame, placed them on the hot slab at the table, tossed a splash of sake on them and covered them with a clear glass cup which immediately steamed up and steam cooked the edamame - high drama value.

[KristiB50]

Interesting.

Does it add flavor to whatever you're cooking on it? Besides salt?

[budrichard]

When these pink salt blocks first came on the market, I emailed the importer and asked if they had done an anlaysis for contaminants and heavy metals. Never heard from them.-Dick

[gfron1]

Kristi, maybe your answer is related to budrichard's comment. There has always been accusation and suggestion that the pink salt is contaminated. As a consumer and retailer I've seen both sides and feel comfortable enough to use it. I find the taste to be a slight bit minerally/iron-ey when I grind it onto foods. When I used the slab I didn't taste anything unusual with a regular dry cook, but when I did my little steaming trick I did taste the iron.

[andiesenji]

I got a couple of these salt plates.

I had considered one of the salt slabs from SaltWorks but thought I would try the inexpensive version first to see if I liked it.

I intended to use them on the outdoor grill and haven't gotten around to doing anything yet.

I'm very glad you posted this topic as I am interested in the opinion of those who have tried it.

Edited May 3, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[Magictofu]

Are there benefits from cooking on these plates instead of using a pan?

[Just loafing]

On an Iron Chef America, Mario Batali placed thin strips of lamb on a salt block and served them without cooking ... a kind of slightly preserved tartare, I guess. Grossed out one of the judges who had confessed to being lukewarm about lamb in the first place!

[Special K]

Are there benefits from cooking on these plates instead of using a pan?

←

I'll admit, for me it's just the coolness factor. I think I'm going to get one and play with it.

gfron1, that's a pretty cool trick!

I like Richard Huff's idea of using it for fajitas: http://www.richardhuff.com/archives/100-Co...-Salt-Slab.html

[Shalmanese]

Assuming I don't care too much about the pinkness of the salt, a slab off the internet costs $60 and a box of kosher salt from my local supermarket costs $4. Is there any easy way to transform normal granular salt into a salt slab?

I assume the first step is to redissolve all the crystals and then what? Can I just stick it in a baking dish in the oven on low until all the water has evaporated off? How do I make it form a single crystal?

[slkinsey]

My thinking is that this would be very difficult to do. These pink salt blocks were laid down molecular layer by molecular layer over hundreds of years, and then most likely under a great deal of pressure for some hundreds (or thousands) of years after that. Even with the mined pink salt blocks, not every piece is suitable for heating and cooking -- only those which are free of flaws, etc.

[budrichard]

My thinking is that this would be very difficult to do.  These pink salt blocks were laid down molecular layer by molecular layer over hundreds of years, and then most likely under a great deal of pressure for some hundreds (or thousands) of years after that.  Even with the mined pink salt blocks, not every piece is suitable for heating and cooking -- only those which are free of flaws, etc.

←

Replace 'hundreds' with 'millions' and 'some hundreds (or thousands)' with 'hundreds of millions'.-Dick

[RobertCollins]

Ok, I need some chemist help here. Salt, NaCl is a mineral that dissolves in, likely many solvents,but for our purposes, in water. If we have Sodium Chloride in any form that is solid and then add water, why couldn't we redissolved it and resolidify it any way we wish?

Add enough heat to evaporate the water and the salt is now in what ever physical form you want. Maybe it took a long long time to get what you wanted from Nature, now, you can be nature. Please Gaia, this is a joke.

The point is, you can make you want with the addition of enough properly applied energy. So a salt slab isn't that big a deal.

I want more experience about what it [these slabs] add to taste posted here,please.

Edited May 11, 2009 by RobertCollins (log)

[gfron1]

the difference is pressure. You could do the technique that you're referring to but you would end up with a rough surface that has the likely potential of falling apart of disintegrating. The slabs look and feel like a soft marble, and that takes a lot of pressure to achieve. I'm guessing that theoretically you could put some between to steel sheets on a vice or something like that but then you're getting to the point where you might as well just buy them.

[slkinsey]

Right. It's a little bit like saying: "Sandstone is just a bunch of sand particles smushed together into stone. I should be able to make that at home" or "why can't I take a bunch of carbon atoms and make my own diamonds?"