Hi everybody, I've heard some concerns, so let me make something really clear: Rendering meat kosher is a complicated process of which this salting procedure I demonstrate in the video is simply one phase. As I mentioned in the vid, there's the butchering process to consider, and more. This video is not about how to make meat compliant with Jewish dietary law — it only engages with that topic in as much as it is relevant to the historical origins of "Kosher salt" as a marketing term for coarse salts, which is what the video is about. If you really want to learn how to make food suitable for a religion, I am not your man!

Here's one thing I think I got wrong: OU regards Morton table salt as "not Kosher for Passover," which is a much more specific and narrow designation than "not Kosher." And certainly iodine is not the only factor they consider there, which is why I said the salt is not Kosher "for a few reasons." Writing these videos is always a balancing act between giving enough context to maintain accuracy, and cutting out details that would make the video last forever. I often have to use phrases like "one of the reasons" or "among other things" to communicate that what I'm mentioning is part of a much bigger thing, but it's not the particular thing we're talking about today. Regardless, "not Kosher for passover" is a much more specific thing than "not Kosher" — that much I definitely got wrong.

And certainly, don't come to me looking for authentic Hebrew pronunciations! As always, I generally try to use the most proximate anglicization for non-English words. Whether I got to the closest proximate anglicization on Chabad, I'm not sure! I'm hearing no? [UPDATE] The consensus below seems to be that "h" is a better anglicization than my "sh" for the throaty Hebrew "ch."

If anybody has more concerns along these lines, I'll try to update this pin accordingly.

[UPDATE] People seem to think my video gave the impression that Jews frequently kasher meat themselves. That was not my intention, and it isn't the case. Kashering is generally part of the kosherbutchering process, and is done by pros before consumers buy the meat. (At least, that is the case in highly developed economies — I imagine it might be different in a traditional agrarian context.) When I mentioned in the video that public health authorities frown on washing meat at home, some people took that as an implication that kashering is commonly done in the home. I understand how I might have unintentionally given that impression. FWIW, my intent was only to explain why I, in demonstrating kashering in my own kitchen, was violating the very public health advice that I was promulgating in this recent video I did on meat washing: https://youtu.be/90Nd_vh3yk8

THANK YOU! I'm Australian and this whole kosher salt had me thinking Americans baptised their salt into different religions, and wondering why the heck that would be a thing.

"What is Kosher salt?"
Salt that has been circumcised.

I hear this word non-stop from Binging with Babish and have actually unironically literally never heard of it in my entire life outside of that context of his youtube channel.

Maybe the real kosher salt is the friends we made along the way

Adam: I bought this damn microscope, you best believe I’ll make use of it!

As a European, this kosher salt thing have been a great mystery for me.

Thank you very much for explaining!

Adam has a preternatural knack for finding video topics that I didn't know I wanted to learn about until I read the title.

Meanwhile in Israel, we refer to it as coarse/rough salt (מלח גס) as opposed to fine/thin salt (מלח דק) being table salt

Before I found your channel I would have been surprised to see someone talk about salt for 16 minutes

As a European, I really like about your video that you go the lenght and explain the differences between the US and European customs and naming. I miss that from other videos. You do really cater to a public on both sides of the Atlantic. (Edit: a letter, as suggested)

First off, very impressive summary of Kashrut for someone who didn't grow up with it. The only thing that you got (a bit) wrong is the part where you talked about how the requirement to rinse the meat is contrary to food-safety guidelines. That is certainly true, but it's not actually relevant to the typical kosher kitchen. The reason is that this entire process is not done in the home, but rather at the butcher and/or slaughterhouse. As you are now aware, Kashrut is so complex that the process is monitored from farm all the way to the grocery store. By the time you buy it, it's already totally kashered and can simply be prepared and eaten just like a non-kosher piece of meat. Not additional salting or rinsing is necessary.

In Australia, it's just called cooking salt.

those scenes of white powder on a jeweler's scale is going to blow up the Adam YTP genre...

I like the part where he says “kosher” and “salt”

Important correction: all salt is Kosher, by definition; the iodized version isn't kosher for Passover which is very different from not being kosher. Passover has its own set of dietary laws, and a lot of things that are kosher year round aren't kosher for Passover, e.g. leavened bread :)

Thank you. I've had people tell me everything from Kosher salt being deemed Kosher by Jewish authorities on the matter to "all salt is salt." SO: It's KosherING salt, and it's coarse for some very good reasons. Why was this so hard to explain for so many people. I've been using Kosher salt as I've been learning to cook and I see Bobby Flay do it. My mother was a baker so I understand why regular table salt is used their. Such a great video.

In Spain it's just called "sal fina" (fine/smooth/thin salt) and "sal Gorda" (fat/thick salt)

Watching this as a European is a bit like a Panda listening to an eagle talk about its favourite flight manoeuvres.

I'm a european chef and I've always used flaky salt for salt curing for the reasons stated but I was always so confused as why some salt was jewish and some wasn't. thanks