I've found links here and here on making finishing salts, but this isn't the kind I'm talking about. These are just mixtures of salt and some flavoring.
I'm referring to salts like Maldon Sea Salt and Fleur de Sel. I know that these have (purportedly) minerals that make the salt taste richer. Back when I was working in a kitchen, I was taught that part of what makes these nicer is that they're large crystals that dissolve slowly on the tongue (instead of nearly-instantly like your run-of-the-mill Morton's).
So basically, I want to try making my own large salt crystal flakes. Maybe I'll use kosher salt instead of iodized salt, but the goal is to get large crystals that look like this, or even larger.
Finally, the questions:
- Has anyone done this before?
- What should I keep in mind?
- What should I look out for?
- How can I maximize crystal size?
- Is there any overlap with growing crystals in general?
Best Answer
A simple way to get "more" out of your salt, is to start with BIG crystals, and coat them gently in oil before sprinkling them over the food. That way they do not melt on contact with the food as they are protected from the water by the film of oil , and add a awesome crunchy texture to the serving.
Technically I think that your question is more chemistry related and not directly cooking related.
I can give you a few hints no what you can do to get crystals, but a chemist should be able to give you a lot better advice.
First, making the salt water solution:
OK, now it is time to make the crystals:
Unfortunately this is all the advice that I can give you now. Be aware that crystals are delicate and you might need a few attempts until you get the desired result. As a fun fact, there exist conditions where you will actually get a BIG salt Cube aka, a single salt Crystal by doing this :) . Cool indeed , but not very useful for cooking :)