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Salt plays a very important role in foods that satisfy our sweet tooth—cookies, cakes, chocolates, and ice cream. It's true—ice cream would not exist if it weren't for salt.
 Remember, though, when it comes to adding salt to your baking recipes, a little goes a long way. You don't want to use too much salt as you run the risk of overpowering the sweet flavors. Of course, this doesn't mean you can grab any kind of salt that you have on your shelf and sprinkle it in to your cookie recipe. An herb-blended salt may not necessarily compliment the flavors of your German chocolate cake—but then again, who are we to stop you from trying something new?!   When our founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson weren't upholding freedom and democracy, they may have been enjoying a delicious bowl of ice cream which, at the time, was quite a luxury. Back then (and, it may go without saying, before refrigeration), ice was cut in the winter from frozen lakes and ponds, and ice cream would then be handmade from milk, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl placed in an ice-and-salt-filled tub. The salt would help melt the ice in the tub (as salt is known to do) and the ice would then absorb latent heat and bring the mixture below the freezing point of water. As the salt melted the ice, the temperature of ingredients in the large bowl would lower, allowing the ingredients to freeze into ice cream. Chemistry at its tastiest. (To learn more about the science behind salt's ice-melting abilities, click here). It wasn't until the mid-1800s that a woman named Nancy Johnson created a hand-crank churn to aide in this production, which spun several other iterations and improvements upon the design, and brought ice cream to the masses. And when the 1920s heralded in the freezer, mass production of ice cream soon followed, and the ice cream industry came into its own. Thanks, salt! Since ancient times, salt has been used to preserve everything from meat and fish to the absolute extreme—cadavers. We've come a long way from mummifying, but salt is still as virtuous and helpful in preserving and curing as it was for our ancient predecessors.
  Nearly all proteins and vegetables (and even fruits!) can be preserved or cured with salt for different reasons and with different outcomes. Pork, bacon, and duck are often preserved with dry salt—meaning a salt rub is thoroughly applied and the proteins are left to cure (and essentially dry out) anywhere from a day or two to several weeks—depending on your intent.
Or the food could be preserved and cured in brine, which is essentially a salty, watery mixture that will have a pickling effect—especially with your vegetables.  Brines in particular have a superb ability to infuse your protein or vegetable with flavor, carrying the salt and any other herbs and spices that may have been added to it through every bit of your food. Brines keep your dish effortlessly juicy and flavorful.
Brines usually consist of one cup of salt to every gallon of water, and your protein or vegetable should be completely submerged in the mixture for proper brining and flavor infusion—about an hour for each pound. Venture to the SaltScribe to take a look at some inventive brining tips and recipes that take bold approach to an old technique. Wouldn't you want to sink your teeth into a turkey that took a delicious dip in a smokey, Salish salt brine? Of course you would! Brining, undoubtedly, involves some time and patience—but the outcome is worth every minute you spend doing it.  Confit is food—mainly proteins—that are preserved in a mixture of salt and fat (usually their own). The protein is already cooked at the time of preservation, but storing it in a container of fat and salt will lengthen the life of your protein as well as heighten the flavor and moistness.
Confit foods can also enlist sugar, oil, and vinegar to help in preserving other types of food, but we can't help but be biased towards the decadent salt-and-fat variety.  Don't let the fancy, French name make you think you can't accomplish a confit in your own kitchen, though. Our SaltScribe will give you some recipe ideas that will help you take on a confit with confidence.  The usual ingredients for the salt bake are pretty straightforward: several cups of sea salt (depending on what you are baking, you may need more or less), water, and egg whites. Recipes may vary, but the end result will always be delicious. Salt bakes basically involve laying your main dish—whether it's chicken, fish, or even vegetables like potatoes—in a bed of salt and covering with yet even more salt to cocoon your dish in a blanket of salt. Sounds pretty wonderful, doesn't it? It gets better: the salt will harden and form a shell around your protein or vegetable. After baking the salt nest of goodness for the required amount of time, remove it from the oven and break away the baked-on salt shell to reveal a wonderfully seasoned dish. Salt bakes not only add to the flavor, they also regulate the temperature and water content of your dish. The salt shell seals in all the flavor and juices, and miraculously it does not make the outside of your protein or vegetable overly salty (since you break away the shell after baking). Check out the SaltScribe section for some tasty recipes for salt bakes using our premium salts. If you can imagine the tastiness that a Pure Foundations sea salt would create, imagine the delicious possibilities of using one of our Beyond Blend salts. Our Citrus Basil blend, for example, used as a bake for a chicken dish will transform your regular ol' chicken routine into something adventurous, juicy, and out-of-this-world flavorful. Much like a butterfly emerges from its cocoon to reveal its beautiful wings, so too will your dish reveal its succulent flavors. We promise, it really is that poetic—give it a try!  Several cocktails and alcoholic beverages call upon salt to add to the drinking experience, but often the salt is used to take away the bite of the alcohol (another wonderful virtue of salt) as opposed to enhance the flavor of it.
  But don't worry, we won't let the word out that taking your tequila with salt and lime—referred to as tequila cruda—is considered "Tequila with Training Wheels." We don't mind having help from a little lick of salt. Table salt is usually used in this nontraditional ritual, but can you imagine how much better a shot of Tequila would be if you used a high-quality, unrefined salt—especially since table salt tends to have a bitter taste, and the whole point of salt with Tequila is to help cut down the bite? Try our Murray River salt—its pink hue and subtle flavor will dazzle your senses.   Margaritas are often served with the rim coated in salt, and the reasons are twofold: for presentation purposes (it just looks good) and again, to help take out the bite of the tequila and the bitter flavor of the citrus in the margarita.
If you prefer the frozen, fruitier margaritas, the salt on the rim may take out the bite of the tequila as well as enhance the fruity flavors—salt always seems to be hard at work for us. Try our Citrus Basil salt on your next margarita—you'll want to keep rimming your glass with it! 
When rimming your glass with salt, flake form salts are the best choice. The flakes look very lovely on the rim and dissolve easily when you take a sip. Try Himalyan Pink salt for a flare of color or the bone-white Fleur de Sel for a crunchy kick. Also, Margaritas aren't the only lucky beverages that get to benefit from a salted rim. The Salty Dog—a simply delicious drink consisting of vodka or gin and grapefruit juice—also comes garnished with a salted rim.    The Bloody Mary is the famed anecdote to the hangover, but let's be honest: it is a delicious cocktail to have anytime and anywhere.
Bloody Marys pack quite a spicy punch, and we like to step it up with our Hot Habanero Blend Salt or our Windy City Celery Salt. Bloody Marys come in countless variations, but a dash of one of these exciting Beyond the Shaker blends will always add a note of spice and help bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.  Commercial, refined salts typically contain chemicals and agents that prevent the salt from caking or clumping from moisture when on the shelf, but since our salts are all-natural, you'll want to take a few measures to keep them safe. Generally speaking, you want to keep unrefined salts in an air-tight container for long-term storage. This will help keep moisture out of the salt which can cause it to clump or cake. Also, premium-blended and wet salts may be reactive when exposed to excessive light or temperature changes, so always store salts in a dark, climate-controlled environment. All Beyond the Shaker bulk salts come in a heavy-duty, re-sealable bag that has a partial foil lining for easier storage. If you want to keep some salt handy on the counter, you can keep it in a salt box or a salt pig. A salt pig is an open-air, wide-mouthed container that has a nice, wide opening for you to easily grab a pinch or two. You will likely go through it quickly and replace it often, so the exposure to the air and the elements shouldn't harm the salt. Just don't neglect your precious salt! Check out all of our lovely Saltware to find the perfect home for your salt. Of course, the unique Beyond the Shaker glass bottles in which our standard-sized salts com also work perfectly for keeping your salts nearby and ready for use. Salt's virtuous life not only goes Beyond the Shaker but also beyond the kitchen. Home remedies abound when it comes to using salt.
Here's a list of some of our favorite salt remedies for your health, beauty, and home. But remember—we aren't doctors, so always consult your physician before trying any health treatments. 
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