Artisan Bread Salt

[BakerAunt]

I saw a raisin rye bread recipe in the latest KAF catalog and am thinking about making it. Instead of salt, it lists Artisan Bread Salt, which of course KAF sells. The reviews go back to 2014, so KAF has had it for a while.

Has anyone used it? Is this a marketing ploy?

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[Mike Nolan]

KAF doesn't go into specifics about what makes it artisanal, other than it being higher in minerals than 'ordinary' salt. I guess that makes it a sea salt. (Some people claim that all salt is 'sea salt', and with some justification.)

I know there are people who swear by a particular type of salt, such as French sea salt, Himalayan salt, Hawaiian salt, etc, but I can't really tell the difference between them in baking. Those may be the people who swear they can detect a bitter taste in iodized salt.

We've been using sea salt in a salt grinder as our 'table salt' since the 70's, I think the added minerals do give it a different taste on food, I know we use less of it than we did table salt. But I can't taste the difference in baked goods. I do use pretzel salt on baked goods like pretzels, and it does make a difference as it is less likely to dissolve. I"m not sure why.

As I have noted more times than I care to count up, Morton Salt recommends against using kosher salt when baking, because the larger crystal sizes might not dissolve and disperse in your dough as evenly as a finer grain salt. That hasn't dissuaded many baking authors from climbing on the kosher salt train.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike. I thought it was rather odd. I looked up the recipe I plan to bake on the KAF website:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/raisin-pecan-rye-bread-recipe

The recipe there states "salt," not "artisan bread salt." I've noticed with KAF recipes that the catalog will often list a specific ingredient that would need to be ordered, but if I go to the website, there is usually a substitution available.

I use "sea salt," so I'm not going to worry about a special salt for this bread. I also never try to bake with Kosher salt or any large crystal salt. I save it for cracker topping.

[chocomouse]

I was gifted a bag of KAF "artisan bread salt" for Christmas, but have not used it yet. I don't fall for all their advertising ploys! I also do not use their special dry milk - I use grocery-store brand powdered milk and it works just fine.

[Mike Nolan]

I can taste and smell the difference between ordinary powdered milk and the baker's special powdered milk in baked products, I really dislike the former. I didn't like it when I was growing up, either, and sometimes that was the only milk we had on hand.

[BakerAunt]

I do use the Baker's Special dry milk in my yeast breads. In all my other baking, I use Bob's Red Mill milk powder, which I prefer to the granular stuff I find in stores. I don't taste the powdered milk in what I bake. I did try adding a tsp. to my oatmeal, and I did notice and not care for it. I'll only do that again if we are out of milk.

My mother liked to mix powdered milk and combine it with regular milk to stretch it. We kids drank it but preferred the straight milk at my grandmother's house. I'm not sure if it were a matter of cost or nutrition or both with my mother's mixing of the two.

[skeptic7]

I only bought the baker's special powdered milk once. I didn't think it was worth the extra cost for the convenience of not having to scald it. If I need to use powdered milk, I reconstitute it and then scald it. I keep powdered milk on hand for clam chowder and emergency hot chocolate. I've only used it in ways that would disguise the taste. Organic powdered milk isn't cheaper than buying fresh milk. When I was growing up, my neighbor would mix powdered milk and then combine it with fresh milk for her children, it was supposed to be cheaper.
I used to use to add powdered milk to regular milk when making yogurt. The extra milk solids would produce a thicker yogurt.

[chocomouse]

I guess I've not developed a discrete taste for milk! I don't taste milk, dry or otherwise, in anything. I was made to drink milk (always regular whole cow's milk) at meals when I was growing up. I hate it. I never drink it. I've not drank milk for over 50 years! I can tell the difference between 2% milk (which my husband drinks) and half and half or cream in chowders, and much prefer the half and half.

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