In praise of the salt cellar

[Jenise]

I was a kosher salt fan long before most home cooks, and over the years I've had a variety of shallow jars that lived by the stove that held salt. There have been short apothecary-like jars, squat square cork-lidded jars that probably came with Fleur de Sel or some other kitchen gift, flower pots, repurposed demi-tasse cups, you name it. Each one eventually broke, usually in a circumstance involving quite a mess as the vessel hit the hard floor, invariably just after a refill, and scattered salt halfway to China. I therefore had been looking for some time for a small wooden bowl of a modern shape (let me stress this: modern shape) for this purpose at gift shops and the stalls of wood carvers at local fairs, and had found nothing.

So my dear husband, ever the problem-solving hero to my damsel-in-distress, came to my rescue on my birthday in 2008 by giving me one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Berard-Olive-Keeper-Hinged-diameter/dp/B0018O9DDC

I was horrified.

Not only did it not strike me as distinctly modern--more transitional, and I could go on for hours about why that's not good enough--he paid fifty bucks for it from Williams-Sonoma. He had shown it to me in the catalog months before and I'd grimaced, I thought, at the very idea. I must have been too nice. Looking back, I probably thought that nixing it on the basis of price alone was sufficient and spared his feelings by not pronouncing it ugly, too.

Well let that be a lesson for I now owned one pricey, ugly little bitch of a salt cellar. That would not break. Ever. Resigned, I filled it up and set it by the stove. The stove in the old kitchen, btw, pre-remodel.

[TWO YEARS PASS]

Oh how I love my little salt cellar! I can pick it up in either hand, open the lid wide and either dip with two fingers for just enough salt for a potion or, one-handed, shove the little lid with my thumb back just far enough to create a small smile-sized opening from which I can shake salt evenly over the food I'm preparing. The rounded bottom causes it to fit snugly and securely into my hand. When we moved into the new kitchen, I placed it on the prep counter. Eventually, I realized I should have a salt supply at the stove too and so I put a jar there, but darn if I don't ignore the jar and move my beloved little salt cellar back and forth, meaning that half the time it's not where I am and need it to be. So what did I do?

I ordered a second one! And I searched all over the internet for a better price than Bob paid from the rapists at William Sonoma but to no avail. You want one? Fork over the big five-oh because no one has them cheaper. So, expensive? Yes, but indispensable. And they'll last forever, thank god.

Oh, and I no longer regard them as ugly. More like homely-cute.

Oh, had I known. I think the ones in the shop I work(ed) at are around 1/2 that $$.

I'm surprised you were horrified. I think it is beautiful. Here is the one I own.
http://www.amazon.com/Ironwood-Gourmet-28221-Salt-Cellar/dp/B000EVIWS2

I've had it for years and love the I can use it with just one hand. I keep my Maldon Salt flakes in it right by the stove. Like you, I went through a lot of them. Prior to this, I had a modern chrome thing on a small pedestal, with a flip back lid. My DIL loved it, so I gave it to her and went on a search for a wooden salt box. Someday, I'd like one custom made from some crafty fellow who uses beautiful woods. But for now, this is working....maybe someday my DIL will tell me she loves it and I will give it to her, then go on another search.

[Jenise]

I'm surprised you were horrified. I think it is beautiful. Here is the one I own.

Let me put it this way: I was dismayed by its look (it's fine, olive wood is beautiful but I thought it rather old-fashioned looking) and horrified by its cost. I had to use it to understand it's ergonomic perfection and, therefore, value to me, though I still honestly think $50's a rip. Yours is very attractive.

Personally, I like this one, but it is more than triple the cost of the WS wood version.....



Although for those that prefer a turtle with a spoon up its butt:

[Jenise]

[quote="Bill Spohn"]Personally, I like this one, but it is more than triple the cost of the WS wood version.....

Those are beautiful, but for the table, not a cook's tool. And if you misbehave in my kitchen, the spoon you'll get up your butt will be a lot bigger than that.

Beautiful swan...Is is crystal and sterling?

The one I have by the stove is an old tupperware-type container with a partially melted lid. It is really ugly, but because the lid is partly melted, I can open it with one hand. It works great.

Beautiful swan...Is is crystal and sterling?

Yes, from Birks, a Canadian jewellry store chain.

Jenise, Karen, I must use a LOT more salt than you. Those cellars don't look like they hold much. I use a heavy blown glass one with a cork top that holds 3/4 box of Diamond Crystal for my utility cellar. I can grab a pinch or stick my whole hand when the supply is running out. I have some smaller cellars to hold various specialty salts but for everyday use this big mamma sits next to the cooktop. Seems like the style would work pretty well in the new kitchen. I hear you about having a second one though. When you have multiple work areas it makes sense.

Pyrex bowl here. Works just dandy.

[Jenise]

Jenise, Karen, I must use a LOT more salt than you. Those cellars don't look like they hold much. I use a heavy blown glass one with a cork top that holds 3/4 box of Diamond Crystal for my utility cellar. I can grab a pinch or stick my whole hand when the supply is running out. I have some smaller cellars to hold various specialty salts but for everyday use this big mamma sits next to the cooktop. Seems like the style would work pretty well in the new kitchen. I hear you about having a second one though. When you have multiple work areas it makes sense.

Well, Karen was talking about filling hers with a finishing salt which gets used sparingly I'm sure, where mine are for my everyday salt-as-seasoning. Finishing salts are elsewhere. But yeah, when I had just one it got refilled pretty often--these probably don't hold but about 5-6 ounces. Yet if it weren't that small, they wouldn't fit into my hand the way they do for more sweeping applications.

Jenise, Karen, I must use a LOT more salt than you. Those cellars don't look like they hold much. I use a heavy blown glass one with a cork top that holds 3/4 box of Diamond Crystal for my utility cellar. I can grab a pinch or stick my whole hand when the supply is running out. I have some smaller cellars to hold various specialty salts but for everyday use this big mamma sits next to the cook-top. Seems like the style would work pretty well in the new kitchen. I hear you about having a second one though. When you have multiple work areas it makes sense.

Well, Karen was talking about filling hers with a finishing salt which gets used sparingly I'm sure, where mine are for my everyday salt-as-seasoning. Finishing salts are elsewhere. But yeah, when I had just one it got refilled pretty often--these probably don't hold but about 5 ounces.

Yes, mine is a finishing salt because at the cook top is where I plate up for Gene and I. I have two small work areas on each side, I keep a 25.5 ounce round cardboard carton of Baliene fine sea salt crystals in my work area for the little seasoning I do with salt. I can keep the box closed and it is the perfect size for grabbing and shaking out salt into my hand . Gene has learned how to use the finishing salt, as well. I keep the rest of my salts in a pull out pantry wall, with my lesser used spices and herbs, which is still handy to the stove and work area.