Those Himalayan salt slabs

[Jenise]

An ad that showed up at the bottom of my screen just now from the Chefs Catalog, I think it was, had a picture of one of those pink salt slabs on a barbecue grill with several skewers of shrimp on top. The slab in the photo is well over an inch thick. I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine that mass of salt getting hot enough to cook shrimp, or there being any reason to use it on a barbecue grill since no grilled flavor is going to arise from this cooking method--I don't think. Am I wrong? Has anyone used one in this way?

Pizza stones get really hot, so why not salt slabs, which are after all, just a variety of rock.

I've never used one, myself.

-Paul W.

What Paul said. Also, I remember a thread where Karen remarked about cooking on these.

I'm not certain, but I think salt is particularly good at holding heat. I think some solar concentration systems use salt as their primary accumulation and storage medium.

So, if your heat source is big enough, the slab will hold heat till it glows bright white.

[Jenise]

Ah! Rock--yes. I wasn't thinking. Makes perfect sense, thanks.

I find I use mine even more for holding cold.Give it a good chill, and it stays cold for a long time- great for putting out crudite, etc.

[Jenise]

I find I use mine even more for holding cold.Give it a good chill, and it stays cold for a long time- great for putting out crudite, etc.

Yes! Great for sashimi etc too. I just never thought of heating it.

I am considering getting one of these blocks for the upcoming grilling season. I have been intrigued since I heard a piece on it on the Splendid Table and have also seen them for sale at my local Savory Spice Shop. An idea they mention in the interview with Mark Bitterman on the radio show is to use it as a press to weigh things down on the grill, like butterflied chicken. Because of their substantial weight, that sounds like a great idea. If anyone is looking for more ideas on how to use it, check out the interview.
http://www.splendidtable.org/story/salt-block-cooking-101-dont-clean-it-in-a-dishwasher

[Jenise]

I am considering getting one of these blocks for the upcoming grilling season. I have been intrigued since I heard a piece on it on the Splendid Table and have also seen them for sale at my local Savory Spice Shop. An idea they mention in the interview with Mark Bitterman on the radio show is to use it as a press to weigh things down on the grill, like butterflied chicken. Because of their substantial weight, that sounds like a great idea. If anyone is looking for more ideas on how to use it, check out the interview.
http://www.splendidtable.org/story/salt-block-cooking-101-dont-clean-it-in-a-dishwasher

OOH! OOH!

Guess what. When I posted this thread, I was just amused by what I had seen in that ad. Several days later, by complete coincidence, I opened a drawer I apparently haven't opened in years and guess what was in there? So, I have one too--haven't used it yet but using it to do a bricked chicken is a fantastic suggestion. Thanks so much--I'll go listen to the interview right now.

I'd wonder just how strong a salt slab might be - I'd worry that it might start to break up with repeated heating and cooling.

OOH! OOH!

Guess what. When I posted this thread, I was just amused by what I had seen in that ad. Several days later, by complete coincidence, I opened a drawer I apparently haven't opened in years and guess what was in there? So, I have one too--haven't used it yet but using it to do a bricked chicken is a fantastic suggestion. Thanks so much--I'll go listen to the interview right now.

That's pretty nice! We don't fare so well when we open up old drawers around here. My daughter did that about a month ago and she found an Easter egg that had been hidden there for at least seven years. (It was, of course, hard boiled or we'd have noticed it much sooner.) The innards had dehydrated completely such that it felt like a hollow egg with a little hard ball rolling around in it.

[Jenise]

OOH! OOH!

Guess what. When I posted this thread, I was just amused by what I had seen in that ad. Several days later, by complete coincidence, I opened a drawer I apparently haven't opened in years and guess what was in there? So, I have one too--haven't used it yet but using it to do a bricked chicken is a fantastic suggestion. Thanks so much--I'll go listen to the interview right now.

That's pretty nice! We don't fare so well when we open up old drawers around here. My daughter did that about a month ago and she found an Easter egg that had been hidden there for at least seven years. (It was, of course, hard boiled or we'd have noticed it much sooner.) The innards had dehydrated completely such that it felt like a hollow egg with a little hard ball rolling around in it.

Is this another way of saying you haven't started your kitchen renovation yet? We did that five years ago, so nothing's older than that, and we'd only lived here five years anyway so the move did a lot of sorting out too. Your turn's coming! (When is it going to start?)

OOH! OOH!

Guess what. When I posted this thread, I was just amused by what I had seen in that ad. Several days later, by complete coincidence, I opened a drawer I apparently haven't opened in years and guess what was in there? So, I have one too--haven't used it yet but using it to do a bricked chicken is a fantastic suggestion. Thanks so much--I'll go listen to the interview right now.

That's pretty nice! We don't fare so well when we open up old drawers around here. My daughter did that about a month ago and she found an Easter egg that had been hidden there for at least seven years. (It was, of course, hard boiled or we'd have noticed it much sooner.) The innards had dehydrated completely such that it felt like a hollow egg with a little hard ball rolling around in it.

That's funny! You could have made a Christmas ornament out of it...?

OOH! OOH!

Guess what. When I posted this thread, I was just amused by what I had seen in that ad. Several days later, by complete coincidence, I opened a drawer I apparently haven't opened in years and guess what was in there? So, I have one too--haven't used it yet but using it to do a bricked chicken is a fantastic suggestion. Thanks so much--I'll go listen to the interview right now.

That's pretty nice! We don't fare so well when we open up old drawers around here. My daughter did that about a month ago and she found an Easter egg that had been hidden there for at least seven years. (It was, of course, hard boiled or we'd have noticed it much sooner.) The innards had dehydrated completely such that it felt like a hollow egg with a little hard ball rolling around in it.

Is this another way of saying you haven't started your kitchen renovation yet? We did that five years ago, so nothing's older than that, and we'd only lived here five years anyway so the move did a lot of sorting out too. Your turn's coming! (When is it going to start?)

Coincidentally, about the time we arrived at the design we liked for the renovation, my wife encountered both the opportunity and the necessity to buy into the company she's worked for over the last twenty years or so. That took care of much of our available cash and we find (as many do) that she's not making as much being the owner of the company as she did when she was an employee. That will change at some point but for now, we've bought a lab instead of a remodeling project.

I'd wonder just how strong a salt slab might be - I'd worry that it might start to break up with repeated heating and cooling.

I would imagine that it needs the same sort of care that pottery needs regarding repeated heating and cooling. Don't subject it to sudden temperature changes and all should be well. Just let it heat up and cool down gradually. Salt's melting point is 801 degrees Celsius--far higher than any temperature encountered in cooking--even in a pizza oven.

-Paul W.