Many of us flavor our food with Himalayan salt, but have you tried cooking with it?
Himalayan salt blocks offer one of the safest ways to cook your food. They also can be used for curing, drying, freezing, caramelizing and they make beautiful serving trays. They are the ultimate sustainable cookware – 100% natural! You can see all those beneficial negative ions emitting from the block in the photo above.
There are a few tricks to keep in mind when cooking with a salt block. There’s not a lot that can go wrong when you serve with it or freeze it, but the block is a bit more fragile when it comes to heat.
The good news is salt doesn’t melt until it reaches a temperature of 1473.4 degrees F, so melting is not an issue. However the caution comes with the heating process. I recommend the book Salt Block Cooking by Mark Bitterman for complete instructions. He offers more than 70 creative recipes as well. Here are his summary tips for heating a salt block:
- Salt blocks can crack. Heat them slowly.
- Salt blocks can pop. Only use cookware-graded blocks.
- Salt blocks can get very hot. Handle them only very briefly, using extreme caution, wearing high-temperature oven mitts.
- Salt blocks hold enormous energy. Ensure there is adequate insulation between salt blocks and tables or counters.
Salt blocks work on the grill, over a gas stove, in the oven and on an electric stove. The electric stove requires some type of buffer between the stove and the block – I use the outer rim of a tart pan.
No matter which method you use, you’ll want to heat the block slowly. Bitterman recommends heating the block on the stove, at a rate of 15 minutes per low/medium/high setting. Do this before using in the oven. (Follow the same gentle process when heating on gas grills.)
This means it can take 45 minutes to heat your block before cooking. The wait is well worth it, however, as the taste is unbeatable!
My first try was with burgers. Once my family tasted the deep flavor and perfect saltiness, we were hooked!
I have also fried eggs and cooked sourdough flatbread on my salt block.
I even served shrimp recently on my separate “cool” salt block.
Himalayan salt blocks are readily available online. I found mine locally at World Market. A wonderful place to purchase them is at Bitterman’s site where you can purchase a nice combination that includes his book! Check out The Meadow found here.
What about fat? Will it run off the side? That depends. Overdoing the fat can result in spillage, but you’ll learn the right amount in no time. It’s important to keep in mind that fat offers a nice separation between the food and the salt, so the more fat, the less salt flavor.
I recently demonstrated how to use a salt block on the weekly program Good Day Google +. You’ll see my demonstration in the first 20 minutes of the program. Check out the video here.
Himalayan salt blocks make wonderful gifts. See my list 12 Unique Natural Gifts.
I love my salt block and can’t wait to explore new ways to use it. Have you tried a Himalayan salt block?
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You’ve peaked my interest for sure! Thanks for the great article and tutorial on how to cook and serve on a Himalayan Salt block!
🙂
Angela ~
Thanks Angela as always 🙂
Andrea, I’m looking into getting a salt block for cooking and see that there are salt block holders that appear to be used during the grilling, baking, cooking process. The ones that are available appear to be the same material – black porcelain enamel covered steel. Considering other black coated cooking tools that some have said are not safe, should we be concerned about the black color – what products go into making the color and is it safe? Is the holder even essential? Can a cookie sheet work just for oven cooking since you do have to lift the food out of the oven to serve it?
Interesting question, Deb. I’m not sure. I would think a cookie sheet would be fine because you’re right – it’s only needed to take out the block. I just use a tart pan rim for my electric stove but if you have gas you don’t even need that. I don’t know about the safety of the holder itself. I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for the question!
I have a “holder” for my salt block. Works great supporting the block going in and out of the oven or BBQ. The black enamel holder never contacts the food, it’s very thin and only contacts the bottom 1/2″ of the block. I’ve only had my block a short time, but really love it for seafood. I’ve cooked shrimp, scallops, and tuna steak so far. I heat it slowly in the oven to 450 degrees, take it out and place it on my granite counter top, and cook right there on the counter top. The block holds heat for a really long time.
I had no idea there was a block holder!! So glad to have that information. Mark.
Hi, I love this idea, but wondering about cleaning?
I just wipe it down. It honestly cleans itself in some ways…just wiping the surface seems to do the trick, Tracey.
I was just thinking how well would an electric flat-top griddle work at heating a block, would I need to put a cast iron grill pan in between as a buffer?
That’s an interesting question, Phil! I’m not sure. The key is to heat the block very slowly. However, if this is accomplished it should work fine.
Did it work? Would not it be easier to just add himalayan salt with a salt grinder? In a way, a flat-top griddle is basically a giant pan, and the salt block works as some kind of pan as well, just an opinion
Angela I have an electric stove here and a gas stove at my winter home. Could you send me a photo of using the salt block on the electric smooth top stove with a tart pan ring on the burner? Also would it be easier to use it in the oven and gradually turn up the temperature?
I don’t have any additional photos, Judy. But either the gas, electric or oven is fine as long as you gradually increase temperature.
we received a salt block as a gift with a holder – it is very nice – we used it last weekend to make salmon burgers – the burgers were so salty they were just about inedible – what did we do wrong?
Can you try to wash off some of the salt? I’m surprised. Mine has just the right amount.
Hi there,
I was wondering if you could elaborate more on the energy part and not leaving on the counter top? I just got mine and I am very excited to use!
I think he means that it can actually melt or damage the counter – but honestly not sure, Kelly.