SALT BLOCK COOKING

As a professional book reviewer, some strange ones come my way.

I just reviewed one on salt block cooking. I never even knew such a thing exists. But it does and there are some half dozen sources sell them anywhere from $30 to $50 a block that measures 12x8x1½ inches (and many other sizes are available). These blocks come from a pink salt deposit in the Himalayan Mountains of Pakistan.

Cooking and baking with salt block is arduous and time consuming. You need to heat the block slowly on stove top then measuring its temperature by a laser thermometer. In 30 minutes it should be preheated and you can either cook on it or place it in the oven to bake on it—like you would on a pizza stone.

The authors of that cookbook claim that everything tastes better using salt block cooking—but I remain unconvinced. Why would it?

Heating the block takes too long. To prepare a fried egg in a hole will costs you 35 minutes. On the stove top it takes 4 to 5 minutes. You also need to be careful that the food is not too moist or the salt black it hot enough in which cases the food absorbs salt from the block and your product is oversalted.

If you ever used a salt block for cooking and baking please let me know what you think of it.