If you hang out in kitchen stores and food shops, you’ve probably seen Himalayan salt bricks in the form of squares, rectangles, bowls and cups. Himalayan salt brick cooking is a new way to cook, but the salt is as old as the hills. The stone is cut from boulders carved from the Salt Range of Pakistan. Although the stone has been marketed as originating in the Himalayas, the Salt Range is about 200 miles away. Despite this mislabeling, Himalayan salt is considered among the purest in the world, free from pollutants, rich in calcium, iron and some 80 trace minerals.These minerals are what give the slabs their distinctive color and appearance. They can be streaked, translucent, opaque or a combination of all three. They can be whitish, pink, deep red, amber yellow and even silvery blue. The fissures and color variations make each one distinct.
Himalayan salt is the most useful and fascinating salt in the world! We inspect and hand-select each Himalayan salt brick for color and quality. At our Salt Factory, located in Khewra, our production team cuts and grinds the salt into the useful shapes we sell online and in our stores. Each and every Himalayan product we sell has been inspected for defects and is guaranteed for quality.
Himalayan salt brick has a very stable crystal structure, which allows it to hold a temperature very well. You can chill it to use as a serving platter for sushi, or heat it over a grill or stove top to cook your veggies. Cooking on salt gives it a greatly enhanced flavor over that of a frying pan. The mineral content in the salt gives it a more nuanced flavor than table salt, and the amount of saltiness it imparts varies with the type of food (moist foods absorb more salt, fatty foods repel it, etc.). Himalayan salt is also long-lasting and naturally antibiotic, needing little more than wiping with a damp sponge after most uses.
How do I use them?
+ Use the large, thick salt bricks only for heating; if they are too thin, their cooking life will be greatly reduced due to increased risk of cracks.
+ Individual-serve-sized salt bricks are excellent for freezing and for room temperature uses such as curing.
+ Heat your completely-dry salt brick slowly on your gas stove on lowest heat for 15 minutes. Turn up heat to low-medium for a further 15 minutes. Increase heat to medium for 10 minutes. Sprinkle a few drops of water on your salt. If they sizzle, you are ready to go. If not, turn the heat up some more. It can take all the way to high heat, as long as you do this slowly.
+ For an electric stove, place a trivet between the brick and element – they should never touch. Heat in the same way as for gas stove.
+ Although you can heat your brick in the oven, any trapped moisture in the oven may cause the brick to crack or, at worst, to explode. Salt is hydroscopic, meaning it attracts water; residual water on or in your brick, or in the oven, won’t be able to escape through evaporation, like it can on a stove top or BBQ, causing the potential cracks or ruptures. Avoid the oven.
+ If your food is becoming too salty, you most likely need to increase the temperature of the salt before cooking on it. This will not only improve your food, but also preserve your salt product for longer.
How do I clean them?
Moisture in the food will pick up salt faster, while fat will repel the salt. If your food is too salty, apply a thin layer of oil to the brick. Heat slowly to reduce cracks and crevices. Please remember that salt is a natural substance and can break or change colour depending on the foods you use with them.
To clean your salt brick moisten a sponge or scouring pad and wipe clean – DO NOT USE SOAP! Himalayan salt brick has natural antimicrobial properties with no need for detergents. Keep the salt brick as dry a possible – the less water the better. Dry with a clean cloth and set on drying rack.
Please note that as natural products, no two are alike, colors vary and the sizes are approximate. For example the thickness of “2 inch” salt brick varies from 1.5″ to 2.25.
The 8 x 6 x 2+/- Himalayan salt bricks weight about 6-8 pounds. – These are the perfect size, put two together for greater cooking surface, after using then stack for easier storage. We are finding the size to be excellent, for using, serving, storing, and handling.
The 8 x 12 x 2+/- Himalayan salt bricks weigh about 14 to 16 pounds. These have a large working area and are a preferred size by many. This size salt brick is sold only in the shops. Instead, for online purchases we offered two 8 x 6 x 2 bricks. This is actually very versatile. Two Himalayan salt bricks can be set side by side for cooking.
The 6 x 6 x 1+/- and the 8 x 4 x 1+/-salt bricks are lighter and are great for the grill, just get several and put them together. They heat up quicker than the thick ones. Also, great as “starters” for people who want to explore cooking with salt bricks and just have some fun with them.
Eventually, with use, these salt bricks will thin, and eventually crack and separate due to expansion and contraction. But the good news is IT IS SALT and is totally consumable! So, never throw away the pieces … just grate them up and use as you would any salt! A great and long-lasting supply of amazing Himalayan salt!!!
Himalayan Salt bricks are relatively heavy and require special packaging and handling to prevent breakage. For this reason Himalayan salt bricks purchased online are somewhat more expensive then when purchased in our shops and carried out.
Important: Himalayan salt bricks take on a life of their own when you start using them (and sometimes even before then). While it might be nice for salt to offer all the stability of stainless steel, this is simply not the case. When heated, it will change color dramatically, and may develop fissures. Don’t get upset by the behavior of your salt brick. Salt is a complicated, wily, unpredictable substance. That is what gives it much of its charm.
for details please write us an email at
info@khalidmaqbool.com
