How Jacobsen Salt Company Harvests the Best Finishing Salt in America — Vendors
TLDRThe video script details the meticulous process of crafting high-quality salt from seawater along the Oregon coast. The company, situated on Netarts Bay, prides itself on producing pure flake and kosher sea salt, leveraging the bay's unusually high salinity and the natural filtration provided by millions of oysters. The process involves desalination through reverse osmosis, followed by a series of stages that increase salinity and clean the water through heat. The resulting salt is distinguished by its clean, briny, and subtly sweet flavor, free from impurities. The script highlights the importance of patience and precision in the evaporation and crystallization stages, the careful harvesting to avoid agitating the brine, and the post-production that includes rinsing, draining, and sifting to ensure only the purest flakes make it to the final product. The company also offers infused salts, such as rosemary and black garlic, adding unique flavors to culinary creations. The video emphasizes the artistry and craft behind each batch of salt, positioning it as not just a seasoning, but a work of art that enhances the dining experience.
Takeaways
- 🌊 The company is one of the few in the United States that makes salt from seawater, located on the Oregon coast.
- 💧 Making salt is easy, but producing high-quality salt consistently is challenging, especially when using a natural resource like seawater.
- 🕒 The process from seawater to dried salt flakes takes about two weeks.
- 📍 The salt-making facility is situated extremely close to the seawater source, the Netarts Bay, which is unique due to its high salinity.
- 🦪 The bay's salinity is enhanced by the presence of millions of oysters that filter large quantities of seawater daily.
- 🔬 The seawater is put through a reverse osmosis unit to desalinate and concentrate the salt content.
- 🍲 The salt-making process involves heating the pre-brine to raise salinity and clean it, causing minerals like calcium to settle out.
- 🔍 A meticulous filtration system with .5 micron filters is used to ensure the salt is extremely clean.
- 🏗️ The evaporator room is where the actual salt-making takes place, with large pans used to evaporate the brine and form salt crystals.
- ⏱️ The harvest time is crucial and depends on environmental factors; too early or too late can affect the quality of the salt.
- 👨🍳 The company produces pure flake salt used by chefs nationwide and offers a variety of infused salts, adding unique flavors to dishes.
- 🌿 The use of infused salts, such as rosemary and black garlic, can elevate simple foods to new levels of taste and enjoyment.
Q & A
What is the primary source of salt for the company mentioned in the script?
-The primary source of salt for the company is seawater, specifically from Netarts Bay on the Oregon coast.
Why is it challenging to make great salt consistently from seawater?
-It is challenging because while anyone can make salt, achieving a high quality and consistency requires careful control over the process, especially when using a natural resource like seawater.
How long does it take to transform seawater into dry flake salt?
-It takes about two weeks to transform seawater into dry flake salt.
What is special about Netarts Bay that makes it an ideal location for salt production?
-Netarts Bay is special due to its high salinity, which is unusual for the Oregon coast, and the presence of tens of millions of oysters that help filter the seawater, contributing to its cleanliness.
What is the purpose of the reverse osmosis unit in the salt-making process?
-The reverse osmosis unit is used to desalinate seawater, but in this process, the goal is to retain the salty part of the seawater and not the freshwater, which helps in increasing the concentration of salt.
How does the process of making salt remove bitterness associated with minerals like calcium and magnesium?
-The process involves heating and cleaning the seawater, which allows calcium and magnesium to settle out or bond to the bottom of the pot. This results in a cleaner, straightforward sodium chloride crystal, reducing the bitterness associated with these minerals.
What is the final step in the salt-making process before harvesting?
-The final step before harvesting is filtering the salt through a filtration system with three 30-inch .5 micron filters to remove any remaining impurities.
How does the evaporator room contribute to the formation of salt crystals?
-In the evaporator room, pans filled with pre-brine are heated, allowing the salinity to increase and the water to evaporate. This process, along with the precise combination of time, temperature, and mineral composition, leads to the formation of salt crystals on the surface of the brine.
What is the significance of the harvesting technique used for the salt?
-The harvesting technique is gentle and uses minimal force, allowing the fluid to act as a lubricant beneath the salt. This prevents agitation of the liquid, which could increase evaporation rate and potentially cause the salt crystals to bond together, making them difficult to break apart.
How does the environment impact the salt-making process?
-The environment, particularly the temperature and humidity, can slow down or speed up the evaporation process during the boiling of the brine. It is crucial to find the right time for harvesting to ensure the quality of the salt.
What are the different types of salt produced by the company, and how are they used?
-The company produces pure flake salt and pure kosher sea salt. The flake salt is often used by chefs as a finishing salt, while the kosher salt is more versatile and suitable for everyday use. They also create infused salts, such as rosemary and black garlic salt, which add unique flavors to dishes.
Why is the process of making salt described as a work of art?
-The process of making salt is described as a work of art because of the beauty and precision involved in each step, from the natural formation of the salt crystals to the careful hand-selection and sifting of the final product. Each batch of salt is considered special and unique.
Outlines
🌊 Seawater Alchemy: Crafting Pure Salt from Oregon's Netarts Bay
The first paragraph introduces a unique salt-making company located on the Oregon coast, emphasizing the challenge of consistently producing high-quality salt from seawater. The company specializes in pure flake salt and pure kosher sea salt, with a process that takes about two weeks. The script highlights the significance of Netarts Bay's high salinity and the role of oyster farming in maintaining water cleanliness. The salt-making process involves desalination through reverse osmosis, followed by filtration and concentration of salt. The method ensures the removal of impurities, resulting in a clean, briny, and subtly sweet salt. The paragraph concludes with a description of the final filtration step and the evaporator room where the salt is actually formed into crystals.
🧂 The Art of Salt Harvesting: Patience and Precision
The second paragraph delves into the harvesting process of the salt, which requires patience and attentiveness to environmental factors like temperature and humidity. The use of a specially designed shovel with drainage holes is described to facilitate the continued salt-making process as brine is still active. The importance of timing in harvesting is stressed, as too early or too late can affect the quality of the salt. The harvested salt is rinsed with fresh, cold water to remove any remaining brine. The narrative follows the salt through draining, drying in a dehydrator, and the post-production process where each flake is inspected and sorted for quality. The paragraph concludes with a tribute to the natural beauty and essential nature of salt, highlighting the company's commitment to sustainability and quality.
🍽️ Flavoring the Plate: The Versatility of Handcrafted Salts
The final paragraph showcases the company's pure flake salt, which is highly regarded by chefs nationwide. It also mentions a variety of infused salts, such as rosemary and black garlic salt, which add unique flavors to dishes. The narrative includes a tasting session with oysters from the same bay where the salt is produced, topped with the company's rosemary salt, and black garlic salt on a baguette with butter. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the joy of working in the food industry and the pride the company takes in being a small but significant part of the culinary experience. Each batch of salt is considered a special creation, a work of art that is guided by nature and human craftsmanship.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Salt Making
💡Netarts Bay
💡Salinity
💡Reverse Osmosis
💡Salt Crystallization
💡Harvesting Salt
💡Post-Production
💡Finishing Salt
💡Infused Salt
💡Sustainability
💡Craftsmanship
Highlights
The company is one of the few in the United States that makes salt from seawater on the Oregon coast.
Making great salt consistently from a natural resource like seawater is challenging.
The process takes about two weeks to transform seawater into dry flake salt.
The salt-making facility is located on a high salinity bay, Netarts Bay, which is beneficial for salt production.
Netarts Bay's salinity is enhanced by millions of oysters that naturally filter the seawater.
The intake pipe for seawater is a simple three-inch PVC line.
A reverse osmosis unit is used to desalinate seawater, keeping the salty part.
The process increases the concentration of salt in the seawater dramatically.
Calcium and magnesium are removed to prevent bitterness and ensure a clean salt crystal.
The company's salt is described as clean, briny, and sometimes sweet due to its purity.
Environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect the evaporation and salt-making process.
The final filtration uses three 30-inch .5 micron filters to ensure cleanliness.
Salt is made in large pans, with each batch averaging between 400 and 500 pounds.
The formation of salt crystals is a precise combination of time, temperature, and mineral composition.
Harvesting salt requires patience and a gentle technique to maintain the integrity of the crystals.
The company produces a range of salts, including pure flake and various infused salts.
The harvesting process involves draining, rinsing with fresh cold water, and careful handling to avoid clumping.
Each flake of salt is inspected in post-production to remove impurities and ensure quality.
The company's salt is used by chefs nationwide and is considered a significant part of the culinary experience.
The entire process, from seawater to finished salt, is seen as an art form and a natural product essential to human life.
Transcripts
Browse More Related Video
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)
Thanks for rating: