Ingredients and Equipment Needed
Salt – You can do this with any salt, really, but I recommend coarse blends for finishing. Coarse salt also holds up well to blending and processing. Kosher salt and coarse sea salt are great options. I’ve also made this with finer blends of Hawaiian pink salt with good success, though keep in mind pink salt will affect the finished color. I would however avoid plain table salt. Herbs – This process will work with most any herb. Some are more concentrated and flavorful when dried (like rosemary). You can use one herb, or a blend of several. Additional Flavors – In addition to fresh herbs, you can also include things like fresh garlic, ginger, citrus peel, or chili flakes. See info box below for more info. Food Processor – I have found best results with a food processor. I’ve also made herb salts in my high-powered Blendtec blender. If using a blender, my experience was that it pulverized the salt to almost a powder. If you’re going to use a blender, I suggest blending the herbs as much as you can first, and then adding only half the salt and blending just enough. Stir in the additional salt by hand.
Citrus zest – Lemon, lime, and orange are all lovely flavors to add. Use a microplane zester to remove zest, if you use a normal cheese grater or knife, you will likely include the bitter pith. A microplane will remove just the peel, which contains the flavored oils. Fresh Ginger – Instead of chopping ginger, which will result in large chunks that take a long time to dry, use a fine-hole grater or microplane. Garlic – For fresh garlic use a garlic press to very finely process the garlic before blending. Garlic can take a little longer to dry out so you might need to air dry your salt a little longer if you decide. You could also simply add garlic powder or granulated dry garlic to your finished herb salt. Chili Flakes – For a kick, you might enjoy chili flakes in your herb salt. You can stir whole dry chili flakes into your finished mixture, or you can process the chili flakes with the herbs and salt to release more of the spicy oils and disperse the flecks of chili flakes.
