The Salt Shelf
Three boxes of salt. One teaspoon. Three very different amounts of sodium. A teaspoon measures space, not weight, and salt crystals are not the same size.
Gloria. Her doctor asked her to watch sodium, so she picked up a box of kosher salt because a cousin said it was better. Same recipes, same teaspoon, and she has no idea whether anything changed.
Per gram, all three are the same salt: about 390 to 400 mg of sodium in every gram. What changes is how many grams fit in the spoon. Big airy flakes leave air in the spoon. Fine grains do not.
A day's guide is less than 2,300 mg of sodium, and the American Heart Association calls 1,500 mg the ideal for most adults. One teaspoon can be a big slice of that, or half as big.
One level teaspoon of each salt. Tap a box, then tap the amount you think it puts in the spoon. All three, then check.
Task 1 is done. Task 2 is next.
You matched the shelf. Same salt per gram, three different teaspoons: 2,325 mg for table salt, 1,920 mg for Morton coarse kosher, 1,120 mg for Diamond Crystal kosher.
Task 2 is the part that shows up in a real kitchen. A recipe was written for one box, and you are holding a different one. No hints this time.
Gloria's gumbo card says 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt. The only box in her house is table salt. How much table salt hits the same sodium?
The recipe's teaspoon is 1,120 mg of sodium. Pick a spoon of table salt.