I had always thought this was a no-brainer until my girlfriend and I purchased a new set. The dark shaker, which I assumed was meant for pepper, had less holes than the lighter shaker, which I assumed was for the salt. I found this very odd! I pointed it out to a lifetime friend of mine that we had over for dinner the other night.

He replied that the salt shaker was SUPPOSED to have more holes!! At first, I figured he was joking... but he wasn't! I was baffled by this!

I did a little research online and have found that there is actually quite a controversy over this!

I think that salt should have less holes. Too much salt is bad for you. I never put more salt on anything than I do pepper.

What do you think?

Salt has more holes,

Pepper should be in a pepper mill not a shaker anyway.

Also for the best salt, use sea salt, and it is really great in a grinder also, but preground sea salt is still better than regular salt

So you don't even use pepper?

No... he prefers freshly ground pepper over the preground stuff you can buy. Its more pungent and you can sometimes adjust the coarseness of the grinder.

Given a choice I also prefer the pepper mill over the shaker. If I need a lot of ground pepper I use a small coffee grinder to get good quality bulk pepper quickly.

And my understanding is also salt into the one with more holes.

The poor american society has lost the grace of fine eating.

In the finer eating places, that does not mean McDonalds in Canada that uses a french menu, but the waiter will add the pepper for you from a pepper mill for your salad or other meal needs.

We have several pepper mills in our home, one small for the table, and a larger one for cooking, and one for hotter pepper.

We also use a salt grinder for sea salt, although lately I have been buying it in the course pre-ground for a shaker with larger holes.

If you have never used either, you have not lived properly.

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Originally Posted by DrJizzle

I had always thought this was a no-brainer until my gf and I purchased a new set. The dark shaker, which I assumed was meant for pepper, had less holes than the lighter shaker, which I assumed was for the salt. I found this very odd!! I pointed it out to a lifetime friend of mine that we had over for dinner the other night.

He replied that the salt shaker was SUPPOSED to have more holes!?!? At first, I figured he was joking... but he wasnt! I was baffled by this!

I did a little research online and have found that there is actually quite a controvery over this!

I think that salt should have less holes. Too much salt is bad for you. I never put more salt on anything than I do pepper.

What do you think?

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I agree with you. The pepper should have more holes!

That being said, Fr Chuck brings up good points.

In my home, we have a salt shaker, but don't have a pepper shaker. Instead, we have a pepper grinder.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

In the finer eating places, that does not mean McDonalds in Canada that uses a french menu

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And Fr Chuck, all those French signs really do confuse me when I go into McDonald’s :)

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Originally Posted by CaptainForest

And Fr Chuck, all those French signs really do confuse me when I go into McDonald’s :)

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it can't be that bad. I know an iranian who pantomimed "french fries" with his fingers to order at McD's when he was in chem grad school at Nebraska. =)

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Originally Posted by kp2171

it can't be that bad. i know an iranian who pantomimed "french fries" with his fingers to order at McD's when he was in chem grad school at nebraska. =)

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lol

had to look up what "pantomimed" meant, but once I did, I got the joke :)

pantomimed = Communication by means of gesture and facial expression: Some tourists make themselves understood abroad by pantomime.

He was with 6 or 7 other foreign students and his was the best english of the bunch.

He told me he asked for "like this like that" while wiggling his fingers back and forth. I guess they figured it out right away. He laughs about it now.

Traditionally the salt shaker is the one with more holes. However that said you can use the shakers for whatever can easily come out of the holes. For breakfast some people have cinnamon shakers. Or if you are grilling steak you can make your own concoction and have it ready at the grille.
Also many people put grains of rice in with the salt. This will absorb any moisture allowing the salt to run freely and also since they are larger than the holes they will block a hole or two and thus restrict the volume of salt being poured.
If you have guests, don't do any of these things. Tradition tells us what is in the shaker, people don't like surprises on their food.

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Originally Posted by DrJizzle

...I did a little research online and have found that there is actually quite a controvery over this...

...What do you think?

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I think if this is the most controversial thing we run into today, then it's a good day. =)

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Originally Posted by augustknight

traditionally the salt shaker is the one with more holes.

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Apparently, tradition itself, is unclear as to which goes where. According to International Guild of Professional Butlers salt goes in the shaker with less holes (though, they should be larger holes to accomidate the larger grains of salt).

I would have to say that my family was a bit traditional and salt would naturally go in the shaker with less holes, as well.

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Originally Posted by kp2171

i think if this is the most controversial thing we run into today, then its a good day. =)

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LOL very true...

Typically salt shakers have more holes than pepper shakers since people generally use salt less sparingly than pepper. As for health concerns, one can always use less or no salt regardless of how many holes are in the shaker.

HI,
Good question, and as the answers indicate, different views.
The white container is salt, the darker container is pepper.
Or, at least, that is the general designations.
I don't use Salt at all when eating; don't put Salt in anything while cooking either.
My High Blood Pressure has been under control, normal readings now, for years using medication daily. Salt (Or Sodium content) is the Number 1 offender against maintaining good blood pressure! Potato chips are out, unless one can only eat one or two.
A typical can of Campbell's soup contains over 2,000 mg of Sodium, if you eat a whole can! Love Campbell's soups, but can't eat them.

I have never heard of a controversy surrounding this before! Almost ALWAYS, the salt shaker has FEWER holes (ie one) and the pepper shaker has about five or six holes. This goes for UK and Ireland, and is very consistent.
When in the US/Canada again, I will exercise caution when seasoning my food, just in case!
Is it a geographical difference then or what?

I've heard salt has more holes, pepper is less because people don't like pepper as much as salt, or so I've been told.

Wow, I had to really dig up my reasoning and apparently I'm with Dr Jizzle on this one.

The one with the fewer holes often has slightly larger holes too so I've concluded all these years for that to contain salt.

That leaves the pepper going in the one with more and often smaller holes for two reasons:
1. it tends to be ground finer in its store-bought condition than salt
2. being a physically lighter and less flowing spice it would need more holes in order to avoid shaking and shaking and shaking it.

Can't have uneven shaking now, can we? :eek: lol

And if we want to get really Miss Manners about it, then don't be passing the one without the other, well, except to Fred! :p

I've always been told that the salt goes in the shaker with more holes. Actually, my salt and pepper shakers are identical. The only way to tell them apart is that the salt shaker has 3 holes, and the pepper shaker 2. We don't use much salt at our house. I've bought 3 containers of salt in 9 years of marriage, and 2 of them were for making salt clay.:)

My mother always filled some of the holes in the salt shaker with super glue, to cut down on my father's salt consumption.

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Originally Posted by Jbear

My mother always filled some of the holes in the salt shaker with super glue, to cut down on my father's salt consumption.

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That's classic!

Yes, I stand strong in my way and the salt will always be in the shaker with fewer holes in my house.

Too much salt is bad for you and it just doesn't taste very good! Lol