Which shaker DOES the salt go in? Does it matter? There is an actual salt and pepper rule. To identify the salt and pepper shakers, it all has to do with the number and size of the holes and your level of commitment to insanity.
People are creatures of habit and of doing things just because that's the way they're done. This is the only explanation for why we leave pie to the end of the meal instead of the more obvious choice of EATING IT FIRST. It's just the way it's done.
Unless it's Blueberry pie because blueberry pie as you probably know is one of The 4 True Pies all of which can be eaten before, during or after meals.
The other thing most of us do is put the salt in the shaker with the most amount of holes. The pepper goes in the shaker with the fewer amount of holes. That is the "rule".
The Salt & Pepper Shaker Rule
Because we're law abiding citizens and we like to follow rules to help maintain a balanced life and orderly society, we do this. We follow the salt and pepper rule.
Well I am here to tell you right now that society is about to become unhinged. It might make more sense to break the salt and pepper rule. I know. Everybody calm down.
I broke all the rules when I went on record declaring I didn't like the Instant Pot after testing it for a month.
Here's the reasoning behind my thumbing my nose at social norms for salt and pepper. Pepper is bigger and lighter. It has a harder time flowing out of the holes. Salt is finer and heavier. It has an easier time flowing out of holes. So doesn't it make sense to put the pepper in the shaker with more holes, and the salt in the shaker with fewer holes?
Yes. I think it does. It does make sense.
And before you start running for the bomb shelter and screaming through the streets, consider this. I actually changed my salt and pepper shakers over 9 years ago. And since then society has stayed pretty much the same. Aside from ... you know.
Of course I don't really use my salt and pepper shakers. I have the pepper grinder I turned myself for all my pepper needs.
And for salt I keep it in a wood bowl and usually just use my fingers to grab some. Why yes, I *do* get salt under my nails every time I do this.
I know about now you're thinking about switching around your salt and pepper shakers but you're worried. What will people think of you? What will happen at the next family dinner when people shake the salt and pepper comes flying out? Nothing. Nothing will happen. Frankly their eyebrows will be so long they won't be able to see which is which anyway.
Fun Facts About Salt
1. Until 100 years ago or so, pound bars of salt were the basic currency in Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia). Some say in very small regions it is still treated as currency.
2. In the early 1800s salt was 4 times as expensive as beef on the frontier – it was essential in keeping people and livestock alive.
3. Kosher salt is indeed, not kosher. It gets its name because the larger salt you know as kosher salt, is what was used when koshering (removing blood from) meat. Larger, salt crystals allowed the surface blood to be removed without absorbing into the meat. So kosher salt could be washed off without affecting the taste of the meat unlike a fine salt.
4. There are 32 references to salt in the bible, the first one being in The Book of Job.
5. Salt is poisonous. But only when consumed in large quantities. That's why in China it used to be a way of committing suicide. And quite a reputable one at that. All the upper crust chose to commit suicide by salt because it was so expensive. Even in a suicidal state there's time for elitism.
6. One of the first known taxes in the world was issued in the year 2200 BC by the Chinese emperor Hsia Yu. He taxed salt. Perhaps it was a way to cut down on suicides.
7. Throughout time, salt has typically been used as money. At one point it was known to trade at the same value as gold. So one ounce of salt was worth the same as an ounce of gold.
Fun Facts About Pepper
1. Historically, pepper was also worth a lot of money, but my sense is that the pepper people are just trying to keep up with all the good salt stories.
2. Andddd that about concludes the "interesting pepper facts".
Not convinced by the salt and pepper rules? You can drill bigger holes into your shakers. Read my tutorial about it here.
Leanne
My trash can is across the room from my sink. I have never been able to whistle. My pepper is in a grinder. Now what do I do? ;)
Karen
Go back to whatever bizarro planet you're *really* from! ~ karen p.s. Just a reminder that the site will be undergoing maintenance later this evening and you might not be able to access it.
Diane
Just discovered your blog, sent by a friend who loves the same things in life that I do.
My poor husband is now trying to watch his weekly fix of western movies or 'dusters' as he likes to call them,(doesn't make them anymore palatable)while I am forcing him to look at the things WE WILL BE BUILDING soon from your site. HE doesn't like you as much as I do...
sera
Despite using both salt and pepper grinders, my husband just yesterday asked me why we don't just have salt and pepper shakers. Well then, I guess he just requested that I GO BUY SOMETHING, woo hoo!
And at this moment in time, our garbage is not under the kitchen sink because it is a large dual garbage, recycle bin with a foot pedal and a slow closing lid, and I have a separate foot petal bin for compost. Plus if it's out of sight, it's way too out of mind for my husband. Before we moved in together, he had piles of garbage that fell out and into the back of the under the sink. Ew.
Valerie
I use a grinder for my pepper and a little glass container for sea salt... the vintage owl shakers I have are apparently purely for decoration.
Karen
Valerie! Oooo I love vintage salt and pepper shakers. I'm gonna do a post featuring some of them soon! ~ karen
Valerie
Excellent!
These are the ones I have: http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_570xN.59135945.jpg
Karen
I *love* those! Wow. Looking at them makes me feel like I should be watching Sonny & Cher on television. While eating Hamburger Helper with a side of Rice A Roni for dinner. ~ karen!
Elaine
Oh, I can’t wait for that Post, Karen!! ... although I may shed a tear or two. I had a large collection (of shakers) and gave it all away when I moved from a house to a condo.
kasia
WOW! I actually, really, for all of my adult life, which is way over --, well nevermind that... No, really I thought salt went in the one with FEWER holes, because you should eat less salt, so this must be the correct one, in order to limit salt intake...
I notice now that my shakers have holes with an S and P shape, so that certainly made that easier ... but the S has LESS holes.
Hmmm.....
Karen
Hmmmm. :) I think the world is moving towards "our" way of thinking and newer salt and pepper shakers work that way. They didn't so much care about their salt intake in the olden days. They pretty much would have been pleased with a dinner of a salt lick in the olden days. ~ karen
Holly
I've always done the same thing - for the past 40 years! More holes=pepper.
liz
I've always had mine that way and the reasoning was that I like a lot of pepper and we are supposed to be cutting down on our salt intake. That's the only way I can keep it straight!
Britt
I've got a grinder for the pepper and a grinder for salt. I'm Australian though so maybe we're just odd...
Brigette
This makes sense, but what are your dinner guest reactions? Outrage? Confusion? Are they the ones turning into slutty teenagers?
Peggy, aka MsSippi
Oh, and the trash compactor is about 25 years old. We got it when we got a garbage pickup service, because one garbage can wouldn't hold all the trash that our kids generated. It's also great for crushing aluminum cans, too!
Peggy, aka MsSippi
No, Karen, I don't hunt! We just like to have a big dog in the yard, but NOT in the house! We live in the boonies, so a big dog is handy to have around for protection and to sound the alarm when someone comes over. Actually, they're our grandson's dogs. Our DD and grandson live on a busy highway, and the dogs live here so they won't get run over!
Karen
LOL! I only asked because my dad was a hunter and he had hound dogs he kept outside. He insisted since they were hunting dogs they'd rather be outside. I got angry at him every time he went hunting, but looking back on it there was no need. I can't remember him ever actually hitting anything. LOL. ~ karen
Stacey
I could never remember which one pepper is supposed to go in. So, I put the pepper in the one with more holes because 'pepper' has more letters than 'salt'.
Jasmine
Lol!!!!! That's exactly why I did it!!! Makes total sense, right? Then I had a discussion with my family members one night about which goes where because my hubby did not agree with how I had it set up, and they all agreed that I had it right. So, I asked them why they did it that way, and they said because you are supposed to use less salt, so use the one with fewer holes....it was way more logical than my reason...
Emmy Jay
This never comes up in our house: we have 3 grinders (1 each for black and multi-colored peppercorns, 1 for smoked sea salt) and a small covered ceramic pot with a little wooden spoon for regular salt. I think we have some ground white pepper in the spice cabinet that came in a shaker, but we pull the shaker top off when we use it and use a spoon. (a very *small* spoon -- that stuff is wicked spicy!)
Karen
Hi Emmy! That's a lotta pepper! :) We have salt and pepper in shakers on the kitchen table, shakers and sometimes a cellar in the dining room and a multi coloured peppercorn grinder for cooking. Phew. I just can't get the hang of those tiny spoons. The salt always ends up in a bit blog in the middle of my dish. :( ~ karen
Chrissy
We, Karen? Did I miss something? New roommate, perhaps?
Kate Budacki
Oh Emmy, my kind of gal! I wonder how many kinds of vinegar you have. I use white, apple cider, white wine, red wine, malt, and a Japanese I cannot live without. Too many? No, I need them all, just like all those different salts. And my favorite salt shaker just has ONE hole one it.
Karen O.
Funny story... I got an adorable little piggie shaped salt and pepper set from my sister for Christmas. Then proceeded to have this exact discussion. I was reasoning the exact way that you were, that the pepper is larger and should go in the shaker with more holes because it's harder to get out.
Jacque
Well... I am unbalanced... but my trash is under my kitchen sink. It used to set at the end of my counter by the laundry room, but the dog kept getting into it, so I put it the only place he couldn't get to it... under the sink.
Valerie
I used to put raw rice in both shakers to keep everything shaking cleanly but found pop corn a better alternative. I once lived in a house that had a "compactor" for garbage and it was fabulous; particularly so as most garbage pick up restricts the number of bags. Of course the solitary bag containing the compacted garbage weighed about one ton.
CJ
So...um...what do you call it when you keep your salt in the laundry for preserving the colours of your handwashing?
Karen
CJ - *shiver* Well that's just frightening. I don't even know what you'd call that. I'm wavering between socially maladjusted and ingenious. ~ karen
Elaine
Hi CJ ... I must Google that salt tip today and see if it works well on black clothing. My black t-shirts and tops, etc. fade SO darn fast and look old after just a few washings. I think I remember my Mum doing that salt trick way back in my youth - thanks for the reminder.
Paula Raymond
I must be super shifty - my trash isnt under the sink & my salt & pepper aren't in any kind of shakers at all... OMG WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!?!?!?!
Bill Grigg
Having always known I was unbalanced, it is a relief to find out it is due to my garbage can not being located under the kitchen sink!
I have a set of LEGO shakers, and they have the same amount of holes, the black one is for pepper, and the salt is white, of course. However, I don't use them. I have a salt dish so I can take a pinch or more at a time to sprinkle on my food. I've always found salt shakers were too liberal for my taste.
Fresh ground pepper is the rule in my home, so no pepper shaker in use, either.
Peggy, aka MsSippi
I've always put my salt in the shaker with the fewest holes and the pepper in the shaker with the most holes, and thought everybody did it that way!
I don't keep my garbage can under the sink, either. Left-over food gets served to the outside dogs, and stuff they can't/won't eat goes in the garbage disposal. Trash goes in the trash compactor at the end of my kitchn cabinets.
Karen
Peggy! O.K. You have outside dogs? You must hunt. And you have a bona fide trash compactor!! I'd love one of those. 2 garbage cans under my sink. One for "garbage", one for compostable stuff that goes into green bin. ~ k!
Visual Vamp
And my garbage can is not under the sink, and I am not shifty. Quirky yes, shifty no. And I use salt cellars not salt shakers. Lord help me!
xo xo
Karen
Visual Vamp ~ Well ... you're hardly a good judge of whether you're shifty or not. Shifty people never think they're shifty! :) I know everyone uses salt cellars/pigs, but I've never liked them. I have some beautiful antique sterling cellars, but ... I don't like using my fingers 'cause the salt gets under my nails and sticks there, and I feel like I can't control the little spoon enough to add the correct amount of salt. Basically I'm not coordinated enough to use salt cellars. Which is unfortunate. ~ karen!