What to use pretzel salt for other than pretzels?

July 30, 2012 1:45 PM

I enjoy soft pretzels, but over time I've acquired many, many little bags of pretzel salt that come in the package of pretzels. Yes, maybe I should throw them away. But first - what can I do with them?

In the past, I have used the salt when I needed a large amount to dye some cloth. And one freezy evening when we didn't have traditional rock salt on hand I actually had enough on hand to sprinkle the front steps so nobody would kill themselves.

But yeah, I still have this gallon bag filled with little packages of pretzel salt. Suggestions?

posted by printchick to food & drink (19 answers total)

Can you make your own soft pretzels?
posted by sperose at 1:50 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'd just get a salt grinder for my dining room table and consider it a lifetime supply.
posted by Beardman at 1:51 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't know your location but if you live near woods you can make salt licks for the local deer.

I have made this yummy recipe several times. I am actually soaking chicken in sugar and salt as we type.

Don't forget that you can mummify people ;)
posted by iconomy at 1:53 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

You don't want to eat it?
Maybe use it for salt-crusted fish.
posted by travelwithcats at 1:57 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Brine your chicken with the salt. Your chicken will thank you.
posted by HeyAllie at 2:03 PM on July 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

Use it in a recipe that calls for coarse salt. I just made some Zucchini fritters that would have benefited greatly from that salt instead of the sea salt I used.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:07 PM on July 30, 2012

Maybe this is a dumb answer, but, uh, you could empty them into a salt shaker.
posted by threeants at 2:20 PM on July 30, 2012

Mail them to me. I was just having a chat with my boss the other day about how we both go nuts for soft pretzel salt.
posted by phunniemee at 2:26 PM on July 30, 2012

Make your own! It's mentioned above but without a recipe - so here is one I've used successfully. Making soft pretzles is not hard at all, assuming they don't have to look perfect. Mine always puff up into themselves but still taste great.
posted by Wretch729 at 2:29 PM on July 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

Oh, but a word of caution if you use nice teflon baking sheets - make sure you do use parchment paper or foil over the baking sheets or the salt can do weird things to the surface of the pan.
posted by Wretch729 at 2:31 PM on July 30, 2012

Or if you have friends who bake, give it to them with a soft pretzel recipe. It could even be part of a gift basket with some flour and yeast.
posted by chickenmagazine at 2:48 PM on July 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Salt potatoes?
posted by kmennie at 3:00 PM on July 30, 2012

add some scented essential oil and maybe another oil like coconut or almond or olive and use as a homemade exfoliator on your skin
posted by saraindc at 3:06 PM on July 30, 2012

I use crappy salt (rather than my good sea salt) to clean hard-to-remove crust on my cast iron skillet (which you're not supposed to use soap on), as well as on eggplant slices before cooking (you sprinkle salt on them to make them 'sweat', then squeeze out the moisture and they taste a lot better--less bitter).
posted by lovableiago at 3:08 PM on July 30, 2012 [2 favorites]

If you like this sort of thing, maybe you could sprinkle a little bit on ice cream?
posted by triggerfinger at 3:30 PM on July 30, 2012

Get yourself an Ice Cream Maker, in the mean time you can use a Ziploc Bag.
posted by zinon at 3:42 PM on July 30, 2012

Pickling!
posted by Drasher at 3:43 PM on July 30, 2012

I use kosher salt for cast-iron skillet scrubbing and for making my own salt bagels (buy Trader Joe's plain bagels, smoosh them into salt before toasting).
posted by rhizome at 5:07 PM on July 30, 2012

Use it to defrost your freezer?
posted by IndigoRain at 9:31 PM on July 30, 2012