Jacobsen Salt Co. Guide: Netarts Bay Flake and Kosher Salt
Jacobsen Salt Co. makes its flake and kosher sea salts from the water of Netarts Bay, just south of Tillamook on the Oregon coast. Founder Ben Jacobsen tested 27 sites along the Washington and Oregon coasts before landing there. The company also sells a fine sea salt from Trapani in Sicily, a range of infused salts and a run of seasoning blends, and the base salt behind each one says a good deal about how to cook with it.
The bay and the oysters
The company says it chose the spot for its bright salinity, thanks in part to the oysters in the bay, which act as a natural filter. Oregon Sea Grant lists Netarts among the bays where oysters are grown in Oregon, and among the state's six approved shellfish growing areas. NOAA notes that an adult Pacific oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of seawater a day.
The saltworks sits on Whiskey Creek Road in Tillamook. The company says it does not currently offer tours of the salt works to the general public.
From seawater to flake
Jacobsen publishes the outline of its process, and it explains the range.
Seawater is pumped from Netarts Bay, filtered, and passed through a reverse-osmosis unit that further filters and reduces the water to a concentrated saltwater the company calls prebrine. The prebrine is pumped into large boil tanks, where excess minerals are removed and it reduces further to brine. The brine then moves into custom-made evaporation pans, where it is carefully heated.
The flakes are gently scooped from the pans, rinsed, and dried on racks in a dehydrator. Once dry, every flake is sifted, sorted and graded. Fully-formed pyramid flakes become the Pure Flake Sea Salt. Smaller flakes and coarser crystals become the Pure Kosher Sea Salt. The salt is sealed and shipped to Jacobsen's Portland facility for packaging and distribution.
That sorting step is the useful part for a cook. The flake and the kosher come out of the same sequence of tanks and pans, and the grading decides which grain goes where, so choosing between them is a choice about texture and job.
Two grains from one bay
Jacobsen Pure Flake Sea Salt is a pyramid-shaped flake harvested from Netarts Bay. The company describes it as its largest grain, bright and briny, with a delicate texture and crunch, and recommends it for finishing a dish before serving.
Pure Kosher Sea Salt is the everyday cooking salt: coarser-grained crystals from the same Netarts water, which the company describes as delicate and fluffy in texture with a clean, briny flavor, suited to roasting, brining and pickling.
Grain size changes how much salt lands in a spoonful, so a cook moving between grains does well to taste as they go. The salting and grain size guide works through the arithmetic.
The Trapani salt
Jacobsen Pure Fine Sea Salt (shop Jacobsen Pure Fine Sea Salt) is the company's finest grain, harvested from open-air salt ponds fed by the Mediterranean in Trapani, Sicily, and sold under the JSC name. The company describes it as versatile for cooking, baking and seasoning.
Jacobsen's Italian sea salt comes from partners Massimo and Alberta in Trapani, Sicily, at what the company calls some of the world's oldest operating saltworks. Sea water travels by canal into shallow salt pans lined with clay-rich soil, where the sun's heat and steady winds drive the evaporation.
The Italian line also includes Pure Italian Coarse Sea Salt in a glass grinder (shop Pure Italian Coarse Sea Salt) and Disco di Sale, discs of fine Italian sea salt (shop Disco di Sale).
The infused salts
Each infused salt starts from one of the two Netarts grains and adds its infusion.
Yuzu Salt pairs yuzu from Kawanehon-cho, Japan, with Netarts Bay Pure Flake, made in partnership with Snow Peak. The company describes it as tart yet floral with a mildly sweet flavor. Cherrywood Smoked Salt is JSC Flake cold-smoked with cherrywood, which the company suggests for grilled salmon, salads, or peaches and cream. Lemon Zest Salt is JSC Flake infused with fresh lemon zest, for grilled fish, salads and blueberry pie by the company's suggestion.
Pinot Noir Salt is JSC Flake infused with Oregon Pinot Noir, which the company describes as earthy with notes of vanilla and sweet red fruit; it suggests braised beef or berries with ice cream. White Truffle Salt (shop White Truffle Salt) is JSC Flake infused with dried, ground Italian white truffle and a white truffle tincture. The company suggests it for seared beef tenderloin, grilled asparagus, or popcorn.
Three of the kosher-based salts start from garlic. Black Garlic Salt is JSC Kosher infused with the company's house-fermented garlic, which the company describes as slightly sweet umami and suggests for scrambled eggs, pasta, or a bagel with lox. Black Garlic Ginger Salt adds Burlap & Barrel's Buffalo Ginger (shop Buffalo Ginger), an heirloom variety grown in Northern Vietnam, and the company describes the result as slightly sweet umami with a punchy hit of ginger. Garlic Salt (shop Garlic Salt) is JSC Kosher infused with ground and granulated garlic, which the company suggests for roasted chicken and potatoes.
Habanero Salt (shop Habanero Salt) is JSC Kosher infused with dried, ground habanero, which the company describes as a smoky, spicy kick; it suggests grilled corn, pork carnitas or a margarita rim. Rosemary Salt (shop Rosemary Salt) is JSC Kosher infused with fresh rosemary. The company describes it as herbaceous and citrusy and suggests roast lamb, focaccia and shortbread.
The seasoning blends
Steak Seasoning (shop Steak Seasoning) starts with JSC Kosher Sea Salt mixed with a spice blend for steak, pork or chicken. Taco Seasoning (shop Taco Seasoning) and Ramen Seasoning (shop Ramen Seasoning) both start with JSC Fine Sea Salt. The taco blend adds peppers, smoked paprika and herbs, and the ramen blend adds ginger, garlic, white pepper and organic yeast extract.
Savory Turmeric Seasoning (shop Savory Turmeric Seasoning) mixes the fine Italian sea salt with Diaspora Co.'s heirloom, single-origin Pragati turmeric. Italian Seasoning blends Italian herbs, dried lemon and the Trapani fine sea salt. The range also includes Everything Bagel Seasoning (shop Everything Bagel Seasoning).
The Jacobsen range, sorted by base salt
The company names a base salt for every infusion and blend here except Everything Bagel Seasoning. Sorted by that base, the range looks like this:
| Base salt | Where it comes from | Products built on it | Uses the company names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Flake Sea Salt | Netarts Bay, Oregon | Pure Flake; Yuzu; Cherrywood Smoked; Lemon Zest; Pinot Noir; White Truffle | Finishing a dish before serving |
| Pure Kosher Sea Salt | Netarts Bay, Oregon | Pure Kosher; Black Garlic; Black Garlic Ginger; Garlic; Habanero; Rosemary; Steak Seasoning | Roasting, brining, pickling |
| Pure Fine Sea Salt | Trapani, Sicily | Pure Fine; Taco Seasoning; Ramen Seasoning; Savory Turmeric Seasoning; Italian Seasoning | Cooking, baking, seasoning |
Read this way, the range sorts roughly by job. The flake-based salts lean toward the end of cooking, where the crunch survives; Pinot Noir Salt, suggested for braised beef, is the crossover. The kosher-based salts and the steak blend lean toward the cooking itself, on a roast or in a rub, though the company also puts Black Garlic on a bagel with lox and Habanero on a margarita rim. The Taco and Ramen blends go into the dish as it cooks, in a taco filling or a bowl of ramen.
Salt at altitude
For a Colorado cook, elevation changes the cooking around the salt rather than the salt itself. At 5,000 feet, according to Colorado State University Extension, water boils at about 203°F rather than 212°F and liquids evaporate faster. For candy, the extension advises lowering the finish temperature by the difference between local boiling point and 212°F.
A flake finish goes on after the pan comes off the heat, so in the salted caramel sauce recipe the altitude adjustment governs the caramel and the salt arrives last.
Among other sea salts
Pan-evaporated flake is one route among several, and Jacobsen's own range spans two: heated pans at Netarts and the sun-and-wind salt pans of Trapani. Halen Môn on Anglesey holds Protected Designation of Origin status. Fleur de sel is gathered delicately from the surface of the water in the Guérande salt marshes. Maldon in Essex makes a pyramid flake of its own, covered in the Maldon producer guide. The sea salt harvesting guide covers the methods more broadly.
Cooking salt, finishing salt
Garlic Salt (shop Garlic Salt) and Rosemary Salt (shop Rosemary Salt) are kosher-based infusions for cooking, and White Truffle Salt (shop White Truffle Salt) is a flake-based one for finishing. The finishing salt guide covers when a flake earns its place over a cooking salt.
The simplest test is a sliced ripe tomato: a pinch of flake on one half and kosher on the other, both from the same bay.
Sources & Further Reading
- Jacobsen Salt Co.: About Us, on the 27-site search, the Netarts Bay saltworks, the production process and Portland packaging
- Jacobsen Salt Co.: Salt Buying Guide, product-by-product descriptions of the flake, kosher, fine, infused salts and seasonings
- Jacobsen Salt Co.: About Trapani, on the Sicilian saltworks behind the Italian line
- Oregon Sea Grant: Oregon marine aquaculture 2022, listing Netarts Bay among oyster-growing bays and approved shellfish growing areas
- NOAA Fisheries: Pacific oyster, on filtration by adult oysters
- Colorado State University Extension: High Elevation Food Preparation Guide
- GOV.UK: Anglesey Sea Salt / Halen Môn, Protected Designation of Origin
- France.fr: Le sel de Guérande, on the salt marshes and fleur de sel
