Harvesting Sea Salt

Take a large non reactive container to a clean ocean. Collect 10L water - from past the break line if you can to avoid excessive sand. Haul it home. I leave my water to settle so the sand sinks to the bottom. Line a sieve with paper coffee filters. Gently pour the salt water through the lined sieve into a large preserving pan. This removes any fine debris and remaining sand. Bring to the boil. It will take a few hours to evaporate the water. Stir on occasion, particularly as you get close to the last litre of water. It may look like nothing is happening, however you will reach a point when quite quickly the salt flakes precipitate out of the liquid. Continue to gently evaporate, stirring frequently, until you have mushy salt in the bottom of the pan. Take off the heat. Dry the salt on a tray in the sun or in a dehydrator. Stir occasionally through this process to avoid a hard mass of salt. Keep as slightly coarser grains or process into a powder if desired. 10L sea water makes around 500g dry salt.

I was inspired to harvest salt after reading Pascal Baudar’s The New Wildcrafted Cuisine.

Brunswick Heads beach