Centuries of salt making on the Pacific coast | Oregon Field Guide

The legacy of salt making is explored, from the days of Lewis and Clark to the modern salt-making facilities of Jacobsen Salt Company.
For more stories like this visit OPB online at opb.org
Oregon Public Broadcasting aims to elevate and amplify the community, connect Oregon and its neighbors, and illuminate a wider world through stories. OPB Every Day. OPB Everywhere.
One way to support OPB and the work of public media is to subscribe to our channel for new OPB videos every month: www.youtube.co...
Member support makes all the videos on the OPB KZbin channel possible, and everything else you love. Ensure the next important story is covered and join in as a Sustainer now at give.opb.org/o...
#jacobsensalt #salt #saltmaking #OPB #Oregon #PacificNorthWest

[@supereight9221]

The best naps of my lifetime occur while I watch documentaries of salt and I love me some salt

[@tomtroy3792]

I love naps I take a lot of them now that I'm 65 years old I think I'll take one right now

[@ElakhaAlliance]

Jacobsen Salt Co is amazing! We appreciate that they care about protecting our marine ecosystems.

[@AustinSPTD1996]

My folks and I enjoy Jacobsen Salt Company, and I was intrigued to learn about the mechanisms behind their luxurious sea salts. :)

[@davec9244]

Learn something new every day thank you ALL stay safe

[@kappistarr3484]

Wow! I truly enjoyed this. ✨

[@joy9008]

Enjoyed this very much. Thanks! How did the local Native Americans historically get salt? Did they have a salt trade of any kind? Would be interested in that story if possible.

[@hervvo]

salt crystals are beautiful, I'm jealous of the lady who really loves the craft of what she does ❤

[@theobserver9131]

Is there no salt where you live? Jealousy is a silly choice.

[@BriManeely]

This is fascinating!

[@eyvindr]

I made salt from seawater once on a stovetop. You just need to 'harvest' it from the water at the right time as the crystals are forming, like the guy from Jacobsen says. Otherwise it re-dissolves and becomes a grey mush like the historical reenactment.

[@debbiesaylor6414]

So cool 💯

[@willjennings7191]

For the reverse osmosis process, I would add ash to the area where water is drawn from the ocean, to kosher the source. For the re-enactment process, it would be interesting to see someone attempt with clay pots and a brick stove.

[@scottk4100]

Thank you for the excellent program. Really enjoyed the contrasting historical and modern storylines. Great perspectives.

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

I came here to watch water boil. I was not disapointed.

[@greyghostjay]

That's cool.

[@russellzauner]

He has to go check it every day. It's on public property and you can't put up a private fence or anything like that. You always check your gear before starting up for the day but in this case there's a double need - nothing privately owned can be built there and even if it could it couldn't be secured physically anyhow. 🙂 The entire Oregon Coast is public property - in fact, public access is required by law at regular intervals, which is why you observe so many places to get down to the ocean (even if hundreds of vertical feet of stairs need to be built) and why there are so many full featured campgrounds, state and national parks, and locations where the public can harvest their own food along the entire length without having to set foot in a boat.

[@davidb2206]

There is no safe food in the ocean anymore. Mercury, radiation, PFAS and tons of plastics daily from China. The stuff will end your life, prematurely.

[@thePrisoner1000]

And OPB has a video on it!

[@tonycloud6588]

For the reenactment guys fyi the main step you're missing is to transfer the water after it boils down to another vat after it cools below 110f then reheating to 150f and the salt will grow on the surface and not be grey full of calcium

[@Tinman97301]

Oh my, i have been looking for flake salt for months now. Its harder to find then you think.

[@danp4769]

Wouldn’t the copper make it poisonous? I heard when using copper pots you have to be careful not to cook something that leeches the copper.

[@suzettecalleja3122]

In Europe there are salt beds by the Mediterranean.

[@jacobaccurso]

My new favorite vocalist: Saline-a Gomez

[@farber2]

Is the water tested for pollution?

[@zeideerskine3462]

Historically, salt is made by air drying not boiling.

[@adamyoung480]

Evaporation.

[@haileybalmer9722]

That was sort of disappointing. When I read "Centuries of salt making", I thought you would at least touch on indigenous methods of producing salt. It was definitely a hot trade commodity for this region.

[@johnransom1146]

A lot like making maple sugar

[@adamyoung480]

Aloha. Completely different beast.

[@johnransom1146]

@@adamyoung480 you evaporate maple syrup to get the solid sugar. This is exactly the same chump. Have you made either

[@adamyoung480]

@@johnransom1146 Aloha. My parents and I used to make our own syrup in Ohio. We’d tap a tree, add a bucket, check twice a day, build a fire, big ass pot, continually add liquid, reduce to syrup, voila maple syrup! Time consuming, yes. Worth it? Also yes. The only similarities is heat for reduction.

[@johnransom1146]

@@adamyoung480 you’re mansplaining that to a Canadian?

[@adamyoung480]

@@johnransom1146 Aloha. You made a comparison between the two techniques. You asked whether I had ever made either. You called me a chump. You could be from Timbuktu for all I know.

[@sirclarkmarz]

You can't make salt . You can harvest it you can collect it you can gather it . All the filter is has already been made .

[@davidb2206]

What about the MERCURY, Fukushima radiation, and other contaminants in the sea today?

[@nathankoroush7918]

I was thinking the same thing, guess it doesn't matter anyways it is everywhere.

[@davidb2206]

@@nathankoroush7918 No, it is not in the mined salt from land. I stopped buying or using all sea salt after the Japanese released their "safe" water (that they should have been made to drink in the Tokyo municipal water supply because they said it is "safe").

[@jessebarlow1277]

@@davidb2206 This isn't how mercury exposure works. you're missing the important piece called "bioaccumulation." methylmercury is what is harmful to humans, not metallic mercury. it isn't really found in seawater, it accumulates up the food chain to fish, starting with bacteria that feed on metallic mercury and produce methylmercury. Methylmercury won't show up in sea salt, only large fish (and maybe rice - but that's another story that's still unfolding). And the Fukushima disaster has been studied to death from the spike in funding research that resulted from American public panic - it has no health impacts outside Japan. Until the '90s, the largest agricultural producers in the U.S. and big tobacco companies, would amend soils with "municipal sludge" which is exactly what it sounds like and was usually rich in heavy metals. Corn and onions don't take up much metals from the soil, but tobacco soaks them up like a sponge. Tobacco farms outside the U.S. still use municipal sludge, and almost all tobacco consumed in the U.S. is imported. Your concerns about exposure to pollutants are well founded but I think you'll benefit from a more scientific approach. there are great lectures from scientists working in the field, you can find them on KZbin, it's not all locked behind a paywall in the ivory tower of science.

[@davidb2206]

@@jessebarlow1277 On the FDA's website are the results of their regular testing of fish. ALL of the game fish contain mercury. Cadmium has been found in both coffee and chocolate to such a level that California has now passed a labeling law and demands testing for it. THAT is science, my friend.

[@jessebarlow1277]

@@davidb2206 yeah that's what i'm saying, it's in the fish, not the water and the salt.

[@DM-wp9vq]

I keep meaning to drive up to Netarts and buy some salt from them directly. Gotta grab me some fresh cheese and the Tillamook Cheese Factory as well! It's been awhile since I was last there. Living in Newport my whole life, I really don't have a good excuse for not just driving up there. Maybe when school is back in and the tourism calms down a bit. Every drive I've ever been on along our coastline is amazing. Whether it's a fall/winter storm, or a beautifully sunny day, or even at night (especially with a full moon, the ocean glistens with phytoplankton), it's always a great drive/journey!