re: Where did the kosher salt go?

Coarse Kosher salt does not start out as coarse salt. The salt is table salt in size and then it is put through a roller press which compresses the grains together to make very thin flat piece of salt.

Next the salt "flakes" go into a vibrating screener that has several different size screens. The vibrating action helps to break up the flakes. The top screen is the coarse size, the next size a little smaller, and the bottom screen is the dust or flour salt.

Each company may use slightly different mesh size screens, so one company may have a coarser salt size than another company. Also the holes in the screen will start to get salt pieces caught in them. If the screen is not routinely cleaned, this will effect the end product.

These screens are big and heavy and require 2 or 3 people to take them apart. Also the screens are stretched very tight and made of very small wire which is prone to breaking after a few weeks of use.