How to Use Six Great Salts (In Moderation)
What single ingredient can make or break a dish? The answer is salt. Many readers ask us about the different types of salts—table salt, kosher salt, and so on. Let’s look at six common salts and their best use.
Whether it’s used to form a crust around a thick juicy steak, or sprinkled over a chewy chocolate-covered caramel, salt makes food memorable. Too much and you’ve blown it, too little and you’ve missed an opportunity to make taste buds explode. It’s also calorie free. That “salty” taste is one of the most desired flavors by humans, capable of making fruit sweeter, minimizing bitterness in things like cruciferous veggies and adding texture and crunch to pretzels.
As an essential nutrient, we mine it thousands of feet beneath the Earth’s crust and harvest it from the sea. For millennia, salt has been an important commodity. Slaves in ancient Rome were bought with it. The wages of a Roman soldier, who was paid partially in salt, were cut if he “wasn’t worth his salt.”
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6 Types of Salt
Today, there are so many different types of salt—pink, grey, black, table, etc. Which one to choose? Salt’s salt, right? Well, no. Here’s the shakedown on some of the most common salts you’ll find and how best to use them.
1. Table Salt
In the United States, most table salts are iodine fortified. The essential mineral is important for combatting iodine-related thyroid disorders. Highly processed, table salt is stripped of any minerals and often contains an anti-caking additive. Try it in pasta water and in recipes that require very exact measurements like baked goods.
2. Kosher
Named for the Jewish process of meat preparation which requires that meat be devoid of blood, kosher salt with its large coarse crystals does an excellent job. Its milder flavor lends itself well to most recipes. It’s also fast to dissolve and just as good on a steak as it is on popcorn.
3. Pickling Salt
Also called preserving salt or canning salt, pickling salt contains no additives (like anti-caking ingredients) and therefore won’t cloud pickling water. The fine granules are easy to dissolve and should be kept in an air-tight container to prevent clumping. It’s a very concentrated salt and one should use a less is more approach when working with it. Great for vegetable gardeners wanting to preserve the flavors of summer.
4. Himalayan Pink Salt
Harvested in the foothills of the Himalayas, this pink salt gets its distinct coloring from the minerals it contains, mostly iron (rust). As the fashionable salt of the moment, it’s favored by many who tout its many health benefits. All that aside, it has a slightly lower sodium content than regular salt and probably looks hipper on the dinner table than its counterpart. Personally, I can’t detect much of a difference.
5. Black Salt
Looking for an “eggy” flavor to add to your recipes? This salt’s for you. Commonly used in Southeast Asian recipes, black salt (or Kala namak) has a strong Sulphuric odor due to the Indian spices and herbs that are heated into it at extremely high temperatures. Seeds from the harad fruit contain Sulphur that is released into the salt during the cooking process. While very pungent as it cooks in a recipe, the odor dissipates and leaves behind an eggy flavor great for egg-free dishes.
6. Sea Salt
This salt is derived from evaporated seawater and is harvested all over the world. It can be found in fine, coarse or flaked textures with variances in color based on the minerals it contains. Crystalline varieties are best for adding that finishing touch to just-cooked foods like salmon. Even a salad would benefit from a pinch. Flaked sea salt is fast-dissolving and an excellent choice sprinkled over vegetables. Fleur de Sel (which means “flower of salt” in French), the Cadillac of all salts, is hand-harvested from coastal salt ponds in France. This isn’t an ordinary seasoning, but one best used as a garnish over a dish just before serving. It comes with a hefty price tag too. You might even consider announcing its presence to your guests who can then ooohhh and aaahhhh.
At approximately $30 per pound, this salt has special occasion sprinkled all over it.
Which type of salt do you most often use (if any)? Or is there another seasoning you prefer? Let us know in the comments!
Learn More
Did you know: Salt can also work to fix many of our unexpected challenges around the house. Here are some of our favorite household uses of salt.
And let’s talk about salt’s partner: pepper! Here’s a wonderful post on where pepper comes from—and its surprising health benefits.
Heather Blackmore
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Table Salt: Commonly used for cooking, baking, and seasoning food.
Kosher Salt: Coarser grains, used for koshering meat and general seasoning.
Sea Salt: Derived from seawater, it retains minerals and imparts a distinctive flavor.
Himalayan Pink Salt: Mined from the Himalayan region, used in cooking and as a finishing salt for its mild flavor and aesthetic appeal.
Black Salt (Kala Namak): Used in Indian cuisine for its unique sulfurous flavor.
Flavored or Infused Salts: Various salts infused with herbs, spices, or other ingredients to add additional flavors to dishes.
In your article you refer to southeast asia as the producer and main user of black salt, It is INDIA you are referring to and it is SOUTH ASIA, NOT southeast!
Thanks for the information. Very interesting. My wife tends to over-salt everything. More is definitely not better !
hi, Himalayan salt is a natural ingredient we can use Himalayan salt for different purposes in our daily routine. here 786 enterprises provide Himalayan salt with their natural taste.
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I StumbleUpon every
day. It’s always helpful to read through articles from other writers and practice a
little something from other websites.
Thank you for featuring this article. A trusted Naturopath says to use Celtic salt, meaning from the Celtic Sea. It's highly expensive so I've had regular sea salt but am concerned about the toxic waters these days too. Mainly using pink salt and some black - yes, it's stinky.
There is Iranian salt also. I've been trying to get one of the Persian salt lamps for a
long time.
If you have high blood pressure like myself, it's best to leave the salt alone! you can cook with herbs and spices. there is several different flavors of Mrs. Dash on the market now along with other things for flavor. I also like cooking with salt free beef and chicken broth. Adds a ton of flavor.
There's another kind of salt to add. "Iodized and Plain Salt" (which doesn't contain Iodine). I'm allergic to Iodine and when I eat it (or put too much on my food) I start turning red all over my chest, stomach and back. (I'm not supposed to eat shrimp which contains a lot of Iodine, but I do still eat it). As a kid growing up, after "eating", I'd start turning red on my abdomen. Dr.s' finally figured it out and said "No More Salt " with Iodine and told Mom to use "PLAIN SALT" instead. I stopped turning red after that. Ever since then, I've had to make sure it was plain salt or use just a little bit or not at all. So "PLAIN AND IODIZED SALT" are another "2 Different" kind of salt. Thought readers that are also allergic to Iodine can still enjoy salt on food without worrying about getting sick or a rash from the Allergy.
Iodized salt does not contain iodine. It contains iodide. Different substance.
