Salts

Salt is sodium chloride, mined from underground deposits or left behind when seawater or other salty brine evaporates. Kitchen salts differ less in what they are than in the size and shape of their crystals, which changes how much fits in a spoon.

How to choose Salts

  • Crystal size. Kosher salt and many sea salts have larger crystals than table salt, so fewer fit in a teaspoon. Weigh salt, or adjust when a recipe was written for another kind.
  • Iodized or plain. US labels must say either that a salt supplies iodide or that it does not, so that line tells you which kind is in the box.
  • Sea salt. Seawater is only about 3.5 percent salt by weight, so making sea salt means driving off a great deal of water by evaporation.

About Salts

Salts used in cooking are nearly all sodium chloride, and the differences come from how they are made. Sea salt is what is left when seawater evaporates. Table salt is mined from deposits and refined to a fine, even grain, usually with an additive so it pours freely.

One way to make flaky salt is to simmer filtered seawater in open steel pans until pyramid-shaped crystals form, then rake or lift them out by hand and dry them. Salt has been made from seawater on England's Essex coast since at least the Late Iron Age, at sites now called red hills, where brine was heated over hearths in clay pans. Some salts carry protected names, such as Anglesey sea salt from Wales.

Plain salt never goes bad. Keep it in a cool, dry place, or in an airtight container if the kitchen runs damp.

At a glance

Made from
Mined rock salt, or evaporated seawater and brine
Main types
Table, kosher, sea, flaky, smoked and infused
Label terms
Iodized, supplies iodide, does not supply iodide
Unopened
Plain salt keeps indefinitely in a dry place

Salts questions

Is kosher salt saltier than table salt?

By weight they are about the same, since table, kosher and most sea salts are all roughly 40 percent sodium. By volume, kosher salt is less salty, because its larger crystals leave more air in the spoon and fewer crystals fit. That is why a recipe written for one salt can come out over or under seasoned with the other unless you weigh it.

Which salt is right for pickling?

Canning or pickling salt is the usual recommendation. Table salt, iodized or not, also works in fermented and quick pickles, but the anticaking additive that keeps it pouring freely can turn the brine cloudy. Flaky salt is not recommended, because its density varies so much that a measured spoonful holds an unpredictable amount of salt.

Where does the salt in the sea come from?

Mostly from rocks on land. Slightly acidic rain wears down rock and releases ions, tiny electrically charged particles, and streams and rivers carry them to the ocean, where they build up. Vents on the seafloor add more. Sodium and chloride make up about 85 percent of what is dissolved.

Sources: US Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 100.155); NOAA National Ocean Service; National Center for Home Food Preservation.

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