Choose the Right Salt

Seasoning can elevate the flavor of a dish and take food from bland to delicious. However, there are a ton of different salt varieties that exist, so choosing one can seem confusing. When choosing a salt, it's important that you take the salt's unique properties into account. If you choose the right salt for its use and continue to experiment with different kinds of salt, you can become accustomed to the different variations and make the right decision every time.

Steps

Selecting a Salt Based on Its Use

1. Choose table salt or sea salt to season cooked food. Traditional table salt is the most common salt to use to season food at the dining room table. The small, quickly dissolving crystals make it perfect to sprinkle on food before you eat. Sea salt, on the other hand, will change the texture of the meal and add more salty-bursts to each bite of your food. Both salts are popular for seasoning cooked food.
   • Table salt also usually contains non-caking agents and iodine.
2. Utilize sea salt and kosher salt in your cooking. Sea salt and kosher salt are superior salts to use in cooking because the large grains makes it easy to visually regulate the amount of salt that you're adding to a dish. Also, these salts have no additives and are coarsely ground, which creates more intensely flavored food.
   • Sea salt and kosher salt are great for seasoning raw proteins.
3. Use table salt to salt water and create brines. The fine crystals of table salt make it the best type of salt to use when salting water for pasta or creating a pork or beef brine. This is because the smaller crystals dissolve into the water faster.
4. Use coarse, unrefined salt for fermenting vegetables. Coarse, unrefined salts like sea salts and Himalayan rock salt are the best for fermenting vegetables. Do not use salts that contain anti-caking agents or iodine because it can inhibit the beneficial bacteria in a fermented vegetable.

Picking a Salt for Taste and Texture

1. Use finishing salts to elevate the taste of a dish. Finishing salts are often more expensive than the other varieties and are typically harvested by hand. These salts can range from crunchy or soft, colorful or dull and can be stronger tasting than other salts. Choose this salt if you want to make your dish extra special.
   • Examples of finishing salts include infused sea salts, sel gris, and fleur de sel.
2. Choose flaky salts to modify the texture. Certain finishing salts like Fleur de Sel are expensive and add a unique texture to your dishes. The thin flakes of the salt add a burst of flavor with a light and crunchy texture that lasts for a long time on your tongue. Flake salts are similar in texture but contain less moisture, so that the salty taste doesn't linger on the taste buds.
   • One of the most popular brands of flaked sea salt is Maldon.
3. Finish dishes with coarse salt to add salty bursts of flavor. Adding sea salt or another coarse salt to dishes will add a crunch to the food and will also add more intense bursts of salty flavor within the food. While traditional processed table salt usually dissolves on food, sea salt will often stay intact, which is what gives it a different taste.
   • Experiment with finishing your food with different salt to see what tastes best to you.

Making Other Considerations

1. Consider the health benefits of iodized salt. Iodine helps promote a healthy thyroid gland and is a typical addition to table salt. Check the packaging to see if the salt that you buy contains iodine. Often, sea salt, finishing salt, and kosher salts do not contain iodine but do contain other trace minerals like magnesium and potassium.
   • Other than thyroid benefits, most salt has the same nutritional value.
   • If you have an iodine deficiency, you should use iodized salt to help regulate your thyroid.
2. Determine how much you want to spend. Certain salts are much more expensive than others. Traditional table salts are typically the least expensive, while sea salts and kosher salt cost a little more. The most costly salts include specialized salts and finishing salts. Consider your budget and choose a salt that fits in it.
3. Select pink, red, or black salt to add a burst of color. Red and black Hawaiian sea salt can add a splash of red or black to any dish. This is especially pleasing on sweets such as chocolate. Himalayan salt, on the other hand, is a coarse pink salt that can be sprinkled on a finished dish and tastes similar to sea salt.
4. Consider other specialty salts. Other than the traditional salts that you can get at the grocery store, there are also a variety of different salts that can be purchased at specialty stores or online. Lavender sea salt, for example, is coarse like sea salt but has a sweet aromatic flavor that plays differently with different foods. There are also salts like sesame salt and pink Japanese rock salt that have their own unique taste and applications in Asian dishes.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Grind Pepper Using a Mortar and Pestle
• Use Flaky Sea Salt
• Separate Sand and Salt
• Make Rock Salt
• Make Sea Salt
• Use Salt Around the House
• Use Epsom Salt