A Guide To Salt: The 3 Kinds You Should Have In Your Kitchen

It can make any food taste better, our bodies crave it, and it’s one of the most misunderstood ingredients in the kitchen. We’re talking about salt—a mineral that sometimes seems like culinary magic. But what kind of salt do you need? And do you need more than one kind? Is a salt grinder, ahem, worth its salt? We’ve got the answers to your questions and more in our handy guide to salt.

What is salt?

No matter whether it’s pink, black, white, or gray, all salt is the same mineral, sodium chloride (NaCl). Humans actually need salt—particularly the sodium ions—for the cells in our body to function. (There can be health issues associated with eating too much or too little salt, so if that concerns you, speak with your medical practitioner.)

Though salt doesn’t exactly add flavor, it works as a flavor enhancer. Though exactly how this works isn’t understood, it’s believed that salt might suppress the body’s perception of bitterness. This means that sweet foods taste sweeter and savory foods taste generally more delicious (to a point). Salt also concentrates flavors and makes them more aromatic.

Salt also acts as a preservative. As early as 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, salt was used to cure meats and ferment foods. This was crucial before refrigeration. By reducing the water activity of foods, salt prevents microbial growth and other chemical reactions. Of course, in the present day food supply, the addition of salt is rarely the only method of preventing spoilage. But if you love lacto-fermented pickles, sauerkraut, cheeses, and sausages, then you have salt to thank.

How is salt gathered?

Sea salt is gathered when water evaporates, as in the famous sel de Guérande in France. Ocean salt (as in the kind from Hawaii), is gathered from ocean water. You can also find salts from rivers and lakes, too. The uniform table salt often found in salt shakers can be mined from rock salt mines or gathered through ocean harvesting. It’s processed to remove most minerals other than sodium and chloride (salt’s two chemical building blocks), and then in some instances is sprayed with iodine, which is called iodized salt.

What kinds of salt should you keep in your kitchen?

Though there are untold kinds of specialty salt—from the blush pink Himalayan variety to soft French fleur de sel to jet-black Hawaiian sea salt—specialty salts are exactly that: good for special occasions. Since most people can’t pick up on the tiny flavor variations between salts (and all salt is the same chemicals), going for the fancy kinds is more about enjoying texture and aesthetics. 

For everyday cooking jobs, we recommend keeping just a few types on hand. 

Kosher salt for cooking

Called “kosher salt” because it was traditionally used to make meat kosher according to Jewish dietary laws. Today, the salt is popular among home cooks for its low density, which allows the salt to be used liberally without using too much. Density varies within kosher salts—Diamond kosher salt is popular for how easy it is to pick up and evenly distribute. The coarse type of kosher salt, sold by Morton, among other brands, is great for your salt grinder.

Fine sea salt for baking

Though kosher salt works just as well in baking, fine sea salt is often called for in baking recipes, so it’s worth keeping on hand. That’s because most American baking recipes call for salt by volume, and the density of crystals is different. E.g. 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt will be much saltier than 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. While that’s easily modified in cooked recipes, you’ll want to get the salt just right in baked goods, which can’t be adjusted later.

Flaky sea salt for garnishing

Again, all salt has an almost identical chemical composition, 100% NaCl. But flaky sea salt adds both texture and a burst of saltiness to finished dishes. Reserve flaky sea salt for places where you’ll really notice it, like sprinkling over cookies before baking, cooked vegetables, perfectly cooked steak, etcetera. Though flaky sea salt (like that from Maldon) is a popular pick for finishing salt, this is a good place to pull out your other specialty salts for finishing. 

Coarse salt for your salt grinder

Fill your salt grinder with a coarse, dry salt. As long as the pieces of salt are big enough to grind, you can use any kind. Coarse kosher salt is great if you plan to primarily use the grinder for cooking, or go for a larger sea salt if you plan to use the grinder to finish dishes. No matter what you choose, select a dry salt. Some sea salts—like the Hawaiian kind mentioned above—retain moisture, which would affect the grinder.

FAQs

Why do professional chefs prefer kosher salt over table salt for seasoning meat?

Walk into any professional kitchen and you'll find a wide, shallow salt cellar within arm's reach of every station — and it's almost always filled with kosher salt. The reason starts with physical structure. Kosher salt has larger, flatter grains that make it easy to pinch and scatter evenly by hand. That tactile control matters: when you're seasoning a thick ribeye or a whole roasted chicken, you need to feel how much salt is leaving your fingers, and kosher salt delivers that feedback in a way fine table salt can't.

There's also an adhesion advantage. Kosher salt's coarse, irregular crystals grip the surface of raw meat and stay put. Fine table salt tends to bounce off or go on unevenly, especially on cold proteins straight from the refrigerator. Kosher salt gives more even coverage and better seasoning in the finished dish.

Finally, most kosher salts contain no additives. Table salt typically includes iodine and anti-caking agents that can leave a faint chemical aftertaste, which is most noticeable on simply prepared proteins like pan-seared fish or a quick chicken cutlet. Kosher salt has a clean, simple flavor, enhancing the food’s natural flavors. 

Can you use different types of salt interchangeably in baking?

Technically yes, but you need to do the math first—swapping salts by volume is one of the most common (and easily avoidable) baking mistakes. The issue is density. A tablespoon of fine table salt contains significantly more sodium than a tablespoon of flaky kosher salt because the smaller grains pack together far more tightly. Substitute one for the other at equal volumes and the recipe will come out noticeably, sometimes harshly, over-salted.

The most reliable fix is to measure by weight in grams rather than by volume, which sidesteps the density problem entirely. No kitchen scale? Use this as a general rule: If a recipe calls for kosher salt, use roughly half the amount of table salt. One teaspoon of kosher salt equals about half a teaspoon of table salt.

Beyond the conversion question, fine salt is typically the better choice for baking regardless. It dissolves quickly and evenly throughout a dough or batter without leaving pockets. Save your coarse kosher salt for finishing—a sprinkle over focaccia or a caramel tart—rather than mixing it in.

What is the difference between finishing salt and cooking salt?

It comes down to timing and intent. Cooking salt is meant to dissolve into food and season it evenly throughout the cooking process. Finishing salt—like flakey Maldon sea salt or Fleur de Sel—goes on at the very last moment, so its delicate flakes or crystals stay intact and deliver a concentrated pop of salinity along with crunch.

Seasoning with a finishing salt during cooking is a bit of a waste. The flakes and crystals will dissolve, losing the texture that makes them worth using in the first place.

Great ways to use finishing salt are legion: sprinkled on the surface of a medium-rare steak; scattered over sliced summer tomatoes with good olive oil, or—the GOAT— on just-baked chocolate chip cookies. The textural and flavor contrasts—sweet, rich, salty—is exactly what a finishing salt is for.

Does the color of specialty salts (like Pink Himalayan or Black Lava) change the flavor?

Yes, though modestly. Pink Himalayan salt gets its color from trace iron oxide and other naturally occurring minerals, which can add subtle earthy undertones. Black lava salt is colored with activated charcoal, which contributes a faint mineral edge. That said, sodium chloride is still doing the heavy lifting in both cases, and the flavor differences between specialty salts and standard kosher salt are subtle enough to be most apparent in a direct side-by-side comparison—not as everyday seasoning in a dish with several ingredients.

Where specialty salts genuinely earn their place is visual impact. A pinch of pink flakes against a pale crudo or a dark chocolate dessert has a visual impact. Most chefs use them as finishing salts for exactly this reason.

One practical note: Naturally harvested salts often have varying moisture levels. On very hot food, a wetter salt will melt faster—so if you're using Pink Himalayan or Fleur de Sel as a finisher, apply it at the last possible second to hold that crunch.

How should you store high-quality salts to prevent clumping?

Salt is hygroscopic, meaning it actively pulls moisture from the surrounding air. Leave a quality flaky sea salt in a humid kitchen environment long enough and it will cake into a solid, frustrating mass that's difficult to break apart and impossible to pinch.

The best solution is a wide-mouthed, airtight ceramic or wooden salt cellar kept at counter level. The opening should be wide enough to get your fingers in easily—pinching salt is how you learn to seaon—and the seal keeps ambient humidity from working its way in. 

Placement matters as much as the container. The shelf directly above the stove is convenient, but it's the worst possible spot: moist steam from boiling pots billows directly upward into whatever's stored overhead. Keep your salt cellar on a nearby counter or shelf away from heat and steam, and it will stay dry, loose and ready whenever you need it.

Sources:

Eboch, Chris. “Shaking out the Facts about Salt.” American Chemical Society, Feb. 2016, www.acs.org/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/2015-2016/february-2016/salt-facts.html.

Henney, Jane E., et al. Preservation and Physical Property Roles of Sodium in Foods. Www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, National Academies Press (US), 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50952/#:~:text=Salt.

---. Taste and Flavor Roles of Sodium in Foods: A Unique Challenge to Reducing Sodium Intake. Www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, National Academies Press (US), 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK50958/.

PenzeyMoog, Caitlin. “A Guide to Salt, the World’s Most Popular Food.” Serious Eats, 20 Sept. 2019, www.seriouseats.com/guide-to-salt.

Roos, Dave. “How Flavor Enhancers Work.” HowStuffWorks, 30 Mar. 2015, recipes.howstuffworks.com/flavor-enhancers.htm.

SaltWorks. “Choosing the Perfect Gourmet Salt.” Seasalt.com, 2021, seasalt.com/salt-101/gourmet-salt.