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At Bon Appétit, we develop all of our recipes using Diamond Crystal kosher salt. The reason for this comes down largely to the consistency of the product and its wide-reaching availability. But is kosher salt really the best salt for you and your home kitchen? Maybe—maybe not. Is iodized table salt automatically bad because it’s more highly processed? Not necessarily. Today, we’re demystifying salt. All types of salt: kosher salt, regular table salt, unrefined salt, Himalayan pink salt, coarse-grained salt, fine salt, sea salt, you name it.
There’s so much nuance to the world’s most ubiquitous seasoning agent and, in turn, so much misunderstanding. So we spoke to selmelier—yes, a salt sommelier—and author of Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, Mark Bitterman. His book is a taxonomy for salt. In it, he breaks down the different types of salt, how they can be applied, versatility, environmental impact, and why it all matters. For many people, “there’s never been any effort or economic rationale for breaking it down or looking at what’s under the hood when you buy a box of salt,” says Bitterman. “Prior to 15 years ago, it was just a box of salt.” No more! Let’s dig in.
Kosher salt is also favored by cooks because its uniform, large, coarse crystal size makes it easier to control when you’re sprinkling it to season ingredients. A word to the wise: kosher salt’s crystal size varies from brand to brand, making some saltier overall per tablespoon.
Okay, so what is table salt?
“Regular table salt (a.k.a. iodized salt) is an industrially manufactured, highly refined sodium chloride product with a variety of additives—but also a couple of benefits,” says Bitterman. It’s free-flowing, so it can work in a salt shaker better than any other salt. (If your number one goal in life is to use salt from a shaker, this is the one.) It also targets iodine deficiency, which is a global health issue. Iodized table salt is an effective tool to introduce iodine into food systems in parts of the world where iodine-rich foods are unavailable.
It’s processed the same as kosher salt, save for two differences: “They use a different crystallization technique to create a more granular and cubic crystal for iodized table salt, and there are additives,” says Bitterman. The additives get the iodine to adhere to the salt and the anticaking agent prevents it from clumping so it comes out of a shaker evenly and easily. As a result, some people are able to detect a bitter aftertaste in food seasoned with iodized salt; others dislike it because those additives can cause discoloration in pickling. Because of its small grain size, there’s more salt by volume in a pinch of table salt than in a pinch of kosher salt, so it’s easier to oversalt your food when using table salt.)
What even is kosher salt?
Technically, kosher salt is a type of sea salt, as is nearly all of the salt used in home kitchens. Its also the seasoning agent chefs and many home cooks swear by, which makes sense—it’s cost-effective, available, and reliable. “Kosher salt is a standardized product that’s the same everywhere in America by brand. So you can buy any brand of kosher salt, like Diamond Crystal or Morton kosher salt, and it’ll always be the same,” says Bitterman. (Though, once you find your preferred brand of kosher salt, you should stick to it, because not all brands are equal when it comes to salinity by volume. More on that later.) “It has a larger flake [than table salt] that’s popular because it’s easy to manipulate with your fingers.” Read: easy to control, hard to oversalt.
The name kosher salt is not necessarily a reference to Jewish culinary standards. There’s no rabbi blessing large industrial bins of salt in a warehouse somewhere. It doesn’t come from religiously significant salt mines, nor is it a Jewish mineral (although it is nice in matzo ball soup). Kosher salt got its name because, historically, it was used for its effectiveness in koshering meat, the Jewish process of preparing meat for consumption. The larger grains draw out moisture from meat faster, which is part of the koshering process.
Kosher salt rarely contains additives, but does that mean it’s necessarily the best? “It’s refined sodium chloride, which is effective in imparting saltiness to food, but it’s not a particularly natural way to do so,” says Bitterman. The goal for an industrialized salt-making process is “purity,” meaning the absence of naturally occurring minerals present in unrefined salt. For Bitterman, “those minerals contribute to the flavor.” (Again, more on that later.)
Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, 3 lb.
What is kosher salt, and why do (American) chefs love it?
FAQ
Why do chefs always use kosher salt?
What is the big deal about kosher salt?
Does kosher salt make a difference in cooking?
What are the disadvantages of kosher salt?
Why do chefs use kosher salt?
There are a lot of reasons chefs like kosher salt (like the fact that it draws moisture out of the food it’s used on), but the top choice is that it’s easy to handle: The biggest reason why chefs love to use kosher salt is that it is much easier to pick up between your fingers and thus gives you tighter control over your seasoning.
What makes kosher salt unique?
Kosher salt is defined by its texture and crystal size. What makes kosher salt unique is the size, shape, and texture of its individual crystals. Kosher salt got its name because of its use in the Jewish practice of koshering meats. Because of how easy it is to pinch and sprinkle over food, it’s become incredibly popular with chefs.
Why is kosher salt better than table salt?
Also, kosher salt’s uneven texture makes it easier for cooks to visually see and measure how much salt has been added to a dish. On the other hand, table salt is finely ground and easily compacted, making it more difficult to precisely gauge the amount of seasoning.
How do you use kosher salt?
Distributing seasoning evenly is also easier with kosher salt. Try this quick experiment: Grab a sheet of black cloth, a bowl of kosher salt, and a bowl of table salt. Now lift up some table salt between your fingers and sprinkle it on the cloth, doing your best to cover a two- by two-inch square area evenly. Repeat with the kosher salt.