Does salt type matter?

[Anonymous]

For cooking purposes (not baking) or seasoning food, does the type of salt matter? I’ve always just used cheap iodine salt in a shaker, but obviously there are all these fancier kinds. Do they taste different? Would I notice a better flavor using French salt on my eggs, for instance? Or is it all simply NaCl and the rest is just marketing?

[Anonymous]

I love a little bit of fleur de sel on cookies and baked goods as well as for meat and vegetables. It adds a bit of oomph.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love a little bit of fleur de sel on cookies and baked goods as well as for meat and vegetables. It adds a bit of oomph.

First sentence literary says not baking 🙄

OP no, I don’t believe it does. I think it only matters if you are finishing the dish off after cooking. Of course I wouldn’t use sea salt instead of regular.

[Anonymous]

The short answer is: To a point, yes it does.

If you're a serious chef or baker, it's going to make a significant difference. For a home chef or baker, less so but still yes.

Iodized table salt isn't great for much of anything unless it's specifically called for. Some people can taste a difference, but even if you can't, the size of the grains differ. between types of salt. Most recipes call for kosher, and specify quantities accordingly. So, if you were to use, say, a flake salt like a Maldon, you would get far fewer crystals in one TBSP than you would with the same quantity of kosher. So, your dish would be underseasoned. You should really be using Kosher as your default, and for anything that calls for it.

Beyond that, I think it is good to have a flake/finishing salt - like a Maldon. And i personally use the pink Himalayan in my salt grinder if someone wants to add salt at the table.

Once you start getting into the really obscure/specialty salts it is for more "chef-y" type things, and/or if you want a specific flavour - infused salt for a particular purpose or just because you enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

It matters for a finishing seasoning, yes.

[Anonymous]

I use kosher salt when cooking most things - I believe I read somewhere to do it. I think it makes a difference, but maybe it is all in my head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I use kosher salt when cooking most things - I believe I read somewhere to do it. I think it makes a difference, but maybe it is all in my head.

If you read somewhere to do it, it because most recipes are “calibrated” to koshering salt, so if you were to use a different type of salt, you’d have to adjust the amount from what’s written in the recipe.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I’m still not sure what the exact ‘difference’ is with a different salt. Does it taste different? Does flake sale have a different texture that’s crunchier?

I feel like I’m ready to go down a weird cooking journey and get really snobby about finishing salts but would hate to waste time/money if no one would even notice.

[Anonymous]

Iodized salt more often for your thyroid health.

Use any salt. When you can salt to taste, do that.

[Anonymous]

They are different. I only use the canister of Morton’s iodized salt for baking.

I use kosher salt for seasoning meat, and sea salt for seasoning other things, and Maldon salt for fancy finishing (only on things where it will not melt— you are paying for the texture with that).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the replies. I guess I’m still not sure what the exact ‘difference’ is with a different salt. Does it taste different? Does flake sale have a different texture that’s crunchier?

I feel like I’m ready to go down a weird cooking journey and get really snobby about finishing salts but would hate to waste time/money if no one would even notice.

Both. First, they have different levels of saltiness. Which is why I use the Morton’s iodized salt in baking; it has a saltier taste, then say for instance, sea salt. As far as texture goes, a flaky Malden salt is really really nice—but no sense in using it on anything where it is going to melt in; only use it for finishing.

[Anonymous]

There is a difference. Measurements are generally for table salt. You need different quantities of salt when using kosher salt, sea salt, etc.
Some salt will not dissolve, so you don't want to bite into very coarse sea salt. Many chefs use sea salt for finishing, but I use Diamond's Kosher salt for that. Usually, sea salt I find has enormous crystals, and I feel they would break my teeth how coarse they are. So I use Kosher salt for all finishing.

There is little difference in which salt you use in stews and roasts; you can use Kosher salt with a larger amount, but calibrate the amount.
But Diamond kosher salt is THE Salt, so to speak, for finishing meals.
You make fried potatoes? As in your own French fries? You salt it after with Kosher salt and you feel like all the fries you ever had were nothing, sad, pathetic.
Do you salt that steak for a finishing touch after you've cooked it? Sprinkle Diamond's kosher salt, heaven!
Now, some will say you use kosher salt to season it before cooking, but I do it later

So, for most things, it's not a big deal. For finishing touches, yes. Having said that, I use Diamond Kosher Salt for most of my cooking.
Once I discovered Diamond's Kosher salt, that was kind of the end of table salt for me.

[Anonymous]

Salts have different shapes and sizes. That impacts surface area. Because Americans tend not to use mass in cooking and baking, types of salt can dramatically impact recipes. Would a teaspoon of flaky kosher salt be the same as a table spoon of fine grain salt? No . Your food is going to be saltier when using the finer grain because your simply adding more to measuring tool since it is finely ground. That's why mass is better than volume.

But other fine salts in the world from countries like Japan to Europe have different mineral content, which impacts flavor that you'll definitely notice. They use tons of sea salts and Asia, and some are prized and quite expensive. They obtain the seawater from different areas of different oceans at different depths, getting different compositions of minerals that are imparted into the salt after sun drying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are different. I only use the canister of Morton’s iodized salt for baking.

I use kosher salt for seasoning meat, and sea salt for seasoning other things, and Maldon salt for fancy finishing (only on things where it will not melt— you are paying for the texture with that).

I use it in water to boil pasta--quite a lot actually. Pasta water should be as salty as the ocean if you want your pasta to be tasty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are different. I only use the canister of Morton’s iodized salt for baking.

I use kosher salt for seasoning meat, and sea salt for seasoning other things, and Maldon salt for fancy finishing (only on things where it will not melt— you are paying for the texture with that).

I use it in water to boil pasta--quite a lot actually. Pasta water should be as salty as the ocean if you want your pasta to be tasty.

Pp here.

Yes, I actually use it for that too!