I haven't used iodized salt in years.

I use sea salt at the table. And kosher salt in baking and cooking..
However, I need to order more Kosher Flake from Penzey's so I've been using my fine sea salt for baking and cooking too this past week. (I find standard kosher salt to be to large for baking and often doesn't "blend" well. But the Penzey's flake works perfectly.)

Pickling salt is a larger grain, and may even be less "pure" than some of the other salts.

I find kosher to have a cleaner flavor and not make things taste salty, but boost the other flavors in what I'm using it in.

~my boys even use 'pinches' of kosher flake salt to season their food if needed.
and we love fresh popped popcorn with butter and kosher salt...yummmy

I'm far from the maven of salt, but IMHO nothing beats Murray River Salt! I use the jar of kosher from TJ's for most cooking, but use Mortons for baking. I never use the iodized salt. We eat enough seafood and living in CA we certainly don't have any lack of it in the soil. I like Fleur de Sel on things like tomatoes, but find it too salty for general use.

Pickling salt isn't a larger grain and it doesn't have additives. In fact, the whole point of canning and pickling salt is that it's pure and a standardized weight suitable for fermentation where salt proportions are critical. Because it's pure it doesn't cloud or discolor brines in pickles.

Kosher salt can vary. Diamond Crystal is "crystallized" and doesn't have additives. Because of the structure it tastes "saltier" on the tongue, even though you're eating less. Morton's is their regular table salt run through rollers for flakes and has the same additives as their table salt. I think Morton's Kosher is a sales ploy.

Sea salt (well, all salt is actually sea salt) can have various minerals in small amounts. Generally, AFAIK, it's pure salt and should lack dessicants or free-flow agents.

I buy Canning and Pickling salt for canning and pickling (no surprise there, LOL) and a pure sea salt from Korea in bulk from Uwajimaya Market for most day-to-day cooking. For sprinkling on breads, for finishing and for smoking salmon, sturgeon and turkey, I use Diamond Crystal. Occasionally I use pink Hawaiian salt or Breton Sel Gris. The Hawaiian salt is wonderful on root vegetables.

Carol

I prefer iodized salt... I use almost twice as much sea salt, Kosher salt or plain table salt to get the same amount of saltiness of iodized... But then my taste buds aren't as refined as most other CF members...

Side note... If you mix coarse sea salt with liquid bath soap it's great for smoothing out the bottom of your feet.

Rita

I use Kosher salt for everything now days.

If I need a finer grained salt, I run it through the food processor.

Pickling salt is a very fine grained and evenly sized salt, NOT large.

It's very small so that it dissolves readily in cold water.

I use Kosher salt for all my cooking and baking....the little I do. Sea salt at the table and pickling salt for canning.

Kframe, the Pickling Salt I have used for years is quite coarse. As a matter of fact it is labeled Coarse Salt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pickling Salt

I haven't used a box of iodized (table) salt in over 30 years. I hate the chemical/metallic taste of it. I've used one kind or another of sea salt for all those years. Normally we use Celtic Sea Salt (the light grey stuff) from The Grain & Salt Society. It's hand-harvested and unprocessed and contains over 80 minerals (which is great for yeast breads - according to Shirley O. Corriher in her book CookWise). The salt we use is chunky and in a salt mill to get a fine grind. I also use Kosher salt.

-Grainlady

This is an interesting thread! I have wondered about the differences in salts, too!

I have been using sea salt as my "general purpose" salt...cooking, baking and on the table. But I do have some kosher that I use if a recipe calls for it, and I got some Pink Sea Salt in Michigan last September, but have not figured out what to do with it, yet.

Thanks for starting this thread, I am learning a lot! May have to start re-thinking my salt habits! LOL

Linda

I use a lot of just salt in a box, iodized or not who cares....in the winter it will melt sheet ice very quickly....I even keep a box in my car! And I use it to scrub my wok and my cast iron frying pans.
You mean for eating??? Oh...no! only in one set of salt cellars, the rest of the time I use a variety of sea or kosher salts....but as readinglady says...its' all sea salt in one form or another.
Linda C

ritaotay.... it's not a matter of "refined taste"... The coarse flakes occupy more space than the finely ground salt and actually deliver less NaCl than an equivalent amount of table salt.
the rule I loosely follow is if a recipe calls for 1 tsp of table salt, I use 1 1/2 tsps of kosher or coarse salt.
Some people feel that because coarse salt dissolves less readily, the "burst" of saltiness when a coarse flake hits the tongue fools the taste buds into thinking they getting more salt than they are.

The important thing is to use the type of salt specified in a recipe.

Rita, I just use whatever I have on hand too, unless I'm sprinkling homemade pretzels or making salt covered bagels, then I want the larger crystals.

I have some pink Hawaiian salt and some gray Sol Gris, some Diamond Crystal kosher, some Ball pickling salt. I find that even in the grinder the kosher is too coarse and gives me too much salty flavor.

Other than the texture, I don't detect enough difference to care in most cooking and baked goods, just in sprinkling!

Annie

Thanks everyone for the information. It has been very educational. I think I will try the 3 salts I have on a boiled egg this afternoon and see if I taste any difference. From now on I will use the sea salt for eating and baking. I will look for the flake Kosher salt because the crystals I have don't blend well, unless putting into boiling water, so haven't used it in cooking.
Clare

Every container of pickling salt I've ever purchased has had an extremely fine grain structure, as fine, if not finer, than table salt.

The difference MAY be that I use straight pickling salt when I'm making pickles/sauerkraut, not pickling/canning salt. That's the only thing I can think of that may be different.

In fact, I need to get some more pickling salt as I'm out. Its fine grain structure also makes it great for popcorn.

I would be interested in others experiences with pickling salt. I have been pickling for over 35 years and any brand I use is coarse, not fine, and dissolves beautifully. I've never even seen fine pickling salt but I have seen fine popcorn salt and love it on popcorn.

Maybe we call things by different names north of the 49th! LOL

I'll never go back to "regular" salt again. I buy a new salt all the time now. They are definitely different and better. Who knew?!

So Morton's Kosher salt isn't as good as the others? That's what I've been using. This is very interesting.

Aha! Thanks for that link Chase. I wasn't aware that neighbors to the north used a different coarser pickling salt. That explains the apparent contradiction. Here Morton's is the brand available and it's quite fine-grained.

I don't think Morton's Kosher is "inferior," just different. One big difference is in weight. Per cup it weighs more than Diamond Crystal Kosher, so in some recipes if Kosher salt is called for (like a turkey brine) it would be critical to know which brand was used. I learned my lesson when I subbed Morton's for a brine for smoked salmon and ended up with the saltiest fish I'd ever encountered.

Wouldn't you know it? Slate did a "salt test." Morton's Kosher came out well but Diamond Crystal Kosher isn't mentioned, only their iodized table salt, so it's kind of apples to oranges.

In one respect, though, it doesn't matter what the "experts" think. It's all about what we like and what works for us in our cooking.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Which Salt is Best?

WOW that is wild! I do believe, based on description re additives etc, we are talking the same salt but a different grind......amazing!

Sorta like the difference between our flour and yours, ours being much higher in gluten. It never ceases to amaze me how things, that are the same, can be so different just across the road....including spelling ! LOL

It's definitely a good example of how our assumptions can put us at cross-purposes.

The taste-test interested me for its contradictions. One person loved Camargue Fleur de Sel for because it was "strong," "pure" and "warm" while another thought it tasted "sweaty."

The one thing I do know is I'm not going to spend a lot of time in my kitchen cogitating on whether the French fries would be better with Maldon or La Baleine!

Carol

we used to sprinkle on top of the ice in the old hand-cranked ice cream freezer. As I recall that was coarse or was it stolen from the salt lick in the pasture.....

Very interesting thread!

First of all, there is a great book about salt that I read a while ago: Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. Fascinating read.

Okay, I use the following salts:

Sea or Kosher salt for almost everything I cook. David's Kosher salt is impressive in taste. I use grey salt for general cooking. It is moist but large so I grind it up for a finer feel (closer to kosher salt).

I also grind white sea salt for baking so the weight is similar to "table salt" as is the texture.

I love Murray River Salt! Sprinkle it on salads before dressing and use it in eggs and sauteed foods.

I also discovered Hawaiian Red salt which is fine granular texture similar to granulated sugar.

Fleur de Sel is another favorite.

Just to tempt you into reading the book, here are a few interesting facts:
- almost every road was a path to a salt location created by animals and early man
- vegetarians have to eat more salt because without meat, the body doesn't get enough (carnivores are smiling, right?)
- the word "soldier" is derived from the word for salt
- the original drills were invented by the Chinese to help dig up salt from mines
- all place names that end in "wich" were salt mine locals (Greenwich, etc)

Renée

The word "salary" also derives from "salt"--so I guess you know you're worth your salt if your salary proves it!

This is a timely thread for me. It just occurred to me a few days ago that I've pretty much been using sea salt for everything lately--at least a year, probably. And for the first time, the notation on the label that reminds you it doesn't provide iodine actually sank in. One of my most vivid memories as a child is seeing the conductor on our line of the Long Island Rail Road who had an enormous goiter protruding over the tight banded collar of the uniform they all wore. Now I'm obsessed with the idea that I could get a goiter unless I'm more careful to have sufficient iodine in my diet. (Or I could develop cretinism, which is another danger of inadequate iodine.) My husband says that nobody gets goiters anymore from lack of iodine because we have good sources of it in our diet. But I'm wondering if cutting out iodized salt might be eliminating the most logical source.

Do those of you who've converted to sea salt have specific foods you eat to supply iodine? Or does worrying about this mean I've already crossed the line into cretinism?

Salary also comes from "salt" because Roman soldiers were given a salt ration of a handful per day. Eventually they were given money to buy their own salt. Hence, the connection.

Salad comes from "salt" also.

That's interesting about the Hawaiian pink salt. Mine's in chunks as big as DC Kosher. If I want a fine texture I have to grind it. Annie was the one who suggested I use it on root vegetables. She's right. It's wonderful.

Carol

maureen me - I incorporate a variety of seaweed in our diet for the iodine. Kombu, kelp, nori, etc... A leftover from my Macrobiotic days. You'll even find cottage cheese a fair source for iodine, along with salt-water seafood. Iodine is also found in dough conditioners used by bakeries, in food colorings, and even in polluted air, according to one source.

-Grainlady

Yes this is an interesting thread. I don't have any boutique or specialty salts in my kitchen. As we're trying to keep to low sodium we use a substitute which is high in natural potassium (66%) and low in sodium. Used sparingly. I also keep a small container of iodized salt which I use occasionally, although I don't think we're short of iodine.

For cooking I use the local sea salt, again with a miserly hand but I sprinkle coarse grains generously when I make those

There's a nice photo of the Janubio salt flats (Salinas de Janubio) on the neighbouring island of Lanzarote at this website. It's the second photo scrolling down on this photo link. (Also some lovely island photos taken by Peter Turner on his site.)

Next time I'm in Canada I may be tempted to pick up a small sample of pink or gray salt to bring back with me.

SharonCb

I use very little salt - I find it masks the flavor of many foods. About the only time I use it is when I make breads. I'm pretty sensitive to salt and don't like it in most foods. Most of the salt I get comes from soy sauce. I leave it out whenever possible. However, it does creep in when I use pickles or olives. I do have sea salt and kosher salt on hand, however, and they last me a very long time. I think I buy salt maybe once a year.

Lars

I love salt. I buy weird kinds when I'm on vacation and ask people to bring me back salt when they travel. I love the pink Hawaiian stuff, I love the slightly moist Japanese salt, I love the French herb salt. We use the Fleur de Sel as a table salt.

I've always had a taste for it--when I was a kid, I'd sneak licks of those big salt blocks for cattle! Having low blood pressure, maybe I was self-medicating.

Maureen, I work in a hospital and people do still get goiters. I see doctors orders come across occasionally for treatment of a goiter. I believe it is far less common than it used to be, however, and I certainly wouldn't worry about getting one if I were you.

My Hawaiian Pink slat is very coarse, too. I'll have to grind it and try it on root vegetables. Sounds good!

Linda

Now I am curious by what everyone has written, so looked online and found an outfit that sells all kinds of salts. Black Hawaiian Sea Salt Hiwa Kia, Red Hawaiian Sea Salt Alaea, Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, New Zealand Organic Sea Salt, Salish Smoked Sea Salt NW Alder, Lt. Gray Celtic Sea Salt.

Anyone try these different ones? So what is the difference?
Clare

I think I collect it.
My favorite is Maldon.

I have it in small vessels and use it to top off salads etc..
I have Kosher by the stove..La Baleine close by..
Camargue because it's so available and looks pretty on my counter..

Garlic salts from Europe.... and seasoned salts..Crazy Jain's..etc...

Seasoned/ hot crushed chili peppers from my favorite en vrac store..
And I use salt capsules made for pasta:)

I have Red Hawaiian from TJ.s....
Pickling salt..

Smoked salts too..And ..I make my salted herbs..for soups and stews..
Oui..we.. like salt:)

I just bought Kosher Salt, for the first time in my life. I have been using sea salt for years. Where do you buy Hawaiian Pink Salt? In Hawaii? I never saw that there,but then again I wasn't looking. Very Interesting!!! I'm a salt lover.but trying hard to cut back on it. Diana55

This is curious. I grew up in the middlewest. We always had iodized salt so we wouldn' get goiters.We moved to seattle,where our children were born, and put iodine drops in there orange juice because we were at such a high altitude. It had something to do with strontium90 but I don't remember why it was okay to stop. They are okay and our grand children all have the requisite number of limbs and heads. We use regular iodized table salt usually but sea salt and kosher salt often.

Seattle? High altitude? I don't understand. It's about 300-400 feet, depending upon neighborhood. Downtown Seattle is 150, which is almost sea level. The highest point in the Seattle area is maybe 800 feet, which is hardly a pimple.

Anyway, I buy Hawaiian pink salt at Uwajimaya, which is an Asian market in Seattle and Beaverton (Portland, OR area). The last time I bought a pound of Pa'Akai Alaea salt on special for $1.00.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Uwajimaya

Okay, I just purchased this Hawaiian Pink Salt online. Is this the stuff?

I have iodized salt, Morton kosher salt, some tall jar that I got at TJ Maxx and Penzey's flakes (came loaded in the salt shaker that came free with a pepper mill). I don't use much salt at all, b/c my blood pressure tends to be close to borderline. But that there Hawaiian Pink Salt sure is pretty . . . may have to give that a try, too.

Diana55 - Where did you get it and how much if you don't mind me asking? I found an outfit on ebay that sells lots of different salts.
Clare

oops.Carol, I meant latitude. You are quite right. I really like the look of that pink salt.

Diana55, yes that's it exactly. Good stuff. It has clay in it, supposedly with a high iron content which contributes the color.

I've heard (no documentation) it doesn't raise blood pressure like other salts.

Carol