What to Know About Salt 

When I worked at the Mariott Marquis, I learned about Kosher Salt from one of the restaurant chefs. He taught me the benefits and reasons to use Kosher salt instead of regular table salt. He said he uses it because it doesn’t have additives; it is plain sodium chloride. So your recipes will have a cleaner taste than they would if using regular iodized table salt.

Once you start using Kosher salt, you will quickly taste the metallic undertone in regular table salt if it is iodized. Also, if iodine is essential in your diet, you should get it somewhere else if you switch to Kosher salt in your cooking.

Another item that is added to some table salt is the anti-caking agent Calcium Silicate. This is the meaning behind the phrase and tagline of Morton Salt, “When it rains, it pours.” This means that even when the air is humid, your salt won’t clump or solidify and will still pour out of the box.

So let’s summarize the differences between Kosher and table salt and talk about the other salts in your home or on the grocery store shelf. 

Kosher Salt 

Kosher Salt is pure and simple, with nothing added. It is large and flaky and helps ensure even spreading on meats. 

Table Salt

Table salt can have potassium iodide and anti-caking agents mixed in. Because the granules are smaller than Kosher salt, you will use more salt than the recipe calls for as a matter of grams per volume measurement. A teaspoon of table salt has more sodium chloride than a teaspoon of Kosher salt. 

Canning and Pickling Salt

Canning and Pickling Salt is simply salt with nothing added, but it is still small granules like table salt. For this reason, you will still use more sodium per volume measurement than you would with Kosher Salt. Save this for canning and pickling, and skip it when cooking. 

Sea Salt

Sea Salt shares the same problems as Table Salt; additives. So while the marketing may be effective on sea salt, its usefulness in cooking is not as helpful.

Pink Himalayan Salt 

Pink Himalayan Salt has naturally occurring minerals in the salt. You can sometimes feel those minerals between your teeth if you dilute this salt in water for a sodium solution. It’s not a palatable feeling, and I would skip it when cooking.

The Differences 

 Are all brands of salt the same? No! Let me explain. I use Morton brand salt, but other salt brands are on the market. I’m sure they are fine brands, but their salt’s sodium content may be different from Morton’s brand salt. For example, in the table below, you will see the sodium content per ¼ teaspoon in grams and the weight in grams. However, Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt has a very different sodium amount in its salt. Diamond Crystal’s Kosher Salt is 0.7 grams and has 280 milligrams of sodium. Therefore, Diamond Crystal’s Kosher salt is about 3/5s of Morton’s Kosher Salt per ¼ teaspoon.

Morton Brands	grams/1/4tsp	Sodium in milligrams
Kosher Salt	1.2	480
Table Salt	1.5	590
Canning Salt	1.5	590
Sea Salt	1.3	530
Pink Himalayan	1.4	550

There is nothing wrong with using the Diamond Crystal brand or any other salt brand in my recipes, but your meals might not be salty enough. If you don’t use Morton salt, you will need to check the nutrition label of your brand and make the necessary adjustments.

My recipes are based on using Morton Brand Kosher Salt unless it is a different type of salt product like Garlic Salt, Seasoned Salt, and Cajun Seasoning. Of course, how salty a dish should be, is determined by those eating it. So adjust the seasonings accordingly and make it your own.