Which salt should I use and does it matter?

Salt is sold as if the variety mattered enormously. Almost all of the real difference is the size and shape of the crystal, which affects measuring and texture rather than flavour.

Step by step

1. Know that they are chemically much the same.All of them are essentially sodium chloride. Trace minerals in sea salt and rock salt are present in quantities too small to taste or to matter nutritionally.
2. Focus on crystal size instead.This is the difference that actually affects cooking. Fine crystals pack densely; flakes trap air. Volume measurements are therefore not comparable between them.
3. Measure by weight where precision matters.In baking, brining and curing, use grams. A teaspoon of table salt is roughly twice the salt of a teaspoon of flaky sea salt, which is enough to ruin a recipe.
4. Use table salt for baking and dissolving.Fine grains dissolve fast and distribute evenly through a dough or batter. It is also the cheapest, and in a baked product nothing else is detectable.
5. Use coarse or kosher-style salt for general cooking.Easier to pinch and sprinkle evenly, which makes it easier to season by feel. This is the salt to keep in a pot beside the hob.
6. Use flaky sea salt for finishing.The point is texture — a crystal that gives a distinct crunch and a burst of salinity on top of the food. Used in cooking it dissolves and you have paid for nothing.
7. Keep salt in an open pot by the hob.Seasoning by hand is far more accurate than shaking from a container, because you can feel how much you are taking.
8. Understand iodised salt.Iodine is added because deficiency is a genuine public health issue, and UK dietary iodine largely comes from dairy and fish. If you eat little of either, iodised salt is worth using.
9. Be sceptical of pink and coloured salts.Himalayan pink salt is rock salt whose colour comes from trace iron oxide. The health claims are not supported, and it behaves in cooking exactly like any other salt of similar crystal size.
10. Use rock salt and coarse salt for their jobs.Salt crusts, salt baking, and packing under roasting vegetables. Very coarse salt is also sold for grinders and for icy paths, which is not food grade.
11. Check for anti-caking agents.Most fine table salt contains them. They are harmless but make brines cloudy, so use pure salt for brining, curing and fermenting.
12. Use pure salt for fermenting.Iodine and anti-caking agents can interfere with fermentation. Sea salt or pickling salt without additives is the safer choice for sauerkraut and kimchi.
13. Treat low-sodium salt substitutes carefully.These replace sodium with potassium chloride, which is a genuine concern for anyone with kidney problems or on certain blood pressure medication. Worth checking with a GP.
14. Salt at the right time.Salt added during cooking penetrates and seasons; salt added at the table sits on the surface. Both have a place, and they are not interchangeable.

Tips

• Crystal size, not origin. It is the only difference that changes your cooking.
• A teaspoon of table salt is about twice the salt of a teaspoon of flakes. Weigh it when it matters.
• Flaky salt used in cooking is money burnt. Its whole purpose is the crunch on top.

Common mistakes

• Swapping salts by volume in a recipe — Different crystal sizes pack completely differently. Substituting table salt for flaky sea salt teaspoon for teaspoon roughly doubles the salt, which is enough to make food inedible.
• Using flaky finishing salt during cooking — It dissolves like any other salt, so the texture that justifies its price is entirely lost. Use a cheap coarse salt for cooking and keep the flakes for the end.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask