The types of salts in cooking – sea salt, kosher salt and table salt

Question

I’ve heard of the various types of salt and I assumed that sea salt was mostly marketing.

But I keep hearing and seeing references to each type to salt when on a wiki-walk or google search.

– what do the various types of salt “bring to the table” (pun intended).

In: 5

Answer 1

Reagent grade sodium chloride is just sodium chloride [molecules](https://smile.amazon.com/Reagent-Grade-Sodium-Chloride-500g-Collection/dp/B0731WR7DQ ), but it’s also $40 per kilo.

All other salt has impurities in it. Sea salt has impurities matching the composition of the ocean (which is not just water plus salt). Exotic Himalayan salt has different impurities, matching those found at that location.

You can taste a lot of chemicals, and those traces may provide a different taste profile. Kosher salt is just salt produced under the supervision of a religious leader who works to avoid contamination. It’s also coarser than most salts, which can give it different cooking properties. There may be coarse non-Kosher salt in your store, but there is a limit to the shelf space astore can offer for a low cost product.