Sunday's Food Tip: A Short Guide to Salt

From rimming margarita glasses...



to seasoning pretzels...



...most of us use salt every single day, in a variety of ways.



But there are many different types of salt, including:

Table Salt - This is a fine-grained, refined salt, usually with added iodine. Table salt is what you put in your salt shaker.

Kosher Salt - A coarse-grained salt, usually without any additives. Many chefs prefer the texture and flavor of this salt.

Sea Salt - Comes from the sea; available fine or coarse grained. Most sea salts in the United States are imported. Sea salts are sometimes combined with spices and flavorings to create finishing salts.

Rock Salt - Has a grayish hue; big chunky crystals; this is the salt used in crank-style ice cream makers.

Pickling Salt - Fine-grained, no additives; this is the salt used to make brines for pickles.


Experiment with different gourmet sea salts or finishing salts, or try kosher salt in a simple recipe for a change and see (and taste) what happens.

If all you're using is plain old "table salt" in your cooking, then you're missing out on much of the fun of using salt to add interesting tastes and textures to your favorite foods.