Which Salt To Use

Salt is the one thing I reach for every time I cook. It goes in the pasta water, the soup pot, over the eggs, and into the cookie dough, and it's so constant that it's easy to forget there's more than one kind. We keep a whole shelf of them, and they don't all do the same job. Here's how I think about which salt to use when.

Chunky salt, for cooking

This is the salt you cook with. It goes in early and dissolves into the pot or the pan, so you season the food all the way through. I use a big pinch in pasta water and stir it into soups and braises while they simmer. Coarse crystals are easy to grab between your fingers, so you can feel how much you're adding. When you're seasoning the outside of something, like a chicken or a tray of vegetables, grind or crush the salt first so it spreads evenly.

Sel de Mer is the one I cook with most, and it's just as good sprinkled over food at the table. It's a coarse gray sea salt from France, pretty chunky, and so delicious and delicately briny. My dad used to salt his food with it at the table. He had a little portable wooden salt cellar that he kept in his pocket and brought along to restaurants, so he could use the salt he liked.

Try these:

• Sel de Mer, coarse gray sea salt from France with a briny, mineral flavor, for the pot and the table.
• Italian Sea Salt, from shallow Mediterranean pools left to evaporate in the sun. It's our all-purpose salt, and it fits in a salt mill.
• Himalayan Pink Salt, extra-coarse pink and white chunks. Grind them in a mill or crush them in a mortar and pestle before you cook with them.

Flaky salt, for finishing

Finishing salt goes on at the end, right before you eat, so the crystals stay whole. You get a little crunch and a pop of salt in the same bite. Try a pinch over sliced melon, roasted carrots, avocado toast, radishes on buttered bread, and the top of a pan of brownies. A few flakes on a square of dark chocolate make a three-second dessert.

Try these:

• Fleur de Sel, hand-harvested from the top layer of the salt pans in Brittany. The crystals are fine and delicate, with no grinding needed.
• Pacific Flake Sea Salt, from the cold waters off Northern California. The flakes are big, light, and crisp, and easy to pinch.
• Murray River Flake Salt, apricot-colored flakes from salt ponds along the Murray River in Australia. It's mild and dissolves quickly on the tongue.

Smoked salt

Smoked salt gives you the flavor of the grill without lighting one. Ours is Alderwood Smoked Salt, Pacific sea salt cold smoked for 48 hours over red alderwood. Use it to finish grilled or roasted meats, stir it into a pot of beans or buttered pasta, or sprinkle it over salted caramel. It's also an easy way to bring smoke to a vegetarian dish.

Seasoned salts

Seasoned salts are a twofer: salt and seasoning in one shake. Since the salt is already in the blend, season with it first and taste before you add any more plain salt.

Try these:

• Svaneti Seasoned Salt, a Georgian salt with Caraway Seed, Fenugreek Seed, and garlic. It's our free sample this month, so you may have one in your kitchen already. Try it on scrambled eggs and roasted vegetables.
• Garlic Salt, Garlic Granules and Italian Sea Salt with onion, white pepper, and soft herbs like tarragon and chervil. Garlic bread is the obvious place to start.
• America's Seasoned Salt, with garlic, onion, and two kinds of paprika, for fries, corn on the cob, and popcorn.

Black salt (kala namak)

Black Salt, also called kala namak, is a different animal from the rest of the shelf. It's high in sulfur, so it smells strongly of eggs straight from the tin, and the smell mellows as it cooks. Vegan cooks and anyone who skips eggs use it in tofu scrambles to give them an eggy flavor. On the other end of the menu, some people sprinkle it on steak and love it. Start with a small pinch and taste as you go.

If there's a salt you're curious about that I didn't cover, hit reply and ask me.

 - Aubrey