Ingredient expert Jack Bishop gives a primer on salt.
Read our salt taste test:
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Morton or diamond crystal for meat ?
I've been using Redmond Real Salt for nearly 30 years, and it's the most delicious salt in the world. It's an ancient sea salt mined in Utah, totally unrefined, with no additives. Not only is it an amazing product, but I'm happy that it's 100% produced in the USA by American workers.
I was hoping you would gave mentioned baking with salt. Is table salt the best to use?
What about pink salt?
I use the sea salt (flakes) on some of my gourmet deserts like my big chocolate cookies.
Himalayan Pink Salt ???
👅
Switched from diamond to Morton and wow I was over salting everything! Completely different! Really takes experience
Here in the UK it’s vice versa with Kosher/Maldon’s. Kosher very expensive only available online at Amazon, Ebay type sellers & Maldon’s although not cheap it’s far more affordable than Kosher.
Love ATK even though it can be difficult to find ingredients & equipment recommendations, I do understand it’s aimed at an American audience.
My mouth was watering at those juicy tomatoes with just a sprinkle of salt when I saw this episode on TV. Here I am still same…. Those look delish.
Canning salt does not have an anti-caking agent added to it. I never new this until I researched salt and found out. Apparently not having the anti-caking agent is better for canning. Just saying.
I'm doubtful anyone could tell the difference between the various types of salt once mixed in a recipe.
I've got a box of Morton canning/pickling salt I keep around for throwing in popcorn before I pop it
Actually, you don't need any salt in your kitchen…at least not for culinary reasons. If you allow your body to get used to doing without the added salt, you will come to realize how much salt is already naturally in foods. They already came with as much salt is necessary. Even pasta water doesn't need it. You've just gotten accustomed to it because everyone says you "need" it on your food when – in fact – you don't.
Morton's kosher is the best.
But what is pickling salt?
ATK really needs a top to bottom staff purge. False info in multiple videos, including this one.
Wish he had included Himalayan Salt..I use that..
Measure by mass… Problem solved
Morton's kosher salt does, in fact, have the anti-caking agent. Diamond Crystal kosher salt does not.
It should be called “koshering salt” and not “kosher salt”!!! Sheesh!
I love ATK, but when did salt get so complicated? Trying to convert amounts for different types is a nuisance. Over 40 years ago when I was growing up I asked what iodized meant on the Morton salt box. I remember my mother telling me it contained iodine which was very important to consume and it's something we don't get enough of in our diets. I've never bought any other kind of salt.
Jack has been cranking out a lot of really high quality videos recently. In any case, I have all of the salts shown here and 3 or 4 more. I find the Morton's coarse kosher tends to bounce off of less moist foods if I'm seasoning from a height, so Diamond Crystal is my main jam for seasoning raw food. I tend to use the Morton for brines, broths, pasta water, etc. It's also better for scrubbing cast iron since the crystals are bigger and harder. Having table salt around is really useful for following baking recipes that don't list ingredients by weight.
Love watching America's Test Kitchen. Always very informative for cooking techniques and recipes and best apparatuses to use for the kitchen.
Clean salt is every bit as important as clean water.
Until a couple of years ago I had never heard of kosher salt and I’m in my 70’s
Thanks! Where does Fleur de Sel fall on this spectrum?
These videos are so helpful! Thank you!
LOL. That's funny. Table salt is made of purified rock salt, which is made of… sea salt trapped in rocks million years ago(cleaner sea). The only difference between table salt and kosher salt is much higher price tag for the latter. Diamond Crystal is $5/pound, any brand table salt $0.5/pound. If you have a spare $4.5 and you like to fool yourself…
I wish sea salt had been included in the comparison, but thanks for what was provided …..it helped
What about flake salt?
Morton Kosher salt has anti-caking chemicals while Diamond Crystal is just salt…
I recently visited salt ponds in Maras, Peru (in the foothills of the Andes) and brought back pink salt, along with some other pigmented salts from the area. I haven't tried cooking with it yet. I have no idea how to use the salt, but I'll "experiment" as recommended.
What about Himalayan salt? I use the pink one in my cooking; alternating between that and the Morton Kosher salt (sometimes mainly used for cleaning my meats).
I really like it when recipes have a weight (usually, grams) for things like salt!
If I measure my salt for cooking by its weight, would 25 grams of each of the different salts be expected to give the same level of seasoning taste? One variety of salt doesn't have more salt taste than another does it?
Maldon salt is a finishing salt, but regular fine sea salt is just fine for cooking and baking, and it's not expensive.
I like pretzel salt – nice big crystals!
Morton kosher salt has anti caking additive.
Thank you for this information. Very useful for me.
I've been frustrated with wondering how much kosher salt to swap out for table salt. I bought both brands of kosher salt that you presented and became more frustrated because of the large difference in crystal size. I didn't grow up around cooking so I'm working on learning the basics. This is one of the most helpful videos I've found. Correct salting is vital! Thank you
Pink Himalayan
What about Himalayan pink salt? Does it have any added attributes over the other types of salts?
I don't know why "Himaliyan pink salt" is so expensive in USA and western countries since we get it at 0.15 US$/KG (155 US$/ton) from local grocery stores in chunk form.
Just adding "Himalyian pink salt" (95% SC, 5% TMs) must be used that is having proven 85 trace minerals crucial and beneficial for human body. HPS is mined from beneath moutains in Pakistan with GI tag and less expensive. Illustrated salts are 100% sodium chloride and lacking of must having minerals.
Morton also sells a "pickling salt" that is just table salt without additives (because the additives would make the water in your jar of pickles cloudy). So grateful that he didn't claim that "sea salt" is more flavorful than the others. It isn't. They are all just salt.
I have no clue why people say "there's two types of Kosher salt you can buy at the grocery store" – maybe if you live in a large city. But regionally in the small location I live you can only get Morton. I have to go out of state to get Diamond Crystal. since that's a minimum 3 hour drive, I'm using Mortan whether I like it or not.