Do you cook with Sea salt or regular salt?

Contributor: Rossie Rossie
Which one do you cook with, the healthier and better-tasting Sea salt, or plain old salt?
Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
Iodized sea salt/natural sea salt.
LadyEarlGrey , TameTemptress , lexical , UnknownGirl , aliceinthehole , SilverIsis , ~LaUr3n~ , Vanille , namelesschaos , Ghost , OhMy! , Taylor , Misfit Momma , EdenJP , padmeamidala , bluekaren , P'Gell , ConnerJay , Gracie , Peggi , MeliPixie , Beck , Fun with Dick & Jane , idunshire , Melissa Smith
25
Iodized table salt.
Cookie Monster Mike , darthkitt3n , JackRaiden , TameTemptress , SilverIsis , LAndJ , deltalima , PassionateLover2 , bluekaren , married with children , Stinkytofu10 , Peggi , MeliPixie , slynch , RiahPapaya
15
Plain table salt.
Adriana Ravenlust , Jon S , coconut1 , TameTemptress , eggiweg , Valentinka , stars , Peggi , hillys
9
I use a specific kind of sea salt from.....
Cookie Monster Mike , bayosgirl , wetone123 , JackRaiden , (Re)tired Stripper , SilverIsis , voenne
7
Others.....
Airen Wolf , Antipova , El-Jaro , Kitka , Kindred , P'Gell , Shellz31 , Gracie , MeliPixie , underHim
10
Total votes: 66 (53 voters)
Poll is closed
12/20/2011
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Contributor: Cookie Monster Mike Cookie Monster Mike
I use Mediterranean Sea Salt in a grinder that I have.
12/20/2011
Contributor: bayosgirl bayosgirl
I use a brand called Real Salt. It's mined from a salt bed in Utah.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Airen Wolf Airen Wolf
Quote:
Originally posted by Rossie
Which one do you cook with, the healthier and better-tasting Sea salt, or plain old salt?
I do not cook with salt but use other herbs to flavor the food.
12/20/2011
Contributor: darthkitt3n darthkitt3n
I use iodized salt, but I have been thinking about switching to sea salt.
12/20/2011
Contributor: TameTemptress TameTemptress
I go back and forth...it just depends on my mood.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
I typically cook with kosher salt, it's easier to grab and add to things (I just kinda measure with my fingers) because it's bigger, and when I'm just using it as table salt I like the extra surface area the bigger flakes have. And it's like the same cost as plain ol' table salt.

Sea salt? That stuff is expensive, and while it has a little extra taste, I haven't seen anything to make me believe in health benefits. So I have a tub of it, but I only use it on special occasions where you'll really notice the salt, like sprinkled on top of chocolate sea salt cookies, or to lace caramel. Baking (as in, stunting the yeast in bread) or cooking (and hiding the flavor under butter or other spices) with somethign that expensive would seem like a terrible waste, to me.
12/20/2011
Contributor: UnknownGirl UnknownGirl
Pretty much exclusively sea salt.
12/20/2011
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
It depends on what I'm cooking.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Kitka Kitka
I don't cook with salt most of the time because of the hubby's high blood pressure.
12/20/2011
Contributor: lexical lexical
Whoops! I voted incorrectly. I meant to select both table salt and natural sea salt. My philosophy is very similar to Antipova's, so I use both types.
12/20/2011
Contributor: (Re)tired Stripper (Re)tired Stripper
I'm the kind of weirdo gourmand who tends to use fancy-pants salt in my cookery. I really like Himalayan pink salt for all-purpose seasoning. Hell, I even have Himalayan rock salt pink candle holders (but that's a threadjack, hm?).

I use Real Salt with the minerals and lovely stuff in it for more budget-friendly cooking and for my neti pot.

Sometimes I'll peruse the fancy damp lovely Celtic sea salt and such and use that.

Kosher salt is great for certain things, too. It all depends!
12/20/2011
Contributor: SilverIsis SilverIsis
Depends on what I am cooking.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Rossie Rossie
Quote:
Originally posted by (Re)tired Stripper
I'm the kind of weirdo gourmand who tends to use fancy-pants salt in my cookery. I really like Himalayan pink salt for all-purpose seasoning. Hell, I even have Himalayan rock salt pink candle holders (but that's a threadjack, hm?).

I ... more
I've always wanted to get a Himalayan rock salt lamp, but worried the salt might sweat and make a mess, so I keep putting the idea off.
12/20/2011
Contributor: namelesschaos namelesschaos
I don't add much when cooking, just plain old salt if the recipe needs it. I tend to put sea salt on it after cooking for flavor.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Ghost Ghost
The only thing "healthy" about sea salt is that, compared to regular salt (only NaCl), sea salt has, per gram, less NaCl. Salt water has many different "salts" dissolves in it (mostly NaCl, but also MgCl, CaCl, KCl, etc.) and so when the water is evaporated, you are left with a conglomerate of different salts.

However, we overuse salt ANYWAY. Therefor, I see no actual health benefit to using sea salt.
12/20/2011
Contributor: LAndJ LAndJ
Quote:
Originally posted by namelesschaos
I don't add much when cooking, just plain old salt if the recipe needs it. I tend to put sea salt on it after cooking for flavor.
Same. Don't use it much, and plain when I do.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Cookie Monster Mike Cookie Monster Mike
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
I typically cook with kosher salt, it's easier to grab and add to things (I just kinda measure with my fingers) because it's bigger, and when I'm just using it as table salt I like the extra surface area the bigger flakes have. And ... more
I agree, put simply salt is salt. Iodized Salt is simply stuff added to salt. Almost all table salt in the U.S. comes from massive salt mines under the Great Lakes and also there is one down South but I can't remember where.

Salt is a chemical, and chemically speaking, whether it's natural sea salt or ancient salt buried thousands of feet underground from ancient lakes/seas its pretty much all the same. As for the taste, I do prefer sea salt vs iodized salt, especially the salt used in most fast food joints on their fries, its absolutely disgusting.

I've often had people ask me what Kosher salt is as my job, and what's so different about it. I end up telling them, salt is salt and the only difference is how it is sold, being larger size rocks of salt. Any recipe I've seen that calls for Kosher salt, I have never used it personally.

I wish sea salt wasn't so expensive, it's really stupid that it is. A lot of companies simply pump sea water into large collection trays and let the water evaporate leaving just salt behind. Then charge a crap load of money for it, which is stupid but hey, companies market it as healthier because it's natural.
12/20/2011
Contributor: EdenJP EdenJP
Sea salt
12/20/2011
Contributor: deltalima deltalima
I've gotten a new seasoned salt but haven't tried it yet.
12/20/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Cookie Monster Mike
I agree, put simply salt is salt. Iodized Salt is simply stuff added to salt. Almost all table salt in the U.S. comes from massive salt mines under the Great Lakes and also there is one down South but I can't remember where.

Salt is a ... more
Yeah, I'm with you.

Kosher salt isn't actually in rocks, though, it's kind of in flakes. If you order a margarita at a restaurant, it's pretty similar to what comes on the edge of your glass. But, to me, it seems silly for a recipe to specify kosher salt or standard iodized salt, because they're completely chemically identical---the only difference is a physical one (shape/size of the flakes). Kosher salt is just easier for a hand-measurer, like me

Sea salt does have a good flavor, though, so for uses where it really stands out I'm happy to use it!
12/21/2011
Contributor: Cookie Monster Mike Cookie Monster Mike
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Yeah, I'm with you.

Kosher salt isn't actually in rocks, though, it's kind of in flakes. If you order a margarita at a restaurant, it's pretty similar to what comes on the edge of your glass. But, to me, it seems silly for a ... more
Hmm might be just the way the kosher salt looks at my workplace. We have a large assortment of medium sized glass jars with corks in them. Malabar black peppercorns, Peppercorn Supreme Blend, Mediterranean Sea Salt and finally the Kosher Salt, in the jar the Kosher looks like large rocks, much like when you buy rock salt for ice melting. Maybe i'll have to buy one of these jars next time I need salt and check it out, thanks for the heads up!
12/21/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
I cook with Kosher salt. I find it a lot easier to grab than table salt and I don't find sea salt worth the price.
12/21/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
I cook with Kosher salt and then "finish" with Sea Salt. I don't buy the really expensive Sea Salt, just the kind you can get at the grocery store. I think it has a good flavor, but gets lost in cooking. We just use it to finish dishes and at the table. Also, with both Sea Salt and Kosher salt you don't have that chemical taste that iodized salt has and the shape of the crystal makes a difference in taste. (Yeah, I'm an obnoxious foodie.)

My husband was laughing his butt off once when we were in Williams and Sonoma and he saw "hand cultivated sea salt" for about $40.00 an ounce. He's saying, (loudly) "It's the most abundant substance on Earth. Why is it $40.00 an ounce?" I just led him away saying, "You don't have to buy this, sweetheart....."
12/21/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by P'Gell
I cook with Kosher salt and then "finish" with Sea Salt. I don't buy the really expensive Sea Salt, just the kind you can get at the grocery store. I think it has a good flavor, but gets lost in cooking. We just use it to finish dishes ... more
Your husband sounds just like my dad. Or like me.
12/22/2011
Contributor: ConnerJay ConnerJay
I use seasalt for everything except baking
12/23/2011
Contributor: Stinkytofu10 Stinkytofu10
Morton's Iodized Salt
12/23/2011
Contributor: voenne voenne
Quote:
Originally posted by Cookie Monster Mike
I use Mediterranean Sea Salt in a grinder that I have.
I have that. I also use some really large/coarse sea salt that I bought from Hawaii and has lasted a long time. I don't use salt much, so the cost doesn't matter.
12/24/2011
Contributor: MeliPixie MeliPixie
I use sea salt as an ending splash of seasoning, but if I'm cooking it in, I prefer to use iodized table salt, which is saltier and cheaper. I also really like kosher salt in my cooking, but NEVER my baking!!!
12/29/2011
Contributor: idunshire idunshire
I just use the cheap, giant containers of sea salt you get from asian markets...
01/07/2012