Because different salts can vary in weight at the same volume it a good idea to weight salt in a recipe. Very important for calculating a brine
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Nuh uh.
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This topic is more historic than topical these days, but I came across Kenji’s take on kosher salt while researching his views on pizza grills. Here it is: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/ask-the-food-lab-do-i-need-to-use-kosher-salt.html
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Thanks a lot for the article. It gives a good comparison with fine table salt and some other finishing salts.
And obviously size matters.
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Not really.
I use kosher salt ( cannot remember who makes it) for presenting my meat for smoking and for brining but here is a story of what happened to me in the 90’s.
I bought a set of 12" salt and pepper mill made by Peugeot from WS. , went to Whole Foods to buy salt, for the salt mill. It did not work, so I wrote to Peugeot who explained that the Peugeot wet salt mechanism has been designed for grinding damp sea salt – also known as grey salt (from Guérande, Ré, etc.). It resists salt corrosion through the use of specialized materials.
So, I went to Whole Foods again, bought grey salt that they recommended. Still problem. Thinking that my Peugeot Salt Mill was defective, called Peugeot again. I asked if I received a factory second perhaps? Peugeot then sent me a replacement but problem persisted. I actually have a large large 24"Peppermill that only my husband can use as it is too large for me. ( I have since retired that and is sitting in my pantry , as a memory of my husband)
Finally, Peugeot sent me a 567 gms bottle of La roule des epices kosher salt which may have been made for Peugeot as it has their logo . They advised me that if I run out, to buy it from Swiss Army Knife. Well, I have been buying from them since. No Problem!
Net time I run out of kosher salat for brining and barbecuing, I wil try and find the diamond brand.
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Great you find a way to use your wet salt grinder.
It’s annoying that you are limited by the type of salt, their brand mainly.
I like your persistence with customer service and making things work. I’ve to look for mine again. 
so far no problem after I start using their salt.
William Sonoma would. have refunded me for the SP grinder but they were very pretty, and I persisted calling Peugeot!
Added bonus: I have two of their pretty Paris Red Salt Grinder, one given as a gift !!!
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@naf, not sure if you eat popcorn, but kosher salt is perfect for seasoning that snack, as it isn’t circular shaped, and doesn’t “roll off”.
Same for things like fries, onion rings, calamari & etc. I like the size of the Diamond Kosher flakes, and (to my palate) the clean, pure taste.
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What is so special with their salt compared to the other salts you have bought that didn’t work in that grinder? Their salt is drier? Or is it the size?
This point on shape is interesting.
I use Diamond Crystal salt…period. I have a good supply of grey salt and fleur de sel I’ve brought home from France which I put out at dinner parties, but day in and day out, for all cooking and seasoning I stick to DC. I find it has a clean, bright taste.
BUT you have to adjust recipes that call for “salt” which assume table salt, like Morton’s or Leslie’s. As Scuba wrote above, you have to weigh the amount of table salt a recipe calls for and use this WEIGHT of kosher salt since it measures much less than table salt. i.e., if you use spoon for spoon, kosher for table, you will be using much less salt than the recipe requires.
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FWIW, it also does depend on the brand (due to size of the crystals). I make salt-brined pickles and got into an interesting discussion (on Chowhound actually) about the apparent significant difference in ‘saltiness’ depending on whether one uses Diamond Crystal or Morton’s Kosher salt. The bottom line seemed to be that you have to use a weight not a volume measure because equal volumes of Morton’s will result in 30% more ‘saltiness’ than using Diamond Crystal due to grain size. Morton’s is coarse, DC is fine.
Problem is that not all recipes give a weight measure. Most seem to use volume measures (with no note as to coarse or fine) so the brand can make a big difference.
Agree with this comment concerning weight and also the above posts about the differences between table and Kosher salts as well; will never forget my first attempt at making gravlax, using Morton’s table salt instead of Kosher, thinking it wouldn’t make much difference. Completely inedible despite multiple rinses. What a waste of fresh king (Chinook) salmon. This was in my early 20’s. I’ve learned just a few things since then…
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have no idea. Just did not work. I tried various salts recommended by Whole Foods , then named Fresh Foods I believe. The salt just does not come out as though it was all gummed up in the grinder, even with the second grinder that was given to me. e made sure that we were not using the pepper grinder which is yellow. Anyway, that is not expensive to buy and it last me a long time. For normal salting prior to brining or smoking, I use regular kosher salt. Perhaps it is Morton’s, I cannot remember bec I empty the box of salt into a canister. For most cooking, I use Himalaya pink salt. I used to also have a gray flaky sea salt that I can crush with my fingers for chowder but alas, retired with Whole Foods over an hour away, I stopped carrying that . Life goes on, the past though glorious is out of my reach now.
Diamond is my brand as well. Never vary. That way I have a good sense of salting without measuring. Not talking about baking
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The salt conversion chart has good info–thanks! But I wish Morton had the Mojo to list one of the most prominent comparative issues: how Morton and their main competitor Diamond Crystal Kosher compare. Especially for baking, I go with salt by weight rather than volume.
I do recall from Cooks Illustrated something like this: table salt at 1/2 cup matches 3/4 cup of Morton’s Kosher, which equals 1 cup of Diamond Crystal. Those are useful proportions for brining. Myself, I hardly ever use table salt.
It’s very annoying to me that recipes so seldom specify which brand of kosher salt they call for. But, basically, it helps to know that Morton is to be used more sparingly than Diamond Crystal. For some reason, Diamond Crystal is unfindable here in Northern Indiana, but there’s lots written here about it. For brining and bread making, I suggest using recipes that point to weight.
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I’m using weight more and more for everything, not just baking. With just a little care in addition to greater precision I’m doing less washing up. That’s always a good thing as here at Chez Auspicious when my wife cooks I clean, and when I cook I clean. I have yet to figure out how that happened.
The scale is something that migrated from my boat to her/our house. I’ve had to buy a new one for the boat.
Were precision is not critical the eyeball and palm work fine. This does take some personal calibration. Once in a while my wife calls me on a “measurement” and we dig out the spoons and cups. I get darn close. grin
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This is exactly the point I was trying to make above. Thanks for more detail.
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About your gray flaky sea salt, that’s certainly some form a so-called Fleur de sel (French for "flower of salt,’ although the product also come from Portugal and Spain and perhaps other places). It’s widely available online, but speciality spice and grocery places–even like an Italian grocer–might have it. It wouldn’t surprise me to see it a a Super Target store (they’re quite good with foods–not sure what nation you live in).
There’s a YouTube video on Fleur de sel compared to other salts.
A further salt I had for some time, cheaper than Fleur de sel, was super-coarse and distinctly gray in color, and it was French sea salt, I think. Too coarse to be a so-called “finishing salt.”
