I was curious as to how many salts I have kicking around, so I did a scan. There were more than I expected. I think that's most of them. (There might be one or two that I missed.)
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Back row:
- Cooking salt
That's my everyday use-for-everything salt. It is not iodised, but does contain anti-caking agent (E535, sodium ferrocyanide).
- Iodised table salt. That's a fine-grained salt that goes into a salt shaker for the table.
- Morton kosher salt. There is only a little bit left in that package. I brought that one back from the US because it is hard to get here and expensive. I've since switched to David's, which I can buy locally.
- David's kosher salt. That's the salt I use when I don't want any additives, such as for pickling. Here is a photo of the Saxa cooking salt, Morton kosher, and David's kosher side by side. Compared to Morton, the Saxa has smaller grains, and the David's has larger grains:
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- Purple salt (grape infused). Tastes just like ordinary salt, but looks cooler.
- Celtic sea salt. To be honest, I don't think it tastes that much different from Maldon sea salt. It has a slight mineral/metallic touch to it, but I have to pay attention to pick it out.
Middle row:
- Maldon sea salt. Tastes just like salt, but is nice as a coarse finishing salt.
- Brezen salt. Specifically for Brezen. It is fairly coarse, with a unique texture created by lots of air inclusions, so each grain is not a single hard crystal, but has a sponge-like structure, much like sintered glass. Essential for making genuine Brezen.
- Saxa unionised table salt. That little shaker exists so I can toss it into my kitchen gear bag when going on holidays and staying at an AirBnB. (Believe it or not, but I've encountered more than one AirBnB where there is nothing in the kitchen, not even salt and pepper.)
- Pink Himalayan salt. It's a pink rock salt that tastes just like not-pink rock salt. I rarely cook with it; the coarse form factor makes it awkward to use without a grinder. But I do use it as a bed for oysters in the shell because it looks a little more interesting than white rock salt. (I keep a large bag of it in a cupboard.)
- Manuka smoked chilli salt from New Zealand. That one is interesting. It contains chipotle, but also big black mama, ghost, and scorpion chillies. It is surprisingly hot, and I like it a lot.
- Rosemary salt. That's kosher salt with rosemary and garlic blended in. Goes well as a finishing salt on tomatoes, as well as on just about everything else.
- Fleur de Sel. Personally, I don't get what all the fuss is about. To me, it tastes the same as Maldon sea salt.
Front row:
- Popcorn salt. That's kosher salt ground very finely in a spice grinder with a few drops of artificial butter flavouring added.
- Celery salt. Another nice finishing salt for steak, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
- Chicken salt. Goes well with fish and chips.
- Maple smoked sea salt. Has a strong smoke aroma and works well as a finishing salt with fish (especially with a sprig of fresh tarragon added).
- Indian black salt. This salt is truly unique. It has a very strong sulphurous smell, reminiscent of (rotten) eggs. It does work extremely well for omelette and similar egg dishes.
Other than that, there is a big bag of ordinary white rock salt under the sink. But that gets used mostly as dishwasher salt. Occasionally, I use it as a bed for shell fish.
), but they featured these Scottish salt producers that had an interesting way to pre-evaporate prior to the cooking process:
