table salt vs. sea salt

so I was reading that it's really a preference thing and there's no difference health wise... but i was wondering what you all preferred for cooking and seasoning... table or sea salt and why?

I don't find there is any difference to my palate. So I use regular table salt.

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The flavor of sea salt is stronger and more concentrated, so you have to use less of it. I think it tastes much better.

"One sounds fancier."

Ain't that the truth. :).

Then there are different categories of sea salt, and different colors, too. There's a salmon pink one that would look very nice on the table. But as far as fancy goes, you would want to serve your guests "fleur de sel," the ne plus ultra of French sea salts ---- that is, if you want to spend an arm and a leg on a pretty name.

All salts are pretty much sea salt, because they pretty much all come from the sea. (Unless they come form inside a volcano....see below.)

Table salt is processed to remove all the elements and trace minerals, which are actually good for you. They add iodine back in, but nothing else.

Pink Himalayan salt and Indian black salt are both unrefined and have different and stronger tastes than processed salt.

The ultimate salt experience can be had at the beginning of one of the most expensive meals in New York: at Thomas Keller's Per Se in Columbus Circle.

With the bread and butter, the waiter puts down a "selection of Artisinal Salts," which includes six salts: one from the Dead Sea, one from Iceland, one from Bolivia and the one that came from inside a volcano in Hawaii.



Here's an interesting (if typically pretentious) article by Mimi Sheraton on searching for salts.
SMITHSONIAN: Mimi Sheraton's Tasting Tour of Salts Around the World

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One thing to keep in mind is that if a recipe calls for 1 tsp of kosher salt (for example) you will not want to use 1 tsp of table salt. Since table salt comes in a much finer grain than kosher salt you will be putting a whole lot more salt into your recipe than what the creator/author intended and it could really throw off the flavor.

I typically vary between sea salt and kosher salt. I will almost always use sea salt to salt my pasta water (pasta, according to one Italian who taught me a lot about cooking, should always be cooked in water that tastes like the sea). Kosher salt is typically what I'll have out on the table for adjusting the flavor of dishes once they are done.

I like sea salt.

It makes me feel like my fries are being served by mermaids or something.

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thanks for the responses! the thought just never crossed my mind until a friend of mine used sea salt to season his foods and he just said it was better then regular salt... but yes... one does sound fancier! ha

Okay, I am not a chef and I'm not trained at all, I just cook a lot. I've read *a lot* of cookbooks and professional chefs do say sea salt (but especially kosher salt is better). In terms of sea salt, I've always wondered, if I made something that was damn good and well seasoned with regular table salt, would people really be able to tell a difference? Maybe more sophisticated palates could answer this question, but my mom cooked so much with table salt when I was growing up, and I've been to some 4 star restaurants where the food couldn't touch my mom's, so it does make me wonder about this idea of sea salt being "better."

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"I like sea salt.

It makes me feel like my fries are being served by mermaids or something."

I loled.

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now for those that use sea salt.. do you always have to use a grinder or can you get some already ground...