A.K.A

koshering salt (in the UK)

What is it?

Kosher salt, so named because it’s used in the process of koshering meats, has a larger grain than table salt. It usually contains no additives, though some kosher salts do contain iodine, which is more commonly found in table salts. Kosher is easy to pinch and sprinkle, making it the choice of most chefs for seasoning meat, fish, and poultry. It also sticks to foods better, and it dissolves more quickly. Compared to table salt, which can taste sharp and one-dimensional, kosher salt has a delicious salty flavor and a nice crunch.

Table salt, however, if often preferred in baking recipes because it disperses better in dry ingredients and its standard crystal size makes for more consistent measurement.

Kitchen math:

Different brands of kosher salt have crystals of different sizes and shapes. That means that the same volume of salt can have dramatically different weights (and thus contibute far more or saltiness), depending on the brand. For instance: 1/4 cup Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt = 1 oz. 1/4 cup Morton’s brand kosher salt = 2 oz. Most recipes call for kosher salt to taste, but if you need a measured amount—especially a large amount, such as in a brine—it’s best to measure by weight.

Don’t have it?

Table salt and sea salt can substitute; use less table salt and a little more sea salt.

How to choose:

Diamond Crystal brand’s hollow flakes dissolve quickly (which is especially important in baking). Other brands of kosher salt have harder, slower dissolving flakes.

How to prep:

To use for general seasoning, pinch the coarse salt between your thumb, index finger, and middle finger, hold it high over your pan, and then rub your fingers back and forth to release the salt while circling your hand over the pan or cut of meat to distribute it evenly.

How to store:

Kept dry and cool, kosher salt lasts indefinitely. Keep some in a salt cellar, small bowl, or wooden box, and set it next to your stove to use for seasoning.

Recipes

• 
  Recipe

  Creamy Caramelized Onions with Sage

  More like a relish than an actual side, this dish somehow binds together all of the elements on the Thanksgiving plate. It’s also super tasty on leftover sandwiches the next…

• 
  Recipe

  Mashed-Potato Casserole

  把土豆泥变成一个砂锅就意味着你can make them ahead (a full day ahead!) and bring them to a potluck in their own serving dish.

• 
  Recipe

  Make-Ahead Gravy

  I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here when I say that gravy is the very best part of the Thanksgiving meal. But how do you make deeply…

• 
  Recipe

  Maple Cream Pie

  Maple syrup should be rebranded as a cheery symbol for aging; when it’s new and light, the sap has little complexity. It only becomes sweet and luscious, bold and wise,…

• 
  Recipe

  French Apple and Fig Tart

  This crisp-edged tart celebrates fall's most beautiful fruits. It's excerpted from The Joys of Baking.

• 
  Recipe

  Double Chocolate Rye Blackout Cookies

  These superdecadent, bittersweet cookies are excerpted from the Joys of Baking by Samantha Seneviratne, and inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s aptly named World Peace Cookies.

• 
  Recipe

  Coffee Crème Bundt Cake

  This glorious coffee-flavored Bundt, excerpted from The Joys of Baking, is more sweet than coffee and has a gooey, condensed milk glaze that you may have to resist eating with…

• 
  Recipe

  Moroccan Lamb and Seven-Vegetable Couscous

  This traditional dish is served as the centerpiece of every festive and celebratory meal in North African communities around the world, from weddings to funerals, for the feast of the…

• 
  Recipe

  Chicken Couscous with Dried Fruit

  Dried fruit and nuts are found in many North African dishes. What I love about this simple yet flavorful dish is that the naturally sweet dried fruits take center stage…

• 
  Recipe

  Roasted Lemon Tart

  The roasted lemon adds intense color and mellow, smooth flavor to the lemon curd filling in this dessert.