I’ve been a Maldon flaky salt evangelist ever since I started following Wishbone Kitchen’s Meredith Hayden on TikTok, sprinkling it with reverence over everything from pan-seared steak to sliced watermelon. But while I’ve happily abandoned my little blue canister of table salt, chefs say that writing off other types — like fine sea salt, kosher salt and even controversial flavored ones — isn’t the best move. According to Daniel Tse, head chef at Wander the Resort, different salts have different mineral compositions, grain sizes and dissolving rates, which means they shine in different dishes.
HuffPost spoke with chefs about the salts they actually keep stocked in their kitchens, when to use each one, and which brands are worth tossing into your grocery cart — whether you’re team Maldon, Diamond Crystal or something in between.
The One Salt You Need: Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt
“Diamond Crystal kosher salt is the one salt to rule them all,” said Tse. If you’ve ever spotted the little red box with the dissolving crystal on the front, you’ve seen the industry standard. It’s been around since the 1800s, but in the past few decades, it has become the salt most commonly referenced in American cookbooks.
Most ingredient brands are easy enough to swap out — but this salt isn’t like the other girls. Its grains are larger, lighter and more airy than most competitors, meaning a pinch of Diamond Crystal delivers less sodium than the same pinch of another brand. “For example if you were to take a pinch of Windsor [kosher] salt vs. Diamond Crystal salt, it is a different amount of salt,” said Tse. “It comes down to the grain size and consistency, as well as affordability. ”
Kirstyn Bielawa, executive chef at Ironwood Kitchen & Cocktails at the Valley Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama, agreed: “Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt is the preferred choice. It’s less salty and has more of a crumble to it.” That crumble matters — because the flakes dissolve quickly and evenly, they distribute seasoning more consistently, whether you’re salting chicken, caramel or cookie dough.
And it’s not just for your Salt Bae moments. Diamond Crystal is the kitchen workhorse, showing up in everything from pasta water to brines to cakes.
If that wasn’t reason enough, Thomas Tuggle, executive chef at 1799 Kitchen & Bar Room at The Harpeth Hotel, in Franklin, Tennessee, shared, “A fine ground salt like Diamond Crystal coats the food better, and this allows more consistent bites and taste.”
The Salt To Top Everything With: Maldon Flaky Sea Salt
That checkered green box has a chokehold on Millennial culture — a cool-girl salt if there ever was one. Its big, fluffy, glassy flakes make you look like you know what you’re doing in the kitchen, even if you’re just crowning a slice of peanut butter toast with the huge crystals (spoiler: it really does taste better).
Bielawa shared, “Maldon salt or a finishing salt in general is fantastic for finishing meats or baked goods as the dish is going out. Maldon is preferred for finishing, especially on game meat.”
But Maldon isn’t your everyday workhorse — it’s not the salt you measure in teaspoons for marinades or fold into cake batter, because the flakes are too irregular to measure consistently and don’t dissolve as evenly. Its magic is in the finish.Think of it as the icing on a slice of cake: delicate crunch, a hit of minerality, a little flourish that makes food taste more finished. As Tse explained, “Flaky salt brings a crunch as well as a burst of flavour to finish the dish. My go to finishing salt is Maldon sea salt. I prefer Maldon over fleur de sel for finishing salts because of the texture of the salt.”
The One Flavored Salt Worth Buying: Smoked Sea Salt
The chefs I interviewed didn’t have much love for most of the trendier flavored salts — Tuggle even described them as tasting “dirty” — the kind of gimmicky jars you see at boutique food stores or overpriced steakhouses. But smoked sea salt was the exception. Both Tse and Bielawa singled it out as a favorite, praising its ability to add depth without overpowering.
Tse explained, “I use this anywhere where I want both a finishing salt and a smoky complexity to the flavor of the overall dish. Perfect with meats and fish, veggies, and really anything you want to add some smoky flavors, too. Anything that you grill will taste amazing with Smoked Maldon Sea Salt as it will bring out the flavor of the grill.”
Why Not Iodized Table Salt?
I grew up with the blue box of iodized salt constantly refilling our shakers — sprinkled indiscriminately over pork chops, mixed into cookie dough and stirred into soups. But the chefs I spoke with weren’t fans. Not just because you can’t pinch and scatter it dramatically like a celebrity chef, but mostly because of the taste.
Bielawa put it simply: “Use kosher salt for baking, as iodized salt can put a chemical taste into baked goods.” You don’t have to be a super taster to notice the metallic finish that accompanies iodized salt. It can be off-putting, and is especially noticeable in delicate recipes where clean, balanced seasoning matters most.
That said, iodized salt isn’t entirely without purpose. It’s cheap, widely available, and the added iodine does provide nutritional benefits for people who might not get enough in their diets. If it’s what you have on hand, it’ll do the job in a pinch — but for cooking and baking that tastes restaurant-level, kosher or sea salt is the way to go.