Sea Salt versus Kosher Salt

After many years of watching the Food Network, I knew that salt was important. However, many of the Food Network personalities (e.g. Alton Brown, Tyler Florence, Emeril, etc.) were always advocating the use of kosher salt. Kosher salt has a fine texture and is not as salty as other salts. It gets its name from its use in making meats kosher, by helping to extract the blood from the meat. I was generally very happy using kosher salt whenever I cooked. However, after having D'Artagnan cook for us, my views on salt have changed.

D'Artagnan prefers using sea salt on everything with his views of kosher salt being "kosher salt sucks." D'Artagnan is a chef in NYC, so it's very helpful asking him food questions since he deals with food for a living. After having D'Artagnan's lamb and duck which was insanely flavorful, I decided to give it a try. I have now come to the realization for all meats and seafood I will use sea salt. Sea salt gives meats and seafood a better crust and a more intense flavor. I immediately noticed the difference after cooking some chicken and salmon using sea salt. I prefer vegetables to have a less pumped up flavor, which is why I'm sticking with kosher salts there. That's the great thing about cooking, you can always learn new things and improve on technique. Give it the side-by-side test (chicken with sea salt vs kosher salt) and I think you'll probably come to the same conclusion.