What to Look for When Buying Sea Salt

October 31, 2025 •

4 min read

While all salt is technically derived from the sea, a recent study published in Environmental Science & Technology revealed that many sea salt products contain microplastics, making it crucial for modern consumers to know what to look for when buying sea salt. Beyond potential contaminants, understanding the subtle differences in texture, flavor, and mineral content can completely transform your culinary experience.

Quick Summary

This guide details the key factors for selecting high-quality sea salt, covering processing methods, mineral content, and regional varieties. It explains the distinction between cooking and finishing salts and offers tips for reading labels to ensure purity.

Key Points

Unrefined is Key: Opt for unrefined sea salt, which retains its natural trace minerals like magnesium and potassium, offering a more complex flavor profile than its processed counterpart.
Match Texture to Purpose: Use fine-grain salts for even seasoning in cooking and baking, and save delicate flake or flower salts for finishing dishes to add a final crunch and pop of flavor.
Check the Label: Look for 'unrefined' and confirm the salt's origin to ensure purity and authenticity. A clean label should list only 'sea salt' and no anti-caking agents.
Explore Varieties: Experiment with different types like Fleur de Sel, Sel Gris, or flake salt to discover how unique mineral compositions and textures can enhance specific dishes.
Mindful Usage: Because unrefined salts have a more robust flavor, you may need less to achieve the desired effect. Season with intention, tasting as you go.
Be Aware of Microplastics: Recent studies have found microplastic contamination in some sea salt. Choosing reputable brands that harvest from pristine sources is a good practice to minimize exposure.

Understanding the Fundamentals: Refined vs. Unrefined

When selecting sea salt, the most significant distinction to grasp is the difference between refined and unrefined varieties. This fundamental choice impacts the salt's mineral composition, flavor, and culinary application.

The Refining Process Explained

Refined salt, including most commercial table salts, is industrially processed to strip away all minerals and impurities, leaving behind almost pure sodium chloride. This process often involves washing, filtering, and high-heat drying. The result is a uniformly white, fine-grained salt with a sharp, one-dimensional flavor. Anti-caking agents are commonly added to prevent clumping.

The Allure of Unrefined Sea Salt

Unrefined sea salt is a completely different product. Harvested using traditional methods, such as solar evaporation in shallow ponds, it is minimally processed. This preserves the salt's natural mineral signature, which can include magnesium, potassium, calcium, and dozens of other trace elements. These minerals are what give unrefined salts their unique, nuanced flavor profiles and sometimes their color, such as the pink of Himalayan salt or the grey of Celtic salt. As a result, unrefined salts tend to have a more complex and balanced taste that enhances, rather than just salting, food.

Matching Texture and Type to Your Culinary Purpose

Another critical factor is matching the salt's texture and type to its intended use in the kitchen. A single salt cannot do everything perfectly, which is why most serious cooks keep at least two kinds on hand.

Cooking Salts: The Foundational Flavor

For everyday cooking and baking, a fine or medium-grain sea salt is ideal. It dissolves quickly and evenly, ensuring that your pasta water, soups, and marinades are seasoned from the inside out. Kosher salt is also a popular, affordable option for cooking due to its larger grain size, which makes it easier to pinch and control. Coarse salts are excellent for brining and creating salt crusts, as they dissolve more slowly and evenly distribute salinity over time.

Finishing Salts: The Final Flourish

Finishing salts are all about adding a final burst of flavor and texture right before serving. These salts are prized for their delicate, unique crystals and clean taste.

Fleur de Sel: This 'flower of salt' consists of delicate, wafer-thin flakes hand-harvested from the surface of salt ponds, primarily in France. It dissolves quickly on the tongue, offering a clean, briny flavor. It is perfect for finishing salads, grilled fish, or even desserts like chocolate caramel tarts.
Flake Salt (e.g., Maldon): Known for its sharp, pyramid-shaped crystals, flake salt offers a satisfyingly crunchy texture. It provides a clean, bright, and slightly less aggressive saltiness than many other salts and is a favorite for finishing meats, roasted vegetables, and avocado toast.
Sel Gris (Grey Salt): A coarse, moist salt also harvested in France, sel gris gets its grey color from the clay bottom of the salt pans. Its high mineral content gives it a more robust, earthy flavor that stands up well to hearty foods like stews, roasts, and thick breads.

Decoding the Label and Certifications

Reading the product label carefully is essential for ensuring you buy a high-quality sea salt. Look for key terms that indicate purity and minimal processing.

What to look for:

“Unrefined” or “Natural”: These terms signify that the salt has not undergone a heavy chemical process that strips away its beneficial minerals.
Origin: The source of the seawater matters, as different regions produce salts with distinct mineral profiles and flavors. Reputable brands often proudly state where their salt was harvested, whether it's the Atlantic coast of France (Celtic salt) or the waters off Oregon (Jacobsen Salt Co.).
Harvesting Method: Artisan salts are often hand-harvested, a practice that respects tradition and preserves the salt's delicate crystal structure.
Ingredients: A high-quality unrefined sea salt will have a single ingredient: sea salt. Avoid products with anti-caking agents like calcium silicate or dextrose, which are often added to refined salts.

Comparison Table: Sea Salt Types and Uses


Feature	Fine Sea Salt	Flake Salt (e.g., Maldon)	Fleur de Sel	Sel Gris (Celtic Grey)
Best Uses	Cooking, Baking, Brining	Finishing, Sprinkling	Delicate Finishing	Cooking, Baking, Roasting
Texture	Fine grain, dissolves easily	Large, delicate, pyramid-shaped flakes	Fine, light, snowflake-like flakes	Coarse, dense, and moist
Flavor Profile	Clean, straightforward salinity	Clean, bright, and slightly sweet	Subtle, delicate, briny	Robust, earthy, mineral-rich
Processing	Minimally processed (can be refined)	Minimally processed, solar evaporated	Hand-harvested, surface raked	Hand-harvested, bottom raked
Mineral Content	Varies, usually lower than other unrefined types	High	High	High
Dissolvability	High	Low	Low	Low

Conclusion

Choosing the right sea salt is a simple yet impactful way to elevate your cooking and deepen your connection to the food you prepare. By focusing on whether a salt is refined or unrefined, considering its texture and flavor profile, and understanding its ideal culinary purpose, you can move beyond the generic and embrace a world of subtle, complex flavors. A little intention goes a long way. Investing in a few different types of high-quality, artisanal sea salt—a good everyday cooking salt, and a delicate finishing salt—can transform the simplest of meals. The mindful act of seasoning with a pure, mineral-rich salt enriches not just the dish, but the entire experience of cooking and eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

While both sea salt and table salt contain comparable amounts of sodium by weight, unrefined sea salt is often considered healthier because it contains a natural spectrum of trace minerals like magnesium, potassium, and calcium that are stripped from table salt during processing. It is not a low-sodium alternative, but the nutritional quality differs.

Fleur de Sel (flower of salt) and Sel Gris (grey salt) are both harvested in France from the same salt ponds but are collected differently. Fleur de Sel is composed of delicate flakes scraped from the surface, while Sel Gris is coarser and raked from the clay bottom, absorbing more minerals and moisture.

Clumping is a sign of purity in unrefined sea salt. It occurs because these natural salts do not contain anti-caking agents, and they readily absorb moisture from the air. Storing your salt in an airtight container in a cool, dry place can help prevent clumping.

While a single, high-quality, fine-grain sea salt can be versatile, using different salts for different purposes is a best practice for optimal results. A robust, dissolving cooking salt builds foundational flavor, while a delicate finishing salt, like a flake, adds texture and a final pop of taste to a finished dish.

No, most unrefined sea salts do not contain significant amounts of iodine. Many commercial table salts are iodized to prevent iodine deficiency, a public health measure. To ensure adequate iodine intake, it's best to consume iodine-rich foods like seaweed, fish, and eggs.

The signature pink color of Himalayan salt comes from its trace mineral content, particularly iron oxide. As a rock salt mined from ancient sea beds, it is rich in a variety of minerals that give it both its distinctive hue and flavor.

While trace amounts of microplastics have been found in some sea salt products, reputable brands that harvest from cleaner, more pristine marine environments are likely to have lower levels of contamination. For serious health concerns, some consumers prefer rock salts mined from ancient, protected seabeds, such as Himalayan salt.