Readers have asked us many times why we use kosher salt, not table salt, in our recipes. The answer is two-fold.

Kosher salt is a flaky, large-grained salt that’s used in the Jewish meat koshering process, hence its name. There is very little chemical difference between kosher and table salts—both are made predominately from sodium chloride—but table salt can also contain anticaking agents and additives like sodium iodide, while kosher salt is typically additive-free. So one reason we prefer kosher salt is that it’s a purer ingredient.

But really, it’s the texture of kosher salt that makes it preferable to table salt for general cooking. Its flaky texture makes kosher salt easier than fine-grained table salt to pinch and sprinkle. It also sticks to foods better and dissolves more quickly