What's difference between regular salt and kosher salt? Is there big difference?

If a recipe calls for Kosher salt, you can substitute table salt but you will use less.

Published September 1, 2008. From Cook's Illustrated.

What’s the difference between table and kosher salts and when should I use each?

While you can buy dozens of different varieties of salt, we stock the test kitchen with two: fine-grained table salt and coarse-grained kosher salt. We’ve conducted extensive taste tests and find that the flavor of most expensive sea salts is virtually undetectable in most foods. Why spend a lot of money on something you can’t taste?

For the most part, we use table salt (not iodized) for most everyday tasks, including baking, because it dissolves more readily than its coarser-grained cousin. If you only have kosher salt available for baking, crumble the grains between your fingers or crush in a mortar to facilitate dispersal; otherwise it may not dissolve well and your baked goods may be marred by uneven seasoning and a harsh flavor (see below for substitution amounts). That being said, kosher salt may be successfully used for high-liquid baked goods, like bread doughs, in which it will readily dissolve.

Kosher salt, however, is our top choice for seasoning meat because it is easier to control and clings well to the meat’s surfaces. When a recipe calls for seasoning meat "to taste," we suggest about 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt per portion of meat.

Substituting Salts

Because of the size of their respective grains, table salt and kosher salt cannot be substituted in equal amounts. The equation is complicated by the difference in grain size between the two most common varieties of kosher salt: Morton and Diamond Crystal. As a general rule, 1/4 cup table salt is equivalent to 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Morton’s kosher salt but 1/2 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Many cooks prefer to use cheaper kosher salt for making brines in which a large volume of salt is required.

Additives in Table Salt

Why do we call for plain, not iodized table salt? Many producers add iodine to salt because at one time many people in this country were deficient in this natural element found mostly in seafood. To hide the mineral aftertaste of iodine in salt, many producers add dextrose, a form of sugar. It’s worth noting that nowadays most people get sufficient iodine from baked goods and dairy products (iodine is in dairy cow feed and is used to wash their udders before milking).

To confirm the test kitchen’s preference, we made two batches of buttered popcorn and seasoned one with plain salt and the other with iodized salt. Some tasters couldn’t detect a difference, but a few noticed a slight chemical aftertaste in the batch seasoned with iodized salt. While using iodized salt certainly won’t ruin a recipe, we prefer to stick with the clean taste of plain salt.

What Makes Kosher Salt “Kosher?”

To get the story of kosher salt straight, we contacted Rabbi Chayim Zirkind, who supervises kashrut, or the kosher-ness, of the food served in the kosher kitchen at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. Rabbi Zirkind agreed that kosher salt does get its name from the fact that it has long been used in the process of koshering meat. Kosher salt, which might also be referred to as coarse salt, is preferred because it clings to the meat and does a good job of drawing out the blood, which is the essence of koshering meat.

All of that being said, if you look at most boxes of kosher salt, they are printed with a symbol that indicates they are “officially” kosher—that is, processed under rabbinical supervision. In this case, the kosher symbol is telling the consumer that the salt is free of any agents that might not be kosher.

What Makes Kosher Salt Kosher

Kosher salt usually has no additives, and it has big crystals with large surface areas. This size and shape allows it to absorb more moisture than other forms of salt, and this makes kosher salt excellent for curing meats. That is essentially where the name comes from. The salt itself is not kosher, meaning it doesn't conform to Jewish food laws, but this salt is used to make meat kosher. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, prohibits consumption of any blood, which is why kosher meat must be slaughtered and prepared in a specific manner. A common way of removing the final traces of blood from meat is to soak and salt it.

Nutritionally speaking, kosher salt is no different than table salt, although it does not provide iodine.

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RE:

What's difference between regular salt and kosher salt? Is there big difference?

Thanks for helping me understand more..

table salt is very briny/salty in flavor, usually has iodine added, is finely ground, and often also has ingredients added to keep it free-flowing.

kosher salt is designed for koshering (making religiously acceptable to Jews) meats. No iodine or additives, coarser grind, mild/soft salt flavor.

Regular salt is blessed by the public, Kosher salt is blessed by a rabbi, and Gray salt is blessed by a priest. And "Sea" salt is blessed by all the fishes of the sea.

Kosher salt has bigger crystals