Wenn wir im Handel vor der großen Auswahl an Salzen stehen, fällt uns die Entscheidung schwer. Das ist verständlich, denn es gibt so viele verschiedene Sorten, vom klassischen Kochsalz bis hin zu Fleur de Sel. Doch woher wissen Sie, welches Salz für Ihre Küche am besten geeignet ist? Achten Sie bei jedem Salz auf die Verpackung und beachten Sie die folgenden Punkte.

Welche Salzsorten gibt es im Handel?

Heutzutage können Sie im Supermarkt oder im örtlichen Geschäft zwischen vielen verschiedenen Salzsorten wählen. Wir stellen Ihnen hier die wichtigsten vor:

• Kochsalz*: wird auch Grubensalz genannt, da es in unterirdischen Salzminen gewonnen wird. Auf der Verpackung wird dieses Salz als „Vakuumsalz“ oder „aus unterirdischen Schichten, wo früher Meere waren, gewonnenes Salz“ bezeichnet.
• Fine sea salt: sea salt with a fine grain, suitable for food applications. This is extracted from pure sea water.
• Coarse sea salt: sea salt with a coarse grain, suitable for producing salt brine and for salt mills, etc. This salt is extracted from pure sea water.
• Grey salt: non-refined salt – does not contain any additives.
• Fleur de sel: 100% natural sea salt – does not contain any additives. Extracted by hand and rich in minerals.
• Salt with or without iodine: kitchen salt which may or may not have added iodine.
• Special salt: Himalayan salt, herb mixes for spaghetti or fish dishes for example, black salt, etc.

Note: The term ’kitchen salt’ is a generic term for salt that lends itself to culinary usage. Kitchen salt must meet certain requirements, such as purity and moisture content, but the term does not say anything about the type of salt. Contrary to what many people think, it is not necessarily mine salt. For instance, fine sea salt is also referred to as kitchen salt.

Sea salt compared to vacuum salt

It is important to always look at the packaging, whichever the salt. Sea salt and vacuum salt look almost the same, though there are some important differences. Thanks to the natural and sustainable extraction process used for sea salt (the evaporation of pure salt water in salt basins), it contains more healthy minerals and trace elements than vacuum salt. Moreover, sea salt does not contain additives such as anti-caking agents. The balanced composition of sea salt gives it a subtle taste that enhances any dish.

Vacuum salt is primarily used for chemical applications, but also to a lesser extent for consumers. The salt brine from the underground salt layers are pumped and chemically purified.

Excellent price-quality ratio

Sea salt has a reputation for being exclusive. This is why people also expect it to be more expensive. Although sea salt does have some advantages, this type of salt is not necessarily more expensive than other types of salt. Packaging, among other things, plays a role here. However, knowing that a salt shaker lasts for almost a year, you can see right away that salt is still an extremely cheap product!