Kosher salt. We use this salt server in
THE NIBBLE test kitchen to add pinches
of salt as we cook.

It’s the same with salt: Pay attention to the order in which you add salt. Here are tips from Chef Louis Eguaras:

• Meats: Salt meat 1 to 4 hours before cooking. For the first half hour, salt will extract the moisture from the meat. Then, the protein fibers loosen up and absorb the salty juices.
• General Cooking: Add salt in the middle of the cooking process, not just at the end. It gives you a better opportunity to taste and adjust the amount of salt.
• Stocks: Don’t salt stocks. Subsequent reductions will intensify the saltiness. It’s the same with sauces that will be reduced. Instead, taste the stock or sauce when you are preparing the dish.

• Deep-Frying: Don’t salt the food immediately before deep-frying it. Salt will alter the surface and make the food less crisp.
• Blanching: Add salt to the liquid before adding the food.
• Aluminum & Cast Iron Pots: Add salt after boiling begins but before adding food, to prevent pitting of the pot.

See the many different types of salt in our Salt Glossary.