Canning Salt vs. Table Salt: How To Choose?

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When you begin your home food preservation journey, you may find yourself baffled by the many types of salt.  Canning salt vs table salt, rock salt, pickling salt, and sea salt are just a few of the varieties you may encounter.  How does one choose which is best? While the choices may seem overwhelming, let’s sort them out to help you choose what’s best for your home preservation project. 

What is Table Salt?

Let’s start with the most common salt that people are familiar with table salt. Table salt is a fine ground salt most commonly found in salt shakers. It’s typically mined from underground deposits, ground into fine granules, and processed to remove natural minerals. Since salt naturally absorbs moisture creating clumps in your salt shaker, anticaking agents are added to salt to prevent clumps making it easier to use. Since many people in past generations struggled with iodine deficiency, iodine was added to table salt to more easily supplement the diets of those who lacked natural sources of iodine. Regular table salt can be purchased in grocery stores as plain salt or as iodized salt. 

While you can use plain table salt in canning projects in a pinch, it’s typically not recommended. The added anti-caking agents in table salt can create cloudy brines and alter the flavor of foods. Iodized salt is never recommended for canning, as it can discolor canned food. 

What is Canning Salt?

Canning salt is also known as pickling salt. It is pure sodium chloride just like ordinary table salt, however, the main difference is it contains no additives like calcium silicate or iodine.  Canning salt is also ground to a fine grain, making it easy to dissolve in water for making clear brines without sediment. 

When it comes to canning, salt is usually optional. The salt included in home canning is such a small amount, that it contributes only to the flavor of your canned goods, not to the preservation or safety of the food. The few exceptions would include fermented foods like pickles or sauerkraut. Salt can be reduced or eliminated without concern when canning tomatoes, meats or non-fermented vegetables.

When making pickles and fermented foods, salt is important for food preservation for the pickling process. Using pure salt like canning salt is important to remain true to the flavors and colors of your pickled foods. Most canning recipes have been developed using canning salt, the consistent fine grain size, makes it easy to measure and dissolve salt into brine. Since there are no additives like common table salt, crystal clear brines will not be cloudy in your canning jars.

Alternate Types of Salt

Some other types of salt can be used in home preservation. The most important aspect of choosing salt for home preservation is to always choose pure salt. It may be labeled as salt, sodium chloride, or ancient sea salt. To ensure the best results, avoid added dextrose (sugar), and anti-caking agents (calcium silicate). Also, some low-sodium varieties have added potassium chloride. 

Kosher salt is a common salt that you may be familiar with. Kosher refers to the grain size of the salt. The kosher salt crystals are slightly larger than canning salt and regular table salt. Because of its larger size, it is slower to dissolve in water. While it can be used in home preservation, be aware that the larger crystals take up more space when measuring by volume. You will need more kosher salt to equal the same salt content of canning salt. Using a scale is the best way to get an accurate measurement. Some kosher salts also contain added anti-caking chemicals, so be sure to check the label before trying to substitute it in your canning recipe. 

Himalayan salt is a popular variety of sea salt. It gets its pretty pink color comes from the trace minerals present in the salt. Himalayan salt is less refined than table salt. Often sold in a more coarse grain size, commonly used in salt grinders. Though it comes in many different grain sizes like regular salt for a variety of purposes. 

Rock salt is a very coarse form of salt. While you can use it in cooking, the coarse ground is not cooking friendly. It’s most often used in ice cream makers to help make a slush to help the ice cream freeze. 

​My Choice: One Salt for the Homestead

I like to keep things simple, rather than have a vast array of different kinds of salt for homesteading projects, I like to use one salt for everything. About two years ago I switched to Redmond’s Real Salt. Redmonds in pure crystal salt mined from an ancient sea bed in Utah. Buried deep in the ground, it’s protected from modern pollutants.   It’s most similar to Himalayan salt. Both are mined from ancient sea beds. These two salts are pure salt, unrefined to remove natural minerals. Neither have any additives such as dextrose (sugar), anti-clumping agents, or iodine. While the two salts will taste slightly different based on the sea water beds they are mined from, they are most comparable. 

Keep in mind, since Redmond’s Salt doesn’t contain any anti-clumping ingredients, you may find clumps in your salt. No need to worry, the clumps crush up easily with a spoon. It’s just proof, you’re using the real thing!

Since Redmond’s Real Salt is pure sodium chloride it’s a great substitute in food preservation. While you can use any of the grain sizes, the fine-grain salt is comparable in size to canning salt so the measurements found in canning recipes can be used as is. Be aware, since Redmond’s real salt is not bleached in color, or processed to remove trace minerals you may see the trace minerals in the bottom of your canning jars after the salt dissolves. Personally, I’m fine with this, using the purest form of salt is most important to me and the trace minerals just make it better for you!

On our homestead, I use two different grain sizes. I use the fine grain for 99% of all salt used in the kitchen. To save money, I buy this in bulk. I also use kosher salt very limitedly, mostly for salted bagels. In the future, we are also planning to do more meat curing, which kosher salt is more appropriately sized for.  

Salt Substitutes

While some canning recipes allow for the substitution of reduced-sodium salt, there are very few that will create the same results. As a rule, the use of salt substitutes is not recommended in canning or fermentation. Not only will they create cloudy brine, but they can also alter the color and flavor of your preserved foods. If you choose to use a low-sodium salt substitute, it’s best to try a small batch first to make sure you’re happy with the results before a large canning project. 

Pickling Salt and Pickling Lime

Canning salt is often referred to as pickling salt due to its uses. It’s pure sodium chloride. Be sure not to confuse it with pickling lime, another product often used to help with the crispiness of pickles. Be aware pickling lime is not salt. Pickling lime is made of calcium hydroxide. While you might use it as a presoak when preserving pickles, it is not a substitute for salt in the canning process. 

The Use of Salt in Home Preservation

When it comes to choosing a salt for home preservation, the rule of thumb is always to use pure salt. Make sure it’s free of sugar, anti-caking agents and iodine.  Whether you choose to use salt made especially for canning (canning salt) or choose to use a single pure salt for all of your cooking needs, the choice is really up to you.