Fine table salt
Dense, fast-dissolving grains at about 5–6 g per level teaspoon. The default for baking at 1.8–2.2% of flour weight and for any brine measured by the spoon.
Sea salt vs table salt
Sea salt and table salt are the same mineral: both are 97–99% sodium chloride. What actually differs is crystal size (0.3–0.8 mm fine vs 1–3 mm coarse), a small trace-mineral fraction, and whether iodine has been added. Below are the measured numbers, and how to pick the right grade for cooking, baking, pickling and curing.
Numbers first
Scroll the strip sideways — 6 cards.
Dense, fast-dissolving grains at about 5–6 g per level teaspoon. The default for baking at 1.8–2.2% of flour weight and for any brine measured by the spoon.
Slow, even crystals for grinders, dry cures and finishing. Weigh it for cures — 25–30 g per kilogram — because spoon measures vary with crystal size.
Wide, thin flakes that dissolve on hot, moist surfaces. A finishing salt: it seasons by crunch and burst, not by even distribution.
Any salt with iodine added at the WHO/UNICEF target range. Check the label; origin — sea or mine — does not decide iodine content.
The working range for vegetable pickles: 20–50 g of salt per litre of water. One level teaspoon per litre gives only 0.5–0.6%, so measure by weight.
Twenty-five to thirty grams of salt per kilogram of meat or fish, applied directly and weighed, not eyeballed. Coarse 1–3 mm crystals spread most evenly.
The figures in this guide are measurements and program targets, not dated events, so no timeline is shown.
| Measure | Sea salt | Table salt |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium chloride share | 97–99% | 97–99% |
| Trace minerals | Magnesium, calcium and potassium (1–3%) | No comparable listed fraction |
| Typical crystal size | 1–3 mm coarse; 1–5 mm flake | 0.3–0.8 mm fine |
| Level teaspoon weight | Varies with crystal size — weigh it | About 5–6 g (fine) |
| Iodine content | 20–40 mg/kg only if labelled iodized | 20–40 mg/kg when labelled iodized |
| Sodium per 5 g of salt | About 2 g | About 2 g |
| Best-fit kitchen work | Finishing, grinders, dry cures (25–30 g/kg) | Baking (1.8–2.2% of flour), measured brines (2–5%) |
No — both are 97–99% sodium chloride, and the remaining 1–3% is the only compositional gap.
Refined table salt and sea salt start from the same mineral. In sea salt, the 1–3% that is not sodium chloride is mostly magnesium, calcium and potassium, left behind as seawater evaporates; refined table salt has no comparable listed mineral fraction.
Because the sodium chloride share is identical, so is the sodium load. Sodium is 39.3% of sodium chloride by weight, so 5 g of either salt supplies about 2 g of sodium, and the WHO ceiling of 5 g of salt per day applies to flaky crystals and fine grains alike.
Choosing sea salt therefore does not change your sodium intake. The meaningful choices are crystal size and iodine — the full side-by-side lives on the Sea Salt vs Table Salt page.
Fine table salt runs 0.3–0.8 mm, coarse sea salt 1–3 mm and flake salt 1–5 mm wide — and that spread decides what a spoon actually delivers.
A level teaspoon of fine salt weighs about 5–6 g. Coarser crystals pack loosely, so the same spoon of coarse or flake salt holds less by weight, and a recipe written for fine salt comes out under-seasoned if you swap spoon for spoon.
Size also controls dissolving: fine grains disappear quickly into doughs and brines, while coarse crystals need more stirring and time. Flake salt, thin and wide, is built to collapse on the surface of hot food rather than inside a mixture.
The safe rule: measure by weight whenever a recipe gives percentages, and reserve spoons for fine salt. The grade-by-grade breakdown sits on the Salt Crystal Size Chart page.
Every figure on this page comes from standard reference data on sodium chloride and seawater, or from published WHO and WHO/UNICEF targets for salt intake and iodization. No brand samples were tested and no producer supplied data. Where a value depends on the product — iodine above all — the guide says so and points to the label.
Where the figures come from
The figures reference WHO daily-salt guidance, the WHO/UNICEF iodization target range and standard physical constants for sodium chloride and seawater.