This Is The Only Brand Of Kosher Salt Alton Brown Will Buy 

Alton Brown is a beloved culinary guiding light for millions of home cooks. The "Good Eats" stars' science-backed kitchen wisdom, like how to make a more flavorful grilled cheese and select the best butter for baking, rarely steers us wrong. Thankfully, when it comes to salt (arguably one of the most important ingredients in your kitchen), Brown has a clear opinion to share: his kosher salt brand of choice (which he keeps in a handy salt cellar) is Diamond Crystal.

Kosher salt is distinguished from other salts by its larger and coarser grains. It's favored by many cooks for the natural and even flavor it imparts to food. Brown noted that he specifically prefers the Diamond Crystal brand of kosher salt because its grains are not rolled out like some other kosher salts. Brown is likely referring to the vacuum evaporation method used by many kosher salt brands, most famously Morton. In this method, a salty brine is evaporated in vacuum chambers, and the resulting crystals are rolled together to form dense, square-shaped salt flakes. Diamond Crystal, in contrast, is made by leaving seawater in ponds to evaporate naturally in the sun, resulting in crumbly, light, triangular salt crystals.

All of this talk about evaporation methods might sound like cheffy jargon — I mean, salt is salt, right? However, the brand of kosher salt you use can make a real difference in your cooking. Morton and other vacuum-evaporated kosher salts are far denser than solar-evaporated salts like Diamond Crystal. This means that Morton kosher salt is nearly 60% saltier than Diamond Crystal, a discrepancy that makes a significant impact when seasoning dishes. 

Many restaurants and chefs, including Alton Brown, prefer cooking with Diamond Crystal kosher salt because its lighter, hollow crystals tend to dissolve more rapidly and coat food more evenly. Brown has been a longtime Diamond Crystal fan; he said he got hooked on it while attending culinary school in France. 

If you've never heard of Diamond Crystal, you're not alone. The brand has historically catered more to restaurant chefs than home cooks. Thanks in part to the public love from celebrity chefs like Brown, the beloved kosher salt has become more widely recognized and available at supermarkets in recent years — Diamond Crystal has even made cameo appearances in "The Bear."

If you can't get your hands on Diamond Crystal kosher salt, don't worry. Many recipe developers will specify if they are using Diamond Crystal, and you can convert your measurements accordingly. A kitchen scale is an essential gadget that makes this conversion much easier, but for volume measurements, it's best to use about half the amount of Morton's kosher salt.