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What Is Salt Made Of?
Updated Cooking & Recipes
The chemistry: sodium is a metal and chlorine is a gas; together they form a stable ionic solid. In water the crystal splits into Na⁺ and Cl⁻. Salt is about 40% sodium by weight, which is why nutrition labels track sodium rather than listing a second mystery ingredient.
Common types
| Kind | Besides NaCl |
|---|---|
| Table salt | Fine crystals, often iodide plus an anti-caking agent |
| Kosher salt | Larger flakes, usually no iodine; still NaCl |
| Sea salt | Evaporated seawater; same NaCl plus trace minerals |
| Himalayan pink | NaCl with iron oxide and other traces that tint it pink |
What it is not: not pure elemental sodium, and ice-melt rock salt is still mostly NaCl but is not automatically food-grade.
Iodized vs not: iodine is a public-health add-on. Recipes that care usually care about crystal size — a tablespoon of kosher salt is not the same weight of NaCl as a tablespoon of table salt.
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