Giant salt flakes are the cool kids of food pop culture. It makes sense, they make a great snacking salt, but they’ve managed to siphon away attention from the other, more subtle forms of sodium chloride. You don’t always have to flaunt your flakes. Sometimes big flakes are too aggressive, or a sprinkle of table salt doesn’t deliver the wide scope of saline you need. When a delicate swath of salt-essence is needed on a finished dish, just grab your bottle of salt spray.
Whatever you’re imagining salt spray is, you are correct. It’s a salty water mist. Dissolve salt in water, decant it into a food-safe spray bottle, and spritz your food like a teen discovering body mist. Food and Wine suggests a ratio of one cup of hot water to one tablespoon of fine sea salt. The heat will dissolve the salt faster, but unless you’re planning to use it immediately, you can always add salt to the spray bottle, pour water directly into the bottle, and give it a shake before you use it. The salt will dissolve in a few minutes on its own. One cup of salt spray might be a lot to start with, especially if you have a four-ounce spray bottle. Cut the amount in half and use 1/2 cup of water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of fine sea salt.
Sea salt spray will give to your food the equivalent of what salt-roasting gives to nuts, a transparent, flavor-elevating cloak that makes it irresistibly noshable. Use your new salt spray as a subtle finish for delicate morsels like steamed fish, shrimp cocktail, or scallop crudo. Use it to give leafy salads a light coating of flavor, rather than using salt crystals that bounce off of the vegetables and land at the bottom of the bowl. Spray corn on the cob if you don’t care for butter, or add complexity to freshly cut fruit with a light saline misting.
Salt spray is a great option for folks trying to limit their salt intake (or if you’re cooking for someone who is). Cook the meal without salt and let everyone spirtz to fit their needs. You can even add a strip of citrus zest to your spray bottle, or a squeeze of the juice, to give a hint of brightness to your salt spray. You won’t use the salt spray to cook—just to finish—so keep the bottle on the dinner table for when you need it.
While you could use iodized salt to make this mixture, I don’t recommend it. The flavor can be off-putting and metallic. Use a salt you enjoy, but nothing too expensive. Fine sea salt is lovely, save the colossal Maldon salt flakes for impressive chocolate chip cookies.