What can I use instead of fine salt for salt measured by volume into a dough or batter?

Table salt (1:1 by volume). Identical salting. Iodised versions can leave a faint metallic edge in a long-fermented dough. Morton kosher salt (1 1/4 tsp per 1 tsp fine salt). Nearly the same by volume, which makes it the easy trade. The flakes want an extra minute of mixing to dissolve. Diamond Crystal kosher salt (2 tsp per 1 tsp fine salt). Half the density, so the doubling is doing real work. Dissolves slowly, so add it with the water rather than at the end. Fine sea salt (1:1 by volume). No difference in the bake. Cleaner tasting straight off the spoon, which nobody notices inside bread.

What can I use instead of fine salt for even seasoning over a surface?

Popcorn salt, the extra-fine kind (3/4 the volume). Clings better than anything else and it is easy to overshoot. Shake from high up and taste as you go. Table salt (1:1 by volume). Same coverage. It cakes in a humid kitchen unless the shaker has rice in it. Flaky sea salt, crushed between your fingers (Twice the volume). Arrives in crunchy bursts rather than an even coat, which suits eggs and steak and slides straight off popcorn. Seasoned salt or a spice blend (1:1 by volume). Brings garlic, onion and often sugar with it, so check the label before you salt anything else in the dish.

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What to use instead of fine salt

It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.

Salt measured by volume into a dough or batter

Fine grains pack tight, so a teaspoon holds nearly twice the salt of a teaspoon of flakes. It also dissolves during mixing, which is what keeps salty pockets out of the crumb.

Table saltRan out

1:1 by volume

Identical salting. Iodised versions can leave a faint metallic edge in a long-fermented dough.

Morton kosher saltRan out

1 1/4 tsp per 1 tsp fine salt

Nearly the same by volume, which makes it the easy trade. The flakes want an extra minute of mixing to dissolve.

Diamond Crystal kosher saltRan out

2 tsp per 1 tsp fine salt

Half the density, so the doubling is doing real work. Dissolves slowly, so add it with the water rather than at the end.

Fine sea saltRan out

1:1 by volume

No difference in the bake. Cleaner tasting straight off the spoon, which nobody notices inside bread.

What doesn't work: Flaky finishing salt measured spoon for spoon. A teaspoon of Maldon weighs about half what fine salt does, so the loaf comes out under-salted and tasting of raw flour, and any flakes that survive mixing leave sharp salty spots in the crumb.

Even seasoning over a surface

The grains are small enough to stick to popcorn, eggs or fries and dissolve the moment they hit the tongue, so nothing tastes patchy.

Popcorn salt, the extra-fine kindRan out

3/4 the volume

Clings better than anything else and it is easy to overshoot. Shake from high up and taste as you go.

Table saltRan out

1:1 by volume

Same coverage. It cakes in a humid kitchen unless the shaker has rice in it.

Flaky sea salt, crushed between your fingersRan out

Twice the volume

Arrives in crunchy bursts rather than an even coat, which suits eggs and steak and slides straight off popcorn.

Where to buy it →

Seasoned salt or a spice blendRan out

1:1 by volume

Brings garlic, onion and often sugar with it, so check the label before you salt anything else in the dish.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Coarse kosher or rock salt over popcorn. The crystals bounce off dry kernels and collect in the bottom of the bowl, so the first handful tastes of nothing and the last one is inedible.

Weigh it when the recipe gives grams. A teaspoon of fine salt is about 6 g and a teaspoon of Diamond Crystal is about 3 g, and that gap is where most over-salted bread comes from.