Ruslan5202

There is a common question that keeps coming up when we talk or teach about pickling, “What the heck is Pickling Salt? Why can’t I use the salt in my shaker from the kitchen table?” what is pickling salt

Use of canning or pickling salt is recommended. Fermented and non-fermented pickles may be safely made using either iodized or non-iodized table salt. However, non-caking materials added to table salts may make the brine cloudy. Flake salt varies in density and is not recommended for use.

Reduced-sodium salts, for example, "Lite Salt," may be used in quick pickle recipes, as indicated in this guide. The pickles may, however, have a slightly different taste than expected. Caution: Use of reduced-sodium salt in fermented pickle recipes is not recommended.


Pickling or Canning salt is a particular variety of salt that is used in canning. Canning salt is a fine-grained salt and is iodine-free. It also does not have the anti-caking ingredients used in regular table salt. They add this agent to regular table salt so it will pour freely through a salt shaker. For those of you that don’t know what “anti-caking” means the best explanation is if you let pickling/canning salt sit in humid or wet place it will bind together like a rock. Many people use this salt as “all purpose” in the kitchen and in humid areas they add grains of rice to the salt shakers to keep it from clumping together.