Flaked Sea Salt
This kind of seas salt is soft, sheer, pyramid-like flakes. This is the fastest-dissolving of all of the salt grains. You can use it for: Bringing a complex flavor to steamed vegetables or shellfish. Take a pinch, crush the crystals between your fingertips, and let them fall on freshly cooked food. This salt will add a hint of briny flavor.
Fleur de Sel
Fleur de Sel melts slowly in the mouth. It has an earthy, pleasing flavor lingers on the tongue. You can use this for special-occasions. Spoon it into a salt cellar to be pinched, then sprinkled over food just before eating. Delicately flavored, it adds a perfect hint of saltiness to freshly sliced tomato or melon.
Rock Salt
This kind of salt is large, chunky, nonuniform crystals. Minerals and other harmless impurities can give it a grayish color. Be sure to use it for: Making ice cream and deicing. Rock salt is paired with ice in old-fashioned hand-cranked ice cream makers to regulate the temperature. You can also use it to deice your sidewalks and driveway in the winter months.
Pickling Salt
This variety is fine grained, like table salt. You can use it for brining pickles and sauerkraut. It will also brine a turkey, but beware: Pickling salt is far more concentrated than the more commonly used kosher salt, so you’ll need to use less.