What Is Celtic Sea Salt?

Salt! Also known as NaCL to some fancy scientist types, it’s available on basically every dining table and kitchen in the world. It’s the king of all seasonings. And while it’s easy to take it for granted today, the desire for salt has shaped our history. If you don’t believe me, you can check out the book Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, which delves into humanity’s history with salt, “the only rock we eat.”

Today, we’re looking at a particular salt subset: Celtic Sea Salt. But what is Celtic Sea Salt? What minerals are in it? How do you use it? Let’s shake out some answers. 

What is Celtic Sea Salt?

As you might expect, Celtic Sea Salt is salt that comes from the Celtic Sea. It is also a specific brand name for a kind of sea salt. They bill themselves as “the original and most trusted sea salt brand since 1976.”

Is Celtic Sea Salt the same as sea salt?

Celtic Sea Salt is indeed a form of sea salt, and can be used just as you would use other brands of sea salt. What makes Celtic Sea Salt different is in the trace amounts of other minerals it contains. Other sea salts can also contain additional minerals, but the mineral blend in Celtic Sea Salt is specific to the sea from which it was taken.

What minerals are in Celtic Sea Salt?

Celtic Sea Salt has a distinctive gray hue, and the reason for that is the minerals it contains. Specifically, these minerals are magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, and iron. 

Also note that there is slightly less sodium in Celtic Sea Salt than in table salt per spoonful, due to the abundance of other minerals. 

Does Celtic Sea Salt have iodine?

Technically, Celtic Sea Salt contains a teensy weensy amount of iodine. It’s about .68 parts per million, to be precise. As you can imagine, that is not a significant amount of iodine, so for all intents and purposes, we can say that Celtic Sea Salt is iodine-free. If you’re looking for a solid source of iodine, you’d best look elsewhere.

Where does Celtic Sea Salt come from?

Celtic Sea Salt is named after its location of origin, the Celtic Sea. This particular sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean and is located off the southern coast of Ireland. However, Celtic Sea Salt, the company, produces many other products in different places. There’s the original salts, of course, but also Light Grey Celtic and Find Ground Celtic from France. There’s Flower of the Ocean from Portugal, Gourmet Kosher from Guatemala, Makai Pure from Hawaii, and Celtic Sea Salt Potassium Pink and River Salts from Spain.  

How to use Celtic Sea Salt?

You can use Celtic Sea Salt basically anywhere you would use table salt, with a few caveats. First off, keep in mind that the grains of salt are larger than in table salt, and there are other minerals present, so it won’t entirely dissolve away like traditional salt. There’s also no anti-caking agent present, so keep in mind that it could lead to more clumping. Generally, it’s recommended that you use Celtic Sea Salt as a finishing salt more than as a baking or cooking salt. But if it’s all you have, it will make a totally solid alternative.