Frequently Asked Questions
This page addresses general questions about how our salt is made, where it comes from, and how it’s used. For questions about ordering, shipping, gifting, or purchasing our salts online, please visit the Shop page FAQs.
How is your salt made?
Amagansett Sea Salt is made entirely by hand using traditional solar evaporation. We collect seawater from the Atlantic Ocean, filter it through multiple stages, and evaporate it outdoors in open-air salt pans using only sun, wind, and time.
We tend the seawater much like soil — adding more when needed and protecting it from rain, snow, or heavy dew. When conditions are right, we harvest the salt crystals by hand, clean and screen them thoroughly, and package the finished salt for sale.
Where do you make the salt?
Every step of our process — from gathering seawater to evaporating, harvesting, packing, and shipping — takes place in Amagansett, a small hamlet near the eastern tip of Long Island, New York.
What is your carbon footprint?
Our salt-making process itself has essentially no carbon footprint beyond basic lighting and transportation. Unlike most modern salt producers, we rely exclusively on solar evaporation outdoors — no boiling, ovens, kilns, or artificial heat sources. Just sun, wind, and patience.
Can I purchase your salt in person?
While we don’t operate a physical storefront, a selection of our salts is available at specialty shops in Amagansett and at brick and mortar retailers around the country. Please visit our Stockist page for a current list.
Retailers curate their own selections, so availability may vary by location and we cannot guarantee that every product is stocked at every store.
How about tours? Can I visit you to see how it’s done?
We host chefs, restaurant teams, and commercial food makers with whom we have established relationships at our saltworks. These visits are a two-way exchange — allowing us to learn from our professional partners while giving them a deeper understanding of our process and a glimpse into our proprietary methods. Otherwise, however, we do not offer public tours or facility visits.
That said, our team collects seawater from the ocean in Amagansett (near Atlantic Avenue) most mornings around 7:00 a.m. year-round. You’re welcome to stop by the beach to meet some of our crew and talk salt. Because our schedule depends on weather, tides, and ocean conditions, we recommend reaching out the day before to confirm. Please be mindful of local parking regulations.
What types of salts do you produce and offer?
We specialize in premium finishing salts, including our flagship 100% Pure Amagansett Sea Salt and carefully developed blends such as Dill & Fennel Seed Finishing Salt. Our salts are designed to enhance flavor and texture and are used by both home cooks and professional chefs.
How should I use your finishing salts?
The chefs we work with tell us that they generally use our finishing salts added at the end of cooking or just before serving. We take their expert advise and follow suit. Sometimes, however, we do add our salt directly to soups and stocks to add an additional flavor of the ocean. A small pinch can heighten flavor, add texture, and bring clarity to a dish. They work particularly well on meats, vegetables, salads, eggs, breads, and even desserts. Our blends offer additional aromatic notes that can complement a wide range of cuisines.
Is your salt iodized?
No. Our salt is not iodized. Like most traditional sea salts, it contains naturally occurring trace minerals—including iodine—and is intended for culinary use rather than as a dietary iodine supplement.
Is your salt suitable for baking?
Yes, with intention. While our salt is primarily designed as a finishing salt, many bakers use it in doughs or on top of baked goods where its crystal structure and flavor are meant to be noticed.
Does your salt vary slightly from batch to batch?
Since it is made outdoors using natural evaporation, subtle variations can occur due to weather, season, and ocean conditions. We see this as a feature, not a flaw — it reflects the living environment from which the salt is made. That being said, we understand most consumers seek consistency and blend salt from several harvests to reduce variation.
How should I store your sea salt?
Because we do not add desiccants or anti-caking agents, Amagansett Sea Salt should be stored in a cool, dry place, away from moisture. Our packaging is designed to protect the salt, but keeping containers sealed when not in use will preserve texture and flow.
Do chefs really use Amagansett Sea Salt?
Yes. Our salt is used by chefs in fine-dining restaurants as well as in professional kitchens across the country. Many were introduced to it through peers or during their time working in top kitchens.
What about microplastics in sea salt?
You may have seen reports about microplastics being detected in sea salt. None of these reports have identified our salt. These findings reflect the broader reality of plastic pollution in the ocean, not a unique issue with sea salt itself. Research consistently shows that salt contributes only a very small fraction of overall microplastic exposure in the human diet, which comes primarily from other sources such as bottled water, food packaging, processed foods, and indoor dust.
At Amagansett Sea Salt, we take care to make our salt as cleanly and responsibly as possible and to understand the science behind these findings. If you’d like to explore this topic in more detail — including why sea salt is often studied, how we address microplastics in our process, and what the research actually tells us — you can find additional questions and answers below.
Why is sea salt often mentioned in microplastic research?
Sea salt is frequently studied because it is made by evaporating seawater, which concentrates whatever is suspended in it. That makes sea salt a useful scientific tool — much like a water-quality test — for understanding what’s present in the ocean at a given place and time.
This scientific usefulness does not mean that sea salt is a major source of microplastics in the human diet. In fact, studies have shown that salt is a de minimis source.
How does Amagansett Sea Salt address microplastics in its process?
Before seawater enters our evaporation pans, it passes through a series of increasingly fine filters, the smallest of which is currently 0.5 microns. These filters are designed to remove sand, shell fragments, organic material, and — to the fullest extent reasonably possible — microplastic particles.
Should I be concerned about microplastics in sea salt?
Current scientific understanding suggests that most dietary microplastic exposure comes from other sources, including bottled water, food packaging, processed foods, and indoor dust. Sea salt — including artisanal salt — represents a very small portion of that exposure.
What does the presence of microplastics in sea salt actually tell us?
It tells us something important about the condition of the oceans. Because sea salt reflects what is present in seawater, it serves as a snapshot of environmental conditions at the source.
In that sense, sea salt doesn’t point to a problem with salt — it points to the need for continued efforts to reduce plastic pollution globally.
Why not simply avoid sea salt altogether?
Avoiding sea salt would not meaningfully reduce microplastic exposure, as the primary sources lie elsewhere. What matters far more is addressing plastic use and waste at a systemic level.
We believe that making salt thoughtfully, transparently, and with minimal environmental impact is part of that broader responsibility.