After reading about salting early and often in Judy Rodgers' Zuni Cafe Cookbook, I switched from cooking with table salt to using kosher salt.

While table salt is usually packaged with a spout, kosher salt isn't that user friendly. It's too easy to pour too much salt from that big red box. I noticed that Tyler Florence grabs salt from a wooden box on his Food Network show Tyler's Ultimate, but I couldn't find the salt box he uses.

I settled for this $20 maple salt box from Williams-Sonoma. Decanting my salt into this handy box gives me precise control over how much salt I add as I cook. The swivel hinge and magnetic closure make sure I can't lose the lid. The finish on the salt box is not as fine as it looks in the catalog on Williams-Sonoma's site.

I wonder if there's a reason why the box is made it out of maple. Anyone know?