Salt of the Earth

It should come as no surprise that Salt  is Big Business.  In spite of the modern trend toward no-salt and low-salt diets, we still consume salt by the ton. 

To keep things that way, the industry has their own organization, the Salt Institute, whose purpose is to keep the salt flowing – they tell us that, even if you don’t eat salt, sodium chloride still has dozens of uses in the kitchen:

• Boiling Water - Salt added to water makes the water boil at a higher temperature, thus reducing cooking time. (It does not make the water boil faster.)
• Peeling eggs - Boiling eggs in salted water will make eggs peel easily.
• Poaching eggs - Poaching eggs over salted water helps set the egg whites.
• Testing egg freshness - Place the egg in a cup of water to which two teaspoonfuls of salt has been added. A fresh egg sinks; a doubter will float.
• Preventing browning - Apples, pears and potatoes dropped in cold, lightly salted water as they are peeled will retain their color.
• Shelling pecans - Soaking pecans in salt water for several hours before shelling will make nut meats easier to remove.
• Washing spinach - If spinach is washed in salted water, repeated cleanings will not be necessary.
• Preventing sugaring - A little salt added to cake icings prevents them from sugaring.
• Crisping salads - Salting salads immediately before serving will keep them crisp.
• Improving boiled potatoes - Boiled potatoes will be given a fine, mealy texture by sprinkling with salt after draining, then returning them to the pan and shaking them back and forth quickly to get rid of the excess moisture.
• Cleaning greasy pans - The greasiest iron pan will wash easily if you put a little salt in it and wipe with paper.
• Cleaning stained cups - Rubbing with salt will remove stubborn tea or coffee stains from cups.
• Cleaning ovens - Salt and cinnamon take the "burned food" odor away from ovens and stove burners. Sprinkle spills while oven and burners are still hot; when dry, remove the salted spots with a stiff brush or cloth.
• Cleaning refrigerators - Salt and soda water will clean and sweeten the inside of your refrigerator. It won't scratch enamel either.
• Extinguishing grease fires - Salt tossed on a grease fire on the stove or in the oven will smother flames. Never use water; it will only spatter the burning grease.
• Improving coffee - A pinch of salt in coffee will enhance the flavor and remove the bitterness of over-cooked coffee.
• Improving poultry - To improve the flavor of poultry, rub the fowl inside and out with salt before roasting.
• Removing pinfeathers - To remove pinfeathers easily from a chicken, rub the chicken skin with salt first.
• Cleaning tarnished silverware - Rub tarnish with salt before washing.
• Cleaning copper pans - Remove stains on copper pans by salting area and scouring with a cloth soaked in vinegar.
• Cleaning coffee pots - Remove bitterness from percolators and other coffee pots by filling with water, adding four tablespoons of salt and percolating or boiling as usual.
• Removing onion odors from hands - Rub fingers with salt moistened with vinegar.
• "Sweetening" containers - Salt can "sweeten" and deodorize thermos bottles and jugs, decanters and other closed containers.
• Cleaning sink drains - Pour a strong salt brine down the kitchen sink drain regularly to eliminate odors and keep grease from building up.
• Brightening cutting boards - After washing them with soap and water, rub bread and cutting boards with a damp cloth dipped in salt; the boards will be lighter and brighter.
• Fixing oversalted soups - If soup has been oversalted, cut up a raw potato or two and drop into the soup. The potato will absorb the salt.
• Cleaning dried-on egg - Salt not only makes eggs taste better, but it makes "eggy" dishes clean easier. Sprinkle salt on dishes right after breakfast; it makes them a whiz to clean when you have time.
• Preventing food from sticking - Rub a pancake griddle with a small bag of salt to prevent sticking and smoking. Sprinkle a little salt in the skillet before frying fish to prevent the fish from sticking. Sprinkle salt on washed skillets, waffle iron plates or griddles, heat in a warm oven, dust off salt; when they are next used, foods will not stick.
• Preventing mold - To prevent mold on cheese, wrap it in a cloth dampened with saltwater before refrigerating.
• Whipping cream and beating egg whites - By adding a pinch of salt, cream will whip better and egg whites will beat faster and higher.
• Keeping milk fresh - Adding a pinch of salt to milk will keep it fresh longer.
• Setting gelatin - To set gelatin salads and desserts quickly, place over ice that has been sprinkled with salt.

Incidentally, that little Morton Salt Girl is almost a hundred years old.

The Morton Umbrella Girl got her start in 1914. The logo was produced as part of a series of ads in Good Housekeeping. The concept was that Morton Salt - unlike regular salt of the day - poured without clumps, even in damp weather. The company added magnesium carbonate as an absorbing agent to ensure that its table salt poured freely (it was later changed to calcium silicate).

At first, the advertising agency suggested "Even in rainy weather, it flows freely" as the company's motto. Morton felt that it was too long, and the motto was changed to the catchier "When it Rains it Pours."