Salts of the earth
. Morton began offering its sea salt about a year ago, in response to customer demand, says Linda Kragt, the company's technical services manager. Morton had already noticed an increased interest in kosher salt, which takes its name from the coarse texture being appropriate for koshering and curing meats. Kosher salt is also a popular choice among chefs, and home cooks mimic them when they see the chefs on television, says Kragt. ``We're always looking at trends," she says. The interest in special salts is so high, she adds, that ``really it's gone mainstream."

Pass the Gourmet Salt
. Such a wide array of salt was actually the norm up until the 20th century, when Morton's created an evaporator to make salt white, fine and uniform. But as Mark Kurlansky points out in his book Salt: A World History, we are now a nation that craves unique and more-pungent flavors in food.

In fact, even mainstream Morton's now sells high-end sea salt from the Mediterranean, as well as flavors such as hot salt and garlic salt.

Cooking Tips - A Hands On Guide To Salt
Your ideal kitchen should have a large box of Morton's non-iodized kosher salt and several boxes of sea salts. Kosher salt has a large grain; it's easy to pinch and cheap enough to use by the spoonful. You can use it to season pasta water or to scrub out a cast-iron skillet. Most importantly, kosher salt contains no iodine. It avoids the acidic pucker of table salt, making your food taste better in the process.

Salty brines add sweet tenderness to turkeys
We cooks have roasted the turkey, grilled it, deep-fried it. This year, I thought, let's brine it.

American Public Media, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Spice it Up
.Lynn's essential spice shelf: Kosher Salt (Morton's because it has coarse flakes, which taste better on finished dishes) and finely ground sea salt for when blending is important.

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE, Bonnie Tandy Leblang and Carolyn Wyman

Pass the Morton's Sea Salt, Please
Bonnie: I'm glad Morton is making sea salt available at a reasonable price. Sea salt has a different flavor from table salt; it's less salty, and it also takes on the flavor of where it was harvested from, just as wines do ("terroir," in winespeak.).

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE, Bonnie Tandy Leblang and Carolyn Wyman

Columnists pick winners, losers in 2006 supermarket aisles
.were any of these new products worth trying and continuing to buy into the new year? Answering that question is the job of this special annual column, which includes our individual best-of-the-year product picks.. Bonnie's Favorites: Morton Coarse Sea Salt. Gourmet salt made affordable.

(New York)

Kosher Salt, Move Over
No grass grows under the feet of the folks at Morton, the Chicago salt company with the famous slogan: "When it rains it pours." The company has now jumped on the gourmet salt boom.

(San Antonio)

Morton Sea Salt
Sea salt, once available only in upscale stores at gourmet prices, has just gotten a lot more accessible. Morton, known for salt in the round blue box, has introduced a line of specialty sea salts.

(Flint, MI)

Morton mining the sea
Morton is introducing fine and coarse sea salt to join its popular kosher and table salt products on store shelves.

(Dayton, OH)

Morton Gets in the Sea Salt Game
.Until now home cooks buying sea salt have faced prices as high as $16 a pound and more. The salts are frequently called for as a finishing touch, or in recipes in gourmet magazines. For recipes check www.mortonsalt.com.

Morton Sea Salt
.Sea salt is the second product released in the line of high-end specialty salts for Morton, behind its coarse kosher salt. Recently, Morton added a second size to its kosher salt offering. Previously only offered in the traditional 3-pound box, it is now available in a 1-pound box.

Everyday Sea Salt
Morton is making high-end sea salt affordable and available to home cooks nationwide.

A Pinch of Salt
Reducing salt/sodium does not have to be complicated. Morton Salt offers sodium reduction solutions with Morton Lite Salt Mixture and Morton Potassium Chloride.

Tried But Not Always True
We put some new products to the test and tell you whether they measure up. Morton Sea Salt: Morton now offers sea salt from Spain in fine and coarse grains. The price is about $3 for a 1-pound container. Verdict: It's a great value for sea salt. It's not as aromatic as some sea salts, but it's good for every day use.

Worth it's Salt
Now home cooks can easily buy high-end sea salt, thanks to Chicago-based Morton. .. The second product released in the company's line of specialty salts, after its Coarse Kosher Salt, Morton Sea Salts costs an affordable $1.89 to $2.09, depending on the retailer.

(Syracuse, NY)

It's Raining Sea Salt
When It Rains It Pours. sea salt for the masses. Morton is liberating sea salt from the kitchens of celebrity chefs and the "cooking elite" and making it readily available - at supermarkets - and affordable.

(Hartford, CT)

Food Notes, New Products
Trendy specialty salts, often quite costly, have gone mainstream. Morton has introduced a sea salt, which is harvested from the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain's Costa Blanca. . Morton Sea Salts, which join the regular line of table and kosher salts are available in both fine and coarse varieties.

In the Kitchen: New Uses for Old Things
Old Use: pretzel topper. New Use: Grit remover. To make washing dirt-trapping leafy greens like spinach easier, swirl them in a bath of salt water. The salt's abrasiveness helps scrub the surfaces of the leaves.

Morton Seasons Dowdy Category's Profile
Venerable salt marketer is moving its specialty salts into new packaging that leverages equities of the iconic 'mother' brand but also gives each new product its own personality.

Morton Salt Pours Out Sweeps
Morton Salt highlights the history of its iconic "Umbrella Girl" with a summer sweepstakes and instant-win game.. Morton also has launched a series of collectible canisters that highlight each version of the Umbrella Girl. This spring, Chicago-based Morton rolled out its high-end sea salt nationally and bowed a one-pound box of coarse kosher salt to complement its traditional three-pound box.

Spice of Life
Kosher salt, a mainstay of grandmother's kitchen, is now trendy.
.. Because of its coarseness, kosher salt doesn't perform well in baking. But chefs love those miraculous crystals in rubs, a combination of salt and other seasonings, which are rubbed onto the surface of meats, explains Kragt (Morton Salt). "This creates an intense salty flavor that people rave about." And many bartenders select kosher salt for its stunning presentation on the rims of margarita glasses.

"Lots of recipes now call for kosher salt," says Kurlansky. "But in this country, they mean any coarse salt. People like large grains for the texture. Salt has become trendy."

Morton Kosher Salt is the preferred brand, as America's salt authority has been producing salt for over 150 years. Morton Kosher Salt can be used in brines or rubs to add distinctive flavor to meats and poultry, in fall vegetable dishes like squash or sweet potatoes, or to give stews and soups a spark.

(Michigan)

Morton offers easy idea for moist turkey
Thanksgiving is coming and the fact is everyone wants a perfect, moist turkey but no one wants to experiment with a newfangled recipe with 25 people coming to dinner. A saltwater bath with Morton Kosher Salt prior to cooking locks in the meat's natural juices yielding a tender, juicy turkey without the fuss.

(Staten Island, NY)

Foodbits
Morton Sea Salt: Morton, America's authority on salt, is making high-end sea salt affordable and available to home cooks nationwide. The company scouted out locations around the world and chose to harvest its sea salt in the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain's Costa Blanca.