The Secret to Saffron (The Most Expensive Spice in the World)

Don’t waste your money on Saffron.

In between the comments about my bad pronunciation and resemblance to famous people, there are sometimes some really helpful things that make ME a better cook and a better creator. Thanks for the suggestions here. This was a great experiment.

The Final rankings were…

For Color
Ground Ice & Ground Hot (Tied 9/10)
Stems Hot (7/10)
Gutter Saffron (2/10)

For Taste
Ground Ice (9/10)
Ground Hot (8/10)
Stems Hot (6/10)
Gutter Saffron (1/10)

For Convenience
Stems Hot (9/10)
Ground Hot & Gutter Saffron (7/10)
Ground Ice (6/10)

If I was to choose a PERFECT method, I would probably put the ice directly into the mortar after grinding the saffron, because there was some saffron powder left inside after I finished grinding. Unless the saffron needs to be ON the ice… which I can’t imagine makes a difference.

For this experiment, I just counted the powder in the mortar as “loss” for the ground options, but that just makes the ground saffron options even stronger in flavor with technically less saffron.

IF ANYONE knows WHY the Saffron over the ice infused a stronger flavor, I would be very happy to know the science behind this. Thank you.

#saffron #foodscience #cooking #zafferano

[CarBon-_-]

My fiancé is Afghan and Iranian and she introduced me to Saffron Ice Cream and its one of the best flavors I’ve ever had!

[mitchellmiller]

This man was told he was wrong so he did an experiment and was seemingly honest about his opinion of the results even though they contradicted his previous method. More people need to be like this man.

[DaveyyTV]

Ground saffron in cold milk is also insane! You need to try it out, that’s what I’ve seen my family do for ages now. From India btw

[Bobbanss]

Fun fact: Sweden uses about 3-4% of the worlds saffron just to make a Swedish christmas bun with saffron taste, it's called lussebulle/lussekatt

[WhiteRoseNeko]

Damn! I got gifted some saffron and had NO IDEA how to use it! That's awesome!

[TriggTube]

Don’t waste your money on Saffron.

In between the comments about my bad pronunciation and resemblance to famous people, there are sometimes some really helpful things that make ME a better cook and a better creator.  Thanks for the suggestions here. This was a great experiment. 

The Final rankings were:

For Color
1 Ground Ice & Ground Hot (Tied 9/10)
2 Stems Hot (7/10)
3 Gutter Saffron (2/10)

For Taste
1 Ground Ice (9/10)
2 Ground Hot (8/10)
3 Stems Hot (6/10)
4 Gutter Saffron (1/10)

For Convenience
1 Stems Hot (9/10)
2 Ground Hot & Gutter Saffron  (7/10)
3 Ground Ice (6/10)

If I was to choose a PERFECT method, I would probably put the ice directly into the mortar after grinding the saffron, because there was some saffron powder left inside after I finished grinding. Unless the saffron needs to be ON the ice... which I can’t imagine makes a difference.

For this experiment, I just counted the powder in the mortar as “loss” for the ground options, but that just makes the ground saffron options even stronger in flavor with technically less saffron.

IF ANYONE knows WHY the Saffron over the ice infused a stronger flavor, I would be very happy to know the science behind this. Thank you.

[TheYellowTuxedo]

I worked at a ramen shop ran by a very generous family. They had black truffle and saffron come in among some other delicacies. They made sure to give me the chance to try all of it.

[sepehrasadi]

Never thought my comment (and some other nice people mentioning it) would spark a new video. Amazing channel, love your stuff. Salute from Iran!

[mahmoudamouzadehtabrizi]

As a chemist, I know organic solvent like alcohol help extract more organic molecules compared to water. You might add some white wine to powdered saffron and then vaporize wine at room temperature and finally add water on it.

[IceyNW]

As an Iranian I can assure you that my mom uses 1 kilo of saffron per week in her cooking

[ebrahimmikhchin]

with the Persian writing on the bag you know it's the best quality Saffron

[friedrichhartmann]

Mad internet flex with the 1kg saffron ;)

[Mori_UA]

*"Describe the entire plot of Dune:"*

[kamyarhaghani]

As an iranian abroad im happy to see someone do it right finally.

[mr.emerald]

persian people usually used it on their rice they add it when they are ready to be left to steam in the pot it gives the rice a good flavour and insanely good smell

[CalmEditss]

“Whoever controls the spice controls the world”

Edit: everyones asking if I’m talking about India, im not im talking about a movie called dune

[NinjaKitty_]

My friend is from Iran, she gifted me a big container of Saffron for my birthday a few years ago. She told me the grinding and putting the powder on ice and letting the ice melt. Man, does it pop so much more than if you don't do that. I like to do that when I make Saffron rock candy, which is amazing

[Sir_TophamHatt]

With such an expensive ingredient, it makes perfect sense that the most traditional way to extract the flavor from it would be the most efficient

[vizardcero]

Love that you actually listen to your viewers, and you turn that listening into learning experiences for us all. Gonna get harder to keep replying to these when you hit that 1 million mark! Keep it up, you’re awesome.

[NimaTheChef]

As a Persian, I’m glad you’re not like the others, that try to go against others! You actually tried it!