Easy Ways to Use Saffron in Kitchen

Using saffron in the kitchen is easy but requires enough skill to get incredible taste and fragrance out of this valuable spice. Cooking with saffron makes your dishes incredibly tasteful and full of extraordinary aromas. To use saffron in the kitchen, you need to be careful with the amount and methods of cooking. Surely, Iranian cooks know how to prepare saffron for cooking, as many Iranian recipes are using this valuable spice. Many individual customers asked how to use saffron in kitchen, so we dedicated this post to explain ways to cook with saffron.

How to use saffron in the kitchen?

Cooking with saffron should not be so hard. In most Iranian dishes, you need to use ground or powder saffron. Plus, saffron is like dried herbs, which require hydration and heat to extract its aromatic components. To prepare saffron for cooking, you may need to know how to make saffron powder and how to add them to your dish. Below lines explain how to cook with saffron:

How to make saffron powder using mortar and pestles:

Mortar is a compartment that is used to crush saffron and the handle, or the pestle, is used to apply pressure inside the mortar. This simple kitchen gadget makes it easy to crush saffron at home.

To powder saffron in your kitchen, you need mortar and pestles. To do this, place a few strands of saffron in a mortar and use the pestle to make fine ground of saffron.

Then, add the powder saffron to any food recipes such as stews, letting it have enough time to brew.

Uses of saffron powder

Saffron powder can be used in many food and beverage recipes such as:

• Iranian Tahchin
• Iranian rice
• Saffron Barberry Rice with Chicken
• Persian carrot halva
• Saffron tea
• Saffron and rose lemonade
• Etc.

How to brew saffron? 

If your recipe requires liquid saffron, you can use two ways to brew saffron: Brewing saffron with hot water and/or ice.

There is also another way to extract saffron. Toasting saffron is not a usual instruction in Iranian cooking recipes, yet it can be used in some special dishes. Brewing and toasting saffron are explained:

Brewing saffron with hot water:

To brew saffron with hot water, you need to steep saffron threads or ground saffron in warm water for at least 5 min. You can also place your saffron jar on the boiling kettle to let the process done sooner.

Brewing saffron with cold water or ice:

Some believe more taste and aroma will be extracted when they are soaked in ice or in cold water. Brewing saffron with ice is probably one of the easiest things you can do when cooking. To learn how to use ice to extract saffron, please go on reading “Make Saffron Liquid with Ice Cubes”

Toasting saffron:

There is also another way to toast saffron powder in olive oil under low heat to help it infuse an extraordinary aroma to your dish.

Recipes with saffron

Many Iranian and international recipes require toasted, brewed, or normal strands of saffron to work their magic in the food. Saffron dishes are quite popular among people around the world. When you add saffron to different food recipes, their taste and fragrance change completely. We have already gathered some saffron recipes from different parts of the world. Check our saffron recipe and enjoy!

What is the best way to use saffron?

You can use different ways to use saffron in kitchen, from grinding to powder saffron to blooming it. Powder saffron can be directly added to saffron, while in recipes with brewed saffron you need to make liquid saffron first.

The best way to use saffron depends on the food recipes and your general preferences.

How long can I keep saffron?

Depending on the saffron container, storage conditions, temperature and moisture level, the saffron may be kept for two and more since harvest and packaging time. If everything is considered saffron will last long, however may lose some of its properties after the first or second year of storage. The ideal condition to store saffron is fully explained in “How to Store Saffron?” blog post.

Smoked saffron or Smoking saffron?

Smoking saffron is an uncommon practice and it cannot be recommended. Smoking any substance can be harmful and can damage the lungs and respiratory system. Some people believe adding one or two strands of saffron makes their specially-packed roll more aromatic and relaxing. Smoking saffron is not a traditional way of consumption as it brings no good to your well-being.

On the other hand, there is a method to make a smoky aroma and flavor of saffron which is used for culinary purposes. Making smoked saffron is a two-step process. In the initial step, the saffron strands are exposed to oak sawdust smoke for a while. Then, they receive special post-smoking treatments to produce an extraordinary taste and aroma of saffron.