Saffron is like the purple gold of the spice world, yet there’s a lot of mystery surrounding this popular ingredient. Where does it come from? What kinds of quality are there? Just how much do people use in their recipes? If you want to learn more about saffron, its growing process, and where to get high-quality saffron that’ll last you a long time and make your dishes taste good, read on. We’ll cover everything from the basics of saffron to shopping for the spice.
Here are the best saffron.
Editor’s Pick-Saffron
Best Saffron Reviews In 2023
1. Zaran Saffron, Superior Saffron Threads
Zaran Saffron is one of the premium saffron brands worldwide. As an international name in the saffron industry, Zaran Saffron offers pure and fresh saffron at very competitive prices. Our business is family-owned, and we pride ourselves on our quality products, excellent customer service, and low prices.
Health Benefits
Zaran Saffron, Superior Saffron Threads are perfect for all your cooking needs, such as Golden Rice, Paella, Risotto, Golden Milk, and Teas. Saffron has many health benefits and can be used medicinally by consuming as a tea or ground into powder form for use in saffron extract supplements. It is also used in skincare products.
Natural Saffron Available
Zaran Saffron is the purest and most natural saffron available. 100% pure and unadulterated saffron threads which have been tested for the highest levels of (Crocin) Color, (Safranal) Aroma, and Picocrocin (Flavor). We are always here to answer any questions you may have about our product or policies. Feel free to message us with any concerns.
2. Golden Saffron, Finest Pure Premium All Red Saffron Threads
This is the purest, freshest saffron available from Iran and the world. Our SUPER NEGIN Grade Saffron has a delicateness of flavor that can only be described as the real taste of saffron with no impurities, additives, MSG, or toxins. This is our most premium grade of saffron. 100% pure threads are hand-picked in standard food-safe packs straight from farms in Bandar Imam Khomeini.
Expert Farmers In Iran
Golden Saffron is a special variety produced by Saffron’s expert farmers in Iran. Golden saffron has a characteristic red fade with light yellow contents. It contains 300 ppm of safranal and 480 ppm of picrocrocin which are the active compounds that boost the flavor and aroma of golden saffron, making it one of the most precious ingredients in cooking.
Saffron Available In The Marke
Golden Saffron is the most premium brand of saffron available in the market. Harvested from a select few handpicked premium quality red threads, our saffron is guaranteed to give you the best taste and maximum potency. We specialize in ensuring that our customers experience maximum satisfaction with every purchase.
3. Premium Saffron Threads
Super Negin Grade Saffron is a premium saffron thread. The most desired and expensive spice in the world. It’s commonly used to add color, aroma, and taste to food, but it has many medical and holistic properties too!
Threads Are Certified
Premium Saffron Threads are Certified 10 of 10 in Safranal (Aroma), Crocin (Fire Red Color), and Picocrocin (Flavor) according to ISO 3632 standards. This is a Grade A+ rating, the highest possible in the world.
Pure Saffron Stigmas
Naturally grown, non-GMO, and hand harvested in Afghanistan, our Pure Saffron Stigmas are the highest quality. Our saffron is superior to Spanish, Indian, Keshmiri, and all other types.
4. Alma Gourmet Altaj Premium Spanish Saffron Threads Spice
Spanish saffron is the finest spice in the world, and Alma Gourmet’s premium Spanish saffron threads are grown exclusively from the prized red stigmas of these flowers native to southern Europe. With a beautiful deep red color and warm aromatic flavor, Spanish saffron is one of the most commonly used spices for cooking.
Threads Are The Most Delicious
Alma Gourmet’s premium Spanish saffron threads are the most delicious, fragrant, and high-quality you can find. They make an exciting addition to your recipes by adding vibrant color and a strong but pleasant taste.
Premium Spanish Saffron Thread
Imported from Spain by Alma Gourmet, this premium Spanish saffron thread is handpicked and carefully processed at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain. Enjoy Spanish Saffron on Italian risotto rice and the famous Spanish Paella recipe. The perfect choice for your next dinner party!
5. Golden Saffron, Finest Pure Premium
Golden saffron is the best-quality Saffron available. We only source our saffron from trusted and reliable British Columbia farms that practice sustainable farming methods. We use only the stigmas of hand-picked saffron flowers, which are then hand-sorted to ensure only pure premium threads are packed into our food-safe tin packages.
Non-gmo Project Verified
Golden Saffron is the best quality saffron in the world, with levels of Crocin (Color 280+ ), Safranal (Aroma 37+) and Picocrocin (Flavor 99+ ). Golden Saffron is Non-GMO Project Verified and has been tested in an FDA-approved lab.
High-quality Product
Made from premium saffron, our Golden Saffron is a high-quality product that is great for cooking. Use it to make your favorite recipes taste even better with our saffron’s exotic taste and golden appearance.
Best Saffron: Buying Guide
Price
Let’s first discuss saffron cost since it can be unclear. You can frequently get a tiny bit of saffron (along with the other spices) for a lot less than what a typical saffron jar may cost if you get a collection of spices that contains saffron.
This is due to the labor-intensive nature of saffron harvesting, which necessitates greater prices to make the developing business profitable. They come from the Crocus sativus species, sometimes known as the saffron crocus, distinguished by its little purple blossoms.
Getting real saffron can cost a lot because it can take up to 80,000 of those blooms to produce just one pound of useful saffron. Yes, authentic saffron is pricey, but there is also purportedly inexpensive saffron. These are typically made up to justify the reduced prices they are sold for.
Thankfully, you won’t need to use much saffron when you do. Consider the price while keeping in mind that you only need a little to reap the benefits of the spice. To make saffron’s price more apparent, it can be beneficial to imagine it as the cost of each meal you’ll use it divided by two.
Naturally, it depends on your diet and how frequently you must use the saffron, so you should keep your anticipated consumption in mind while purchasing. You will need more saffron than the average person if you prepare paella or many recipes that call for it.
Excellent Saffron
Why is it that some saffron goods are of superior quality to others, as we’ve already mentioned?
Saffron goes through a long journey before it can be found on store shelves, just like any other product. The saffron’s grade and price depend on where it comes from, how it is handled, and where it is sold.
Let’s go over the crucial steps in this procedure:
Climate
Saffron flowers thrive on sandy soil, warm summers, and cold or rainy winters. Why is this so crucial since that sounds like a very spacious climate for a plant? Although saffron is farmed worldwide, Iran, Afghanistan, and Spain are the best locations.
These three nations are recognized as warm and arid, with rough rocky terrain higher up, making saffron cultivation considerably simpler there. Here, the highest-quality saffron is grown.
In contrast, saffron grows near home in the United States, particularly in Pennsylvania, and as far away as Greece and India.
But the first stage is growing saffron flowers in plenty and in good health.
Harvest
These often rank among saffron’s most significant steps in the supply chain. Since it is extracted from flowers, saffron must be manually harvested.
This limits when you can select them, which raises the cost of saffron by increasing labor expenditures. Autumn is the best time to harvest it once it is fully grown, and pickers start early in the morning to ensure they get them all.
The gatherers remove the blooms’ crimson threads after they have been collected. To produce higher-quality saffron after processing, they must remain unharmed throughout the entire process due to their extreme sensitivity.
There is a differential known as “negine grade” for the saffron harvested from Iran and Afghanistan. The best saffron is described as all red saffron, and it should be no surprise. Negin grade saffron is produced when a red cluster forms from the red stigma or threads of the saffron flower. This requires even more labour from the gatherers to process, increasing the purchase cost.
Before purchasing any saffron, examine the manufacturer’s type and grading for the spice they are attempting to offer you. These can provide a lot about the cultivation and harvesting processes for the spice.
Yellowed or whited endings on the saffron are a surefire indicator of contaminated saffron. As a result, the maker can sell more saffron to the subsequent client because the weight is added. Generally speaking, this is seen as being of poorer quality. Imagine it like diluting a drink to save money on expensive booze.
Drying
Saffron needs to be dried before it is placed on store shelves. As you might expect, saffron can become ruined if it is dried improperly.
Spice producers strive to achieve the ideal balance between not drying the saffron out too much or too much, rendering it unusable.
Drying ensures the saffron lasts a long time, making it ideal for shipping worldwide and storing in your kitchen while you use it.
The packaging can be used to determine the best saffron, just like with many other products. Your saffron probably isn’t the best spice if it’s in a plain plastic jar.
Analyzing saffron
As you read this, let’s assume you already have some saffron on hand. How can you determine whether it is good?
It’s usually advisable to get saffron from reputable brands because it can be very profitable to market inferior saffron to the general public.
There are three ways to determine the saffron’s quality:
The Aroma- Saffron smells strong. It can be phony if you already know what it smells like but can’t place it coming from the saffron. Search for a floral scent with a touch of sweetness. This represents how much safranal is present in saffron.
The Smell-Saffron has a very subtle flavor despite how it smells. It has a strange flavor profile that is flowery, sweet, and bitter. Your saffron is either fake or chemically increased if it tastes like it’s trying too hard to be sweet. This is how much picrocrocin is present in saffron.
The Exam – Simply add the saffron to the water if you don’t have faith in your senses. Your saffron can be fake or of low grade if it begins coloring the water soon. Consider whether saffron was intentionally developed to “try too hard” to be a spice. Real saffron retains its color when submerged in water and, over time, will alter the color of the water. This examination measures the saffron’s crocin.
Frequently Asked Question
Which saffron is the best in the world?
Recently, the international institute of food taste and quality measurement announced Afghanistan’s saffron as the best saffron in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
Is Spanish or Iranian saffron better?
High crocin, a natural coloring pigment in saffron, is generally indicated by entirely red or dark red saffron. Spanish saffron is brighter and less opaque. It is due to the laborious work involved in saffron production in Spain. As a result, Persian saffron has a greater propensity to color.
How do I know my saffron is pure?
An interesting experiment is to dissolve a small amount of baking soda in water and mix it. After that, add the saffron to the liquid. If the water-baking soda mixture contains pure saffron, it will turn yellow. The fake will become a pale crimson.
How can you tell if saffron is real?
Appearance – Saffron threads are trumpet-shaped. If a thread does not bulge at one end, it’s a fake. If you rub real saffron between your fingers, your skin will turn yellow/orange. Taste – While saffron smells sweet, it tastes slightly bitter, not sweet.
Why is Spanish saffron so cheap?
Due to the high supply in the market, the saffron is sold for a much lower price. Additionally, Iran also has large farms and cheap labour, making the selling price of their saffron less expensive than the former.
Conclusion
The truth is, saffron is one of the most expensive spices out there. The cost per pound can easily break the bank for a lot of folks. While this website does sell saffron at an affordable price, there are other options for you to choose from as well. Saffron is worth the money if you decide to buy it, but if you’re on a budget, then do some shopping around and see if you can find something that fits your needs.