[Sca-cooks] cinnamon was Re: Whole to ground spice equivalents

[Louise Smithson]

Avraham wrote:
snipped
I have refreshed my memory. It's not that you CAN'T grind cinnamon at
home. It's that they use lower quality stuff, bark from lower down on
the tree, to make cinnamon sticks. The better quality bark is powdered
before you buy it.

I hate to contradict you, but, I have Krontjie cinnamon sticks and
ground cinnamon. When I grind the sticks (in my coffee mill, that has
NEVER seen a coffee been in it's life) not only does it grind to a
wonderfully fine powder it is 10 x more aromatic and oily than the stuff
that I got pre-ground.  The taste is far more intense and wonderful.  I
think it depends on what type of cinnamon sticks you are buying.  Also
remember that the flavoring in spices comes from volatile oils which are
lost that much more quickly from ground than whole spices.
Helewyse