Durkee spices

[shaebones]

CI says that next to Vietnamese cinnamon, Durkee brand is the best. Have looked for it @ MB, Hannaford and Shaws. Can't find it. Who sells it??

[trufflehound]

I bought Saigon Cinnamon at Price Chopper in Worcester. More money, better than other bottled stuff, but you do much better at any Arabic or Indian market.

[The Professor]

I've never heard of DURKEE being considered particularly high quality, and they are _certainly_ not known for being cheaper. Anyway, I have always hear Durkee's spices referred to as 'flavored dust'.
I would have to agree with the posters above that you'll get much better quality and probably a better deal from Penzey, American Spice, or better still, any southeast Asian grocery store.

[PinchOfSalt]

I looked at the article on the Cook's Illustrated website. Interestingly enough, while Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon was their favorite, several brands that claimed to be Vietnamese cinnamon scored poorly. As the OP reports, Durkee's was in second place. I wonder why CI did not test other varieties of Penzey's cinnamon. While I do favor their Vietnamese, their China cassia is also very nice in my experience.

When I get cinnamon from Penzey's I always get the smallest container. That way my supply is fresh. One thing that is especially nice about Penzey's is that the unit price for a small container is not very much more than the unit price of a larger jar. You do get significant savings on the bags, but at least for me they are too big; they lose flavor way before I use them up.

[nsenada]

I had no idea Durkee was considered that good - they have it at Roche Bros. Now I feel better about paying what I thought was an exhorbitant amount of money for emergency cinnamon.

[shaebones]

Sadly, not at the Roche Bros. in Burlington.

[nsenada]

Hmm - they do have it in Needham, but each RB seems to be a different animal.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I think -- emphasis on think -- I've seen institutional-size jars of Durkee spices at BJ's. We're making a BJs run this weekend and I'll be down that aisle anyway, so I'll see if I'm right and report back.

[shaebones]

Thank you BFP!

[StriperGuy]

What is "CI."

You can find good soft or "true" cinnamon all over Boston. As opposed to hard or cassia cinnamon.

[shaebones]

Cooks Illustrated. Would really like to try the Durkee brand. I use tons of cinammon in my granola business and would like to find a cheaper alternative thats tastes good.

[StriperGuy]

Hmmmm, some of the places where I see LARGE amounts of spices for reasonable money are some of the ethnic markets around town. Don't remember if it was Durkee.

This included South American places in Allston and Eastie as well as Indian grocery stores in Waltham and the various Chinese grocery stores around town.

Also how about some of the restaurant supply places in town.

[gimlis1mum]

Oh, yes, get thee to an Indian grocery store. Cinnamon is much, much less expensive and sooo much better. When we lived in Brookline, I went to the one on Harvard Street in Coolidge Corner. Can't recall the name but it was in the bank of shops with the Corrib Pub, dry cleaner and Vietnamese restaurant, just south of Beacon street (Alton Place is a close cross street). Now that we're in Malden I go to the Indian market on Pleasant Street.

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Corrib Pub Restaurant
201 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

[StriperGuy]

Seriously, don't know what is so special about Durkee Cinnamon. You can get AMAZING stuff at the Indian groceries for 1/3 the money. I often grind my own in a coffee grinder and I don't care what brand of ground cinnamon you buy, nothing beats fresh ground.

[fesenjan]

Dunno about Durkee, but Penzey's sells Vietnamese cinnamon (as well as several other kinds); you could phone the Arlington store and ask which they have in stock. I've always been very pleased with Penzey's quality and freshness.
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzey...