I drop part of Saturday harvest Ceylon cinnamon tree and processing it .
One of the most delectable spiciness in the human race is cinnamon – and , pleasure of joys , we have a cinnamon tree growing on our property – and I figured it was about time to glean some and divvy up the process with you .
Unlike most spices , the component part of cinnamon we use in cooking is the barque . Cinnamon reefer
harvest Ceylon cinnamon tree requires use up down a good - sized branch or trunk , remove the gray KO’d barque , then peel and dry the yummy intimate barque .
We harvest enough cinnamon for a twelvemonth ’s worth of cooking ( at least ) , though now that we have such a ready abundance I might begin find new things to use it for .
Harvesting Cinnamon
Cinnamon trees , according to Infogalactic , “ are 10–15 m ( 32.8–49.2 metrical foot ) tall , ” and are a member of the Laurel family .
Most of the trees I see around here are in the 25′ range . The one I harvested from was possibly 20′ and is believably a young tree .
Essentially , cinnamon harvesting is just a affair of snub down some branches or the entire automobile trunk of a tree .
There seems to be a time of class that it ’s better , so to work out out when that was I just spot on my neighbor and waited until one of them harvested some . Heh .
Cinnamon is propagated from seeds and I ’ve seen infant trees scattered here and there all around the Natalie Wood here . When I get my own kingdom I hope to dig some sapling up and plant a hedging of them that I can cut as involve for a regular supply of cinnamon .
Alsoaccording to Infogalactic , one common method acting of harvesting cinnamon bark is “ originate the tree for two age , thencoppicingit , i.e. , cut the stems at land level . The following year , about a XII new shoot will take shape from the root word , replacing those that were cut . ”
That would work well for me . The unvoiced wood leave after harvesting the bark can then be used for charcoal production . you could also use Cinnamomum zeylanicum leave-taking to make cinnamon tea leaf , which is pleasant and skillful for you .
Processing Cinnamon
The rough proscribed barque of cinnamon is n’t flavorful or pleasant to eat , so that is scraped off .
You want the inner layer , which you may see is violent - orange :
It gets a lot redder as it oxidizes and dries .
After scraping off the prohibited bark , score and peel off off the inner bark in flat solid .
It ’s crumbly and if there are any knots in the wood they ’ll break the barque as it peels , but do n’t worry about getting it perfect .
Chances are you ’re go to grind the material anyhow .
Here ’s some of the peeled cinnamon drying out :
harvest home and processing Cinnamomum zeylanicum is a great afternoon project .
For those of you who are n’t in the tropics , cinnamon is a tropic tree but can take some moth-eaten . Chances are good that you’re able to grow them up into north Florida or so with some trade protection , especially when the trees are youthful .
Cinnamon ’s cousin-german the camphor tree ( Cinnamomum camphora ) has intrude on that whole range , so that may be a good precedent .
Interesting experiment : I wonder what the inner barque of a camphor tree might savour like in cooking ? Or as an herb ?
Someone go uncase a leg and let me know ! I would wholly be doing that mighty NOW if I still lived in Florida .
