How is cinnamon made?

[Kaabi]

Does it come from a leaf or plant? I've always wondered about it's origins (since about 5 minutes ago) but have never asked.

[TexasRose]

Cinnamon comes from the bark of a tree. If you buy cinnamon sticks, you can see that a little more clearly.

More often though, it's ground to a powder, which is what we cook with.

[GregGraves]

Cinnamon is mostly used ground, although I have a few recipes that use the whole cinnamon stick. Whole cinnamon is used often in asian cooking, and the one recipe I make in that cuisine is Pho soup, and it uses whole stick cinnamon for flavor. I also make a beef stew using stick cinnamon for flavor.

In both of those recipes, I remove the cinnamon before serving. It's there for taste not the eating

[Mama Mangia]

Cinnamon comes from the dried bark of various laurel trees. Cinnamon sticks are made from long pieces of bark that are rolled, pressed, and dried. Ground cinnamon comes from drying the central part of the bark, is mostly used in baking and cooking, while stick cinnamon is mostly used for pickling or flavoring beverages. Cinnamon oil is derived from the waste products of the drying process and from the pointed black fruit the trees bear which is usually used for medicinal purposes and flavorings.

[BagCSC]

Yeah, I remember the first time I saw someone grating cinnamon sticks. For those who dont know, that is what one side of your (4-sided) cheesegrater is for....the side that you never use.

[TexasRose]

Is that the same side of the grater that you also use for nutmeg?

[PoorGirl]

I believe so. Really tiny holes that stick out of the grater.

[Kaabi]

Bark, aye? Well then my guess was way off, I didn't even know bark could be used to make any kind of edible substance.

[alice.b.toklas]

Yeah, I remember the first time I saw someone grating cinnamon sticks. For those who dont know, that is what one side of your (4-sided) cheesegrater is for....the side that you never use.

Wow! I've always wondered what that was for. Maybe we need a thread on, what's that for?. For instance, I have this little Weber Grill that has the piece of aluminum for holding the lid on the side, but it has no instructions on how to use it. It took me several years to figure out that you have to first fold the handle down, and lock it into that piece of aluminum, and then you set the lid down. And there's two ways to place the handle into the aluminum upright, but only one way works. But there is nothing in the instructions about it. I have another one of those, but can't remember it right now. I wonder why the manufactures make things like that and then don't tell you.

[DevilsCharm]

Isn't there a kind of cinnamon that isn't made from tree bark? And that's interesting about the cheesegrater thing, very interesting.