The Best Ground Cumin

Cumin seeds are harvested from the annual plant Cuminum cyminum, which is a member of the parsley family. India is the main producer of cumin, but other sources include Turkey and Iran. When the seeds are ready to be harvested, about four months after planting, the entire plant is pulled from the ground and repeatedly thrashed to release the seeds. The seeds are then dried in the sun. In the case of ground cumin, they are processed into a powder.

But does it matter which cumin you cook with? To find out, we sampled five supermarket products. We focused on ground cumin since we use it more often than whole cumin seeds in our recipes. First, we tasted the cumin raw in a carrot and chickpea salad. Then, we heated the cumin in olive oil before tossing it with white rice. Finally, we tasted it in a spice rub applied to pan-seared chicken breasts.

We quickly noticed that how the cumins were prepared mattered. In the salad, where the cumin wasn’t heated, all the products tasted similar. But once we cooked with them—in the oil and on the chicken—their differences became much more pronounced.

In cooked dishes, tasters preferred cumins that were potent but not bitter. Heating spices in fat is known as blooming. This process enhances spices’ flavor, so we weren’t surprised when the flavors of the cumins we tasted were intensified by heating. But all flavor compounds get exaggerated by heat, and some of the cumins became slightly too bitter for tasters once they were cooked. Bitterness can be the result of natural factors (such as the weather, the soil, or the strain of cumin used) and/or differences in processing methods. Our top-rated cumins were robust and flavorful without being bitter, both when heated and when raw; tasters called them “earthy,” “warm,” “bright,” “sweet,” and “floral.”

We think of ground cumin as a fine powder; however, tasters picked up on textural differences, calling some products “gritty.” We examined samples of each cumin side by side on a sheet of parchment and looked at them under a microscope. While all the samples had some variation in particle size, our two top-ranked products had more uniform grinds and noticeably fine and soft textures. The bottom-ranked products were more fibrous and coarse, with more variation in particle size. Tasters preferred a smoother texture, and we learned that grind size can also affect flavor; our science editor explained that smaller, finer particles expose more of the aroma compounds, which may make the spice more flavorful.

Although we recommend all the cumins in our lineup, our winner, Simply Organic Ground Cumin, stood out. It’s finely ground and was “flavorful” and “robust” without ever becoming bitter, even when heated. It was one of the more expensive products in our lineup, but its complex sweet, floral, and earthy flavor makes it a worthwhile investment.