For this operation the removed stigmas are placed in layers about two centimeters in fine mesh sieves or silk fabric, putting it on a hot stove, braziers, coals of fire or rustic home fires.
The heat will be smooth, so the saffron will not lose its aroma and remains dry. The temperature will be about 35 ° C, so that the stigmas are toasted but do not burn or disintegrate. This is one of the essential prerequisites for good marketing of saffron, the stigmas are found together; at the same time it reduces the chances for product counterfeiting.
The optimum roasting the one in which the stigma, without burning, has lost 85 to 95% humidity. The appreciation of this fact lies with the person in charge of the operation, whose experience decides the exact moment that these conditions have been reached.
The most significant external signs are evident in the size of the stigma, which once roasted are reduced to about 2 cm in length; in the color which goes from living and intense red to a dark one, dull red; in its characteristic aroma and the total absence of smoke.
A person, however expert to be not more than a day peel two to three ounces, need for it to pass through their hands 12,000 to 15,000 flowers.