I find the Ocean Spray to be fine, and will often try to support local business (Ocean Spray cranberries and juices here) but I'll pick up Trader Joe's too. Right now I have Trader Joe's Dried Cranberries, and a package of Trader Joe's Dried Cranberries fortified with cranberry seed oil which seem more moist.

We use them most frequently on salads. I can't say I've ever had a strong cranberry flavor using either brand when in muffins or breads. Same true for dried currants....my result is more raisin like no matter which dried berry or grape I've used when baked into something.

Did you chop them up or use them whole?

I find them too sweet to use in my oatmeal, at least compared to golden raisins

Don't chop them, leave them whole. Also, you can rehydrate them a bit in cranberry juice or water which should improve the texture and taste.

I love them....on oatmeal, in cookies, or a handful as a snack. But, I love cranberries in general. Love the cooked whole sauce.

I almost always use dried cranberries whole vs chopped. I get mine at Trader Joe's. They have regular (what I buy), organic and orange-flavored. Can't say they have a strong cranberry taste but it's definitely there. They also have the right amount of sweet/tart for me. I know opinions can vary with different brands.

I use Trader Joe's for dried fruit for the Alton Brown Free-Range fruit cake. Yum!

I have found the Craisins to be lacking in flavor. They should have as much tartness and flavor as any other brand but they do not to me. One thing you might want to do if you have more before using in something is to soak then drain the excess moisture using it as the liquid, if any, in the recipe.

I just buy mine in the bulk food section of my grocery store and I find them to be full of flavour and tart. When baking I soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes and I do not chop them up. I can buy them whole or already split - not chopped just split. I also use them whole in trailmix for hiking.

I did chop them for some shortbread and there was very little flavour.

For those that are apparently not aware Craisins are an Ocean Spray brand so comparing them to the dried cranberries obtained elsewhere you may not be comparing the same product. When they were first introduced the berries retained their plumpness and some flavor. The last couple of times that I purchased because they were the only thing available the berries were much smaller and drier than previous packages.

Thank you for the feedback! I used them just a they came out of the package, no chopping, no soaking. I almost always rehydrate raisins when I use them in baking, don't know why I didn't think to soak the cranberries. This is the first time I've used the Oceanspray brand, in the past I've used those from the bulk bins in Sprouts. I don't remember them being so tasteless, but then it's been several years since I last made the Cranberry Oatmeal cookies. Sprouts is 50 some miles from me, so I'm not apt to go just for that. It is a small package, so I have a few left, if I decide to use them in something baked, I might try soaking them in cranberry juice first. Maybe that would help.

Will try the Walmart store brand next time I buy some, no Trader Joe's or Aldi's anywhere around here.

Rusty

For me, dried cranberries seem to loose flavor compared to the fresh berry. One problem may be the age of the product. Once a cranberry has been turned into a 'crasin', its hard to tell if it is this year's product or 5 yr old.

soak your cranberries in a mix of vinegar and water if you want to reinvigorate the tartness ... drain and let them dry a bit on a paper towel ...

And the interesting thing is that Ocean Spray developed "Craisins" because they had all of these leftover squeezed out cranberries from making cranberry juice which was really popular so they decided to dry the squeezed out cranberries and market them! And they certainly took off, didn't they!

I put them in my salads and love the taste of them.

Different brands have natural flavor added along with the sugar.

So, for the folks who sell a lot of juice, this product is basically scrap, the residue after the juice has been squeezed out.

o j

I like Craisins. I think they have a lot of flavor. I like the tartness of them. Is it possible you got some of the mixed ones and not all actual Craisins?

And I think you're wrong there joyful. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is they're dehydrated cranberries, not cranberry pulp. Just like raisins are not pulp from grapes after squeezing the juice out. From my understanding, there's no (at least significant) recovery of juice from them

Yes, just dehydrated cranberries, not a juice by-product. Most have some additional sugar included in the drying process and a few even have a light coating of oil to keep them from sticking together.

When using them for baking, I almost always 'plump' or rehydrate them in hot water or orange juice before adding to the recipe (I do the same for raisins or currants). For salads, etc., I just toss them in as-is.