Cooking For Engineers

[BikeBun]

Went looking for a good spice grinder. Recently used a VitaMix to grind cloves... what a mess. Later found an internet item on a similar problem. Seems clove oil attacks plastic as it did the dry grinding unit on my vita mix. Seems the currently recommended spice grinder is one of these push-down-the-cover (e.g. Krups) coffe grinders. OK double as a spice grinder, but I'd like to find a burr grinder designed for spices, esp black pepper.

[sweet june]

hm, pepper grinders are easily found, i thought, b/c pepper doesn't do much damage to most grinder metals or plastics.

you're right, though-- some spices, like salt and clove, can eventually cause damage to plastics or the non-stainless metals in most readily found grinders. most of the soapers i know (frequently grinding herbs/spices to add to our soaps) just use electric coffee grinders. they are generally sturdier and longer-lived than their hand-turned spice mill counterparts. i have a krups for my coffee, and a kitchenaid for my spices. and two good ol' mortar/pestles, for those herbs that would wreck the plastic on my kitchenaid.

if you don't want another electric, best best is a spice mill with a ceramic or stainless (or other corrosion-resistant/proof material) mechanism and a glass or wood body. please note, though, that of course the wood body will retain fragrance from herbs that are ground within.

here's one, though it's pricey:
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0009QDZSE/102-8250998-2250531?SubscriptionId=1VCPVTBZ200DP83H5Z02

[henry rogar]

Using quality spice grinders you can easily improve the quality of the spices you prepare at home. These grinders are designed to be efficient that makes it a lot easier to grind fresh spices and herbs almost instantly which is almost a chore when you use mortar and pestles. That being said, it is necessary to pick a spice grinder only after thorough research of the features and the pros and cons of a product.