Mortar & Pestle

[srm]

This weekend i got a nice marble mortar & pestle as a gift. i tried using it to grind up spices (dill seed) but i couldnt really get it to crush. am i doing something wrong? i simply put in the dill seed and started workign it. do i need to put something else in there with it?

 

[bowlingshirt]

How exactly were you working it? If gently tapping on it doesn't work, use sort of a stirring motion to grind the spices around the side.

 

[srm]

I had tried both, taping, and then just spinning around. neither seemed to be doing anything. i almost wonder if it's too smooth a surface on the inside. i feel like it should be rougher so that the grains / herbs have something to catch on...

 

[JMediger]

srm, dill seeds are pretty thin/flat, though. Try something with some body to it like coriander, mustard seed, or cumin seeds to see if they work better. It they don't, then it might be the surface. I have used my FIL's marble set when we visit and really like it. Both parts are still smooth and it works well for most spices.

 

[silentmeow]

I find that grinding a couple of spices together helps. Those coriander seeds are a real challenge and keep hopping out!

 

[srm]

oK. i'll give it a shot tonight and report back!

 

[Yakuta]

The marble ones are a hit or miss. The real deal are the ones made of basalt rock and can get pricey. I have one that is made of brass and is extremely heavy. You can grind anything in it without a lot of effort. They are just very noisy.

 

[justplainbill]

My pestle has an unglazed porcelain surface. It's great for making my saffron go further and really brings out the flavor of sesame seeds. I do prelimary cleanup by crushing/grinding some coarse salt with it.

 

[Jeekinz]

I have a marble one with a pretty rough surface on the inside. Usually, I'll use a tapping/twisting motion to start, then use a stirring method.

If the recipe calls for olive oil, you can add a touch of that to keep the spice under a little control.

 

[auntdot]

srm, it does take a bit of pressure. If you are having trouble take a bit of regular old table salt and play with it.

I find them very convenient because of the ease of clean up rather than the electric whizzers.

Good luck.

 

[Charlotte]

We finally bought a good mortar and pestle, we had our local potter make us one with fine ridges on the bottom and up the sides a bit. It works very well. I had taken a look at a similar one to what you bought and was not pleased with the smooth surface, as my hand strength is no longer good - too much arthritis.

As has already been suggested, with a bit more pressure on the mortar you should get good results.

 

[Chopstix]

I recently got a very small but heavy mortar and pestle for small delicate jobs like saffron. It's stainless steel with a fine wire mesh like a rounded sieve that you place flush against the mortar bottom. You can then use the pestle to grind spices through this sieve.

 

[SizzlininIN]

I just bought me a beautiful marble one on Friday. I haven't got to use it yet but I'm so looking forward to it.

 

[RPCookin]

Mine is an unglazed ceramic Mason Cash. It works great. I do everything in it from various herb seeds to cracking peppercorns to mashing garlic. But I can see where one that is too smooth might be a problem.

 

[oneoffour]

I have several M&Ps. The spices that are more ball bearing like are easily done in a smooth marble. At my wifes cousins house she asked me to break up bay leaves in the same smooth marble M&P they just skiddded around. Grooved porcelain, granite or basalt or those course mexican mortars cut more than a smooth suface and would have quickly broken the leaves. When I am making a rub I find a little olive oil in the mortar keeps the seeds from jumping out. Anyone use the goove and wheel M&P's?

 

[mitmondol]

[quote Anyone use the goove and wheel M&P's?[/quote]

Sorry, don't know what those are...Could you explain?

I have a marble, a wooden and a lava rock mortar.
Have to say I use the molcajete the most.
Find that the marble and the wooden ones are too smooth for most jobs.

Have to admit though, I've never tried to smash a single seed on its own, it is always a mixture of them, or with some wet stuff.
Marble works if you have more seeds, different sizes and shapes.

The wooden one is beautiful, but...supposedely it is traditional thai..Must be my falt that I can't find it useful..

Oh dear, someone has to teach me

 

[oneoffour]

I have seen the grove and wheel M&P in several stores but not bought it as I have to much stuff now. It is a wooden disc adout 1/2" thick and 4 or 5 inches in diameter with a shaft through the middle. The edge was rounded. This wheel had a wooden base about 10" long with a groove about 8" long and 1/2 " deep down the center. The wheel just fit the groove and instead of using the pestal in a stirring motion with one hand you put two hands on the wheel and rolled it back and forth in the groove like a rolling pin.

I thought it had an ergonomic advantage as one could put all the weight of their upper body onto the rolling pestal without the wrist twisting motion.