I'm getting an Indian wet grinder for my birthday!

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BAPyessir6

Senior Cook
Joined
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Today's my birthday, so my husband is splurging for me and buying me a wet grinder. It's supposed to get here next Friday or something. I'm so excited! I only hope I don't have to worry about the stone/rollers cracking, as I've heard some people comment about that. I figure I'll just make sure to keep it wet and make sure the batter's wet (as dry grinding in a wet grinder can either cause the stones to erode/corrode or break/crack altogether). Excited!!!!!!!!!
 
Happy Birthday.

I'm interested in reading what you think of it, once you have had a chance to try it.
+1 here! I'm definitely interested in hearing how you like that, and how well it works. I have a wet/dry grinder, that's metal blades, that's more for Thai curry paste, and things like that, but I've seen recipes calling for those stone grinders. I usually use the Vitamix, when I want something very fine, but it's better to use for relatively larger amounts, a little over 2 c, for it to circulate. That smaller wet/dry grinder doesn't grind the paste as fine, though this isn't really a bad thing.
 
Should I post here, or should I make a new topic that I got it and how it performs once it gets here this weekend?
 
Here we go! A review! Would I buy one again? Yes. Would I recommend it to others? Yes, but only if you enjoy Indian food, are wanting a better texture in your Idli/dosa batter, or want a SUPERRR smooth texture in things, like homemade peanut butters or the like. Not chocolate though, but I didn't ask why. Strange to me, as a melange is like the exact same instrument.

Anyway, onto the actual review!

I got it Friday, and when I opened it, it had a tiny dent in the upper part of the bowl. (More on that later) I prepped the bowl by washing it and grinding rice and water (Never grind it dry, it'll like, grind the stone away or something bad I guess?) So I ground the rice and water (letting it run about 1.5 hours in total) and got it to literally the consistency of glue. Dang this thing is good at getting things smooth. And that wasn't even soaked rice, it was dry straight from the bag. 10/10 for performance so far.

But that rice/water is used to "clean" any stone bits or leftover manufacturing particles, so I discarded it and washed the grinder again. I was dismayed when I saw what looked to be a tiny scratch running around the bottom of the stone bowl (there are 2 stones that sit inside the grinder and the bottom of the bowl itself is stone, so the stones basically "roll" against the bottom stone, kind of like a grinding mill. Think of how those small toy cars follow the circular track you used as a kid if you're me. Same principle.) I ground rice again in the bowl a second time (again, glue consistency when done), this time with a little water and oil to try to clean/buff it better, and let it run 1 hour. Now, and thus far, the scratch is gone, so either it was my imagination, or maybe I just fixed it or it was residue from the manufacturing or something. Either way, really happy that it didn't stay, as I didn't want ruts in the stone to mess with the grinding process, especially ruts that showed up after the first use.) 8/10

It's surprisingly loud. Like in the kitchen, it's very loud. Eventually you get used to it, but I wore ear plugs because I'm 29 and I want to save whatever hearing I still have :) if possible. 6/10

I thought it would be too heavy, and it is heavy, but not crazily so. The stone rollers come out of the bowl (which has a stone bottom) and each piece is maybe 5-10 pounds. And I'm weak! (I hurt my back at work several years back lifting like 60 pounds of garbage overhead, so I'm really careful what I lift.) The only annoying thing is you have to hand wash it (obvious to me though, as it's stone) and they discourage soap, at least not after the initial washing, so just a good rinsing and finger rubbing to get everything off. 7/10

Also, on the dent. I used it, then thought "Man, I spent 200 bucks on this and it came dented. I wanna return it!" So we place the return on Amazon and have to pay 5 bucks return shipping. Dang. But at least we have a UPS like 1 minute from our house. We get there, and my husband gets a text from the company saying "Don't return it, we'll send you a replacement bowl!" So that's great! No return shipping needed, and I get a free bowl! (They said the dent was in shipping caused from the atta/dough kneading hook from hitting the bowl in transit, so it's still obviously usable as I've run it twice now, but awesome they gave me another.) 10/10

All in all, I'd give it a solid 8/10, though it being loud and heavy could be a drawback to some if you're weak like me. :) Still, it's CRAZZZZYYY good at making things smooth. Like, blenders and food processers got NOTHING on it. I'll post again once I make idli with it (as I have leftovers in the fridge that I wanna eat, but I'll probably make idli sometime next week.)

And. . .that's all I can think of! :)
 
Excellent review - so well done. (not your first rodeo, eh?)

Thank you, and it's not that I intend to get one as I don't think I've ever even had idli! But I am thoroughly enjoying this post.

I have discovered that I am at an age where I have to live vicariously thru other's adventures as I certainly won't be able to do any of them myself. and I love it!
Plus there are so many adventures out there for me to discover!
 
Kathleen- do you mean pictures of the grinder itself, or pictures of it in use and its finished product? If the latter, I'll post pictures sometime this week, maybe when I use it to make Idli. As far as reviews, thanks for the "excellent!" dragnlaw! I haven't posted that many reviews on stuff, but I do love writing (been writing since I was about 10 as my older sisters loved it too), so that probably helps. :)
 
I'm not Kathleen, but pics of grinder, grinder in use and finished product please :)
 
It finally rose properly! I'm so happy!!! It's pics of the rice, the grinder, and the risen batter once it's ground. It turned out super buttery smooth. The bowl is so shiny you can see my reflection and Beatles shirt haw haw haw.

Also I threw in a picture of the sambar. I make it much much thicker than it traditionally is, since my husband likes it thicker as he's not a huge fan of soup.

ALSO A NOTE! Remember how I said it was super loud? Turns out when you soak the rice/lentil overnight, it's wayyy quieter! So it probably cuts the noise in half or more. Like no ear plugs this time, even if you're standing right next to it!
Unsoaked rice is super loud by comparison, even when you add water to grind it up.
 

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Also pics of the grinder parts, including wheel, stone bowl, lid, spring top that you screw on, and base itself.
 

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Also included now are pics of the final Idli product. So light and wonderful! Way better and rose way higher and spongier than the food grinder I was using!
 

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Just wanna update note on the Idli.

Wayyy fluffier after being in the fridge several days. I hear them up and they're like little sponges!

By comparison, the Idli I made without the grinder were harder, almost. . . crumbly, less fluffy and much denser.

I made like 18 or so, and I used to only like them on the first day and just tolerate eating them thereafter (cause I don't wanna cook them to eat if I don't have to) but now I really look forward to eating them leftover as heating them up returns them incredibly close to their original fluffy texture!!!
 
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