I'm looking to buy something to grind spices with, and I'm trying to decide between a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder (either blade or burr).
I was thinking of getting a manual burr mill coffee grinder, but I've seen a few comments on here recommending against them, without providing rationale.
Does anyone have any experience with using them for spices? I'll will be using spices ranging from mustard seed to cumin to peppercorns to cloves to star-anise (so, a variety of sizes and irregular shapes).
Thanks!
Edit: For anyone who finds this later and is curious, I went ahead and picked up a coffee burr mill (the Hario Skerton). It seems to work pretty well. It's pretty quick/convenient, and easy to clean (I just run a couple teaspoons of rice through it). The only problems are that it cannot get spices into a super-fine dust (but I can go fairly fine), and it has trouble with some things (the husks from cardamom pods just get caught in it, but the seeds will grind just fine).
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Beginner custom coffee maker here (Kalita Wave). Can you really tell a difference between burr and blade grinders in a blind testing? Considering everything else is equal (method, beans, etc...). Also, how much do you think percentage wise the grinder contributes to the end product?
Yes 100%
The grinder is the most important part outside of the coffee itself
Three pillars of coffee: the coffee beans, the grinder, and the water. Any one of the three is bad, the stool falls over. Blade grinders leave a variability of fines and boulders, yielding under- and over-extracted flavors. They don't cancel eachother out, so it just makes the cup taste muddy. A good burr grinder will leave minimal fines, and a uniform max size of grounds. Final cup should have clear flavor, and grinder is a big part of that.
You can use a blade grinder for nuts and spices as well, provided that the 'chamber' and blades are 100% stainless steel. It's pretty easy to clean the oils that would otherwise affect your next batch of beans.
That's not the case with a burr grinder, especially the ceramic variety - a hand-full of hazelnuts in one of those will mean anything coming out of it picking up that taste for quite a while.
I use my blade grinder mostly for that these days, since I own several burr grinders. Great at grinding up peanuts, dry corn kernels, dry spices and that sort of thing.
To clean it, I wash it with a moist cloth as usual and then use a moistened antiseptic towelette (like they use to wipe your skin with prior to giving you an injection) - there's no trace of what I just ground in it once I'm done.
The most important distinction between blade and burr grinders is the result:
Blade
Coffee beans circulate across the spinning blades. No matter how long or short the grind, there is extreme heterogeneity in particle size--that is, you will find larger bean fragments with near-dust-size ones, with everything in between. If you use a pour-over or drip brewing method, you might even see whole beans floating to the top. Not surprisingly, you'll get very uneven extraction from these different particles, no matter what the brewing method.
If you grind long enough to decimate all the beans, you'll find a lot of fine coffee dust and sediment in your cup. Too short a grind, and you get a lot of beans and bean pieces that can't present enough extractable surface area to the hot water, leading to a thin, weak cup. Waste of coffee, to be sure.
Also, it's almost impossible to grind any two batches consistently, since grind time is dependent on bean quantity, type of roast, variety of bean--well, everything. So today you'll get a disappointing cup, and tomorrow you'll get another disappointing cup for some other reason. Therefore I recommend a Conical Burr grinder.
Conical Burr
Beans move through once. When you set your burr grinder to a certain fineness, there will be very little heterogeneity in particle size. (N.B. Spend more on the grinder, get a more even grind.) This allows you to experiment with the grind as well as the quantity until it's perfect for you, then replicate that recipe perfectly every time.
Some tips on finding the right burr grinder for your needs:
- Prices vary from
1500 for non-commercial grinders. I'm happy with my $350 Rancilio, which I've had for 10 years without a hint of trouble. - How you like your coffee matters. A more expensive grinder will do better fine grinds, as for Arabic-style (i.e. Turkish, Greek, Lebanese) coffee. If you don't drink that, don't spend more for it. Most burr grinders perform best in the automatic drip range.
- The under-$100 burr grinders still manage to throw a lot of fine coffee dust into the grind. Do your research before buying.
- Consistency in grind is critical to good espresso. If this is important to you, be prepared to spend as much on the grinder as you spent on your espresso machine. It's for a good cause. Why hobble your good machine with sub-par ingredients?
(Note: With a general perspective, you may classify coffee as a spice.)
I imagine you mention the hand grinders. In that case, the main difference is the size of the canals of the grinders. E.g. in a black pepper grinder, the average diameter of the canals are a bit wider than the average diameter of black peppers.
However, this diameter is far narrower for coffee beans. So, you cannot grind coffee in a pepper grinder effectively as the beans cannot fit in the canals.
Summary: proper grinder for proper spice.
After Burhan added the image, I think I should make an edition to this answer.
This grinders are called blade grinders. The main disadvantage of these is the grounds are not homogenously grinded after the process. As the blades randomly cut the beans, some of them may stay intact on the sides.
Burr grinders doesn't have this possibility. All grinded pieces have a maximum volume after the process.
Otherwise, I can't think of a difference. However, you shouldn't use the same grinder for both. You don't want the aroma of your coffee to be mixed with spices and herbs. :)
I think you should get a dedicated coffee grinder. The people who make manual grinders / electronic grinders make it for this purpose. Or else you can have an inconsistent grind.
Plus it's a lot easier to change the type of grind setting on a coffee grinder. If you feel like a french press grind, and you feel that your grind is too fine, just change the setting to your liking.
That way you can experiment with different grinds. I heard different grinds affects the taste of the coffee. Like too fine of grounds going into your french press.
I’m new to pour overs and was wondering what the actual difference is between the two grinders? Not really in the market to buy a burr grinder right now and would like to know if the blade will actually make a huge difference
The difference really is HUGE the blade grinder will cut up the beans and you’ll loose flavor and you’ll get an inconsistent grind. Burr is a lot better for a consistent grind and better tasting coffee. I’d recommend if you’re on a budget getting a hand burr grinder.
The big difference is in repeatability. You'll never reproduce the same grind twice with a blade grinder, but a good burr grinder will reproduce the same grind quality over and over until you change the setting.
What this means for your coffee is that you won't be able to reproduce the same cup reliably. You could make one cup that was perfect, and make another one the exact same way and have it be terrible.