When cooking, a lot of us use spices, and cloves are one of those spices that we add to our food to make it have a better aroma and good taste. But it is important that you add the right amount so that it does not get too much.
For those that are asking the question if you can grind cloves in a blender, the answer is YES! You can grind cloves in your blender. But you should note that you shouldn’t use a plastic blender to grind your cloves as the clove oil may cause serious damage to your blender. The clove oil is an organic solvent that softens or dissolves a lot of plastics, especially polystyrene.
It is not just enough to know that a blender can grind cloves, we will also let you know of the things that you need to know before and after grinding the cloves. A blender is not the only option for grinding cloves, there are also other options like the food processor and the Mortar and pestle.
In situations where you cannot lay your hands on a blender, you can as well make use of these two options that we have mentioned, such as the food processor and the mortar and pestle. Before you consider grinding cloves in a blender, there are things that you need to be aware of, that is what we will be explaining next.
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What do we need to know before grinding cloves in a blender?
When you get your cloves, ready to use, you don’t just throw them in the blender and start grinding. Neither do you do that with any other spices that you want to grind in the blender. There are things you should know before grinding cloves in a blender.
- Never Use a Plastic blender:
- Consider the structure of the blades of the blender
Never Use a Plastic blender
This is one of the commonest mistakes that first-timers make. Cloves have a way of eating up plastic when you store cloves in it. Your plastic could get ruined. Why this happens is that the oil that is in the cloves is affecting the plastic of your blender.
The thinner the plastic jar, the faster the cloves eat it up. When you are grinding your cloves in a blender, you should make sure that the blender is not made of plastic so that it does not end up damaging the plastic.
Also, using any other plastic grinding tool is not advisable at all. If you want to make use of a mortar and pestle, the granite ones are preferable, this is because the granite will not be affected by the cloves when you store it for a while.
This point is a very important one that you should note, if it is ignored you may likely damage your blender and all your money is gone as well. What could save you is if your blender is still under warranty. If it is still under warranty it could be replaced, but if it is not, you will have to spend extra bucks in getting a new blender.
If you would use a plastic blender, ensure that you use a plastic blender with resin code #2 or #5. This means the plastic is one of high-density polyethylene or polypropylene.
Consider the structure of the blades of the blender
This is another important point that you need to take note of before you grind cloves in your blender. The reason why is because when you are grinding the cloves, you are grinding the dried bud and you are also grinding the nail that is above the clove. It is important that the blades you are using to grind the cloves are not too far apart.
Why it is very important for the blades to not be far apart is so that the blades will be able to crush all the parts of the cloves and grind them properly. In the blender, what does the grinding is the blades, without them, there will be no grinding.
That is why if you are going to be grinding cloves, the blades need to be close enough so that it will be able to make contact with the cloves. When this happens, there will be proper contact between the blades and the cloves and you will have a very good result after grinding.
What you need to know after grinding cloves in a blender
The clove oil may cloud your blender. Grinding cloves with a blender is not really the same as grinding other spices with the blender. This is because the clove usually clouds your blender lid, most times, this happens because the lid is made of plastic.
It is good we bring this to your notice so that when you are about to grind cloves in your blender, you will know what you are about to face. However, despite the fact that the cloves can cloud or stain the lid and jar of your blender, it can be removed by thorough washing.
How to grind cloves into powder with a blender
When you want to add cloves to your food to make it have a better taste or aroma, the best way to go about it is to grind it into powder form. When you grind it into powder form, it will become even easier to add it in your dishes for a better flavor, aroma, and taste.
You should follow these simple steps that will help you to properly grind cloves in powder form.
Dry The cloves
This is the very first thing that you need to do first when you want to grind cloves. Not just cloves, but any spice that needs to be in powder form. The cloves are usually in the shape of a nail, that is why it is necessary that you cut the cloves into smaller pieces so that the blades will be able to blend them into smaller pieces.
A dried spice will easily be ground in the blender. The next thing you need to do is to get the blender ready.
Get the blender ready
At this point, the cloves are already dried and ready to be ground. The next thing you should do is to get the blender ready. Make sure that the blender is plugged into the socket.
When this is done you can now throw the cloves into the blender and start grinding them until you get the result that you want.
It is usually best when you use a blender that is transparent so that you will be able to monitor the cloves until it has reached the exact texture that you want. Remember that you are using it as a spice, so it is important that the cloves are finely ground.
Remove the ground cloves from the blender
At this point, you would have gotten the exact texture of cloves that you need. Then you should stop grinding and then pour out the ground cloves. Take note that when you store cloves in a very light plastic, the cloves are likely to damage the plastic. If you are going to store it in any container, the best thing to do is usually to store it in a metal one that will not be affected by the cloves.
Thoroughly clean the blender
This is the last thing that you need to do when you are done grinding the cloves with the blender. Not just when you are grinding cloves, generally when you are done making use of any kitchen equipment, it is very important that you wash it and keep it clean and also ready for the next use.
If you do not wash it immediately, you are likely to leave residue inside the blender which will not be good at all.
How to remove clove residue after grinding in a blender
One thing that you should know before removing the clove residue from the blender is that the cloves have a very strong residue, you will have to do a very thorough washing to make sure that all the residue removes totally.
There are some necessary components of the blender that you need to wash thoroughly. Let us take you through the steps that you need to follow in removing the residue from the blender. Once you follow it religiously, you will not miss the necessary places that you need to clean thoroughly.
Disassemble the parts
What this does is that it helps you to be able to remove all the residue, especially when it got stuck on the blades or on the container. When you disassemble all the parts you will be able to reach all the hidden places of the blender and you will be able to see all the parts that have the residue on them.
Clean the residue on the blades
While you were grinding the cloves in the blender, the blades of the blender had direct contact with the cloves, it is likely that the cloves will have lots of residue on the blades of the blender, that is why you need to take a close look at the blender and make sure that you wash it thoroughly to remove all the residue from the blades.
Also, when you are washing the blades, do not forget that the blades are very sharp and if you are not careful you may cut yourself, that will not be a very good thing to experience at all. Take note that this blade is best washed with hands, it is not usually advisable to wash it in a dishwasher, it is not dishwasher safe. Make sure that all your washing should be with warm soapy water.
The purpose of making use of warm water is so that the residue can soften a little bit. And then the soap will help to remove any form of dirt from the blades and the other parts of the blender.
Clean the residue on the container and the lid
It is possible that when you are grinding the cloves in the blender, some of the residues might settle on the container and also on the lid of the blender. You should not overlook these two parts thinking that it is only the blades that need to be clean thoroughly.
The quickest way to remove the residue from the container of the blender is to fill the container with the warm soapy water, the purpose of doing this is to soften the residue that must have been stuck on the container and the lid of the blender.
Another hack in removing the residue from the container and lid is to assemble the parts back and then fill the container with warm soapy water, when you are done doing that you can plug it and then turn it on.
As the blades rotate, the container is cleaning. If you do not like this second method of removing the residue from the blender, you can go with the first you will still arrive at the same result.
These few steps we have just shared in removing the residue from the blender will help you a whole lot to get the task done with ease.
Is ground clove the same as clove powder?
There are no two ways about it, it is a straightforward answer. Yes, the Ground clove is the same thing as a clove powder and they can both be substituted for each other. This means you can use ground cloves instead of clove powder and vise versa.
What blenders work great for grinding cloves
When we recommend blenders that will help you to grind your cloves, we recommend the best and the one that is capable of doing the job with no complaints.
The Magic Bullet MB50200
This blender is a high torque blender that comes with a 250-watts motor base which will allow you to make use of different attachments that allows you to switch from blender to food processor.
This is a very good blender that will serve you so well. The stainless-steel build of this blender makes it suitable for you to use to grind cloves in it. You will definitely love to get it.
Pros:
- Durable
- Easy to use
- Stainless-steel build
- Stainless-steel blades
- Beautiful design
Cons:
- It could be so loud
Final Verdict
If what you want to do is to grind cloves, this blender is the one for you. You will definitely enjoy it and you will also love the way it grinds your cloves into powder form. You will definitely love this blender.
Final Words on can you grind cloves in a blender
We said at the beginning of this article that you can grind cloves in this blender without issues. But you need to take note that plastic containers would not be able to hold the cloves for a while. The cloves will certainly damage the plastic container. The best thing to do is to use that made of stainless-steel or metal.