No doubt that spices add a delicious taste to our meals but they can’t make that happen on their own until they are ground by humans.
There are several ways through which we can grind our spices. You can decide to make use of your mortar and pestle, spice grinder, coffee grinder, food processors and so on. however, we are focusing on how to grind spices using a food processor.
Before, I proceed; here are some examples of spices: turmeric, red pepper, cinnamons, tomatoes, chilli peppers, hot peppers. Herbs include basil, bay leaf, celery seed, chives, cilantro, dill, fennel, lemongrass, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme and many more.
You can’t just wake up and start grinding your spices in a food processor simply because you just want to. There are steps you need to check out before you can grind.
These steps may seem easy to you, but care must be taken if you want to get a fine ground spice like a turmeric or cinnamon stick.
Table of Contents
How to grind spices in food processor
Depending on the kind of spice you are intending to grind in a food processor. For instance, are you trying to grind turmeric in a food processor?
The first thing you need to do is to follow this instruction below:
Step 1: Break your spices e.g turmeric into small pieces so that it will dry up totally
Break turmeric into small pieces so that it will dry completely. Get your turmeric and break it or them down into smaller pieces in order to allow them to dry completely.
Step 2: Place the pieces on a plate and cover with mesh to keep dust from settling
Then come up with the dried pieces and place them on a plate and cover with mesh so that dust will not settle on them
Step 3: Sundry until the turmeric is crisp
The next step is for you to sundry the turmeric until it becomes crisp, after the sun drying, you can now grind the turmeric in a food processor.
Step 4: Once dry, grind the turmeric in a food processor
Remember, this same routine can be used to grind other dry spices.
Step 5: Strain the powder
Put large pieces of your spice back in the food processor and grind further.
Keep grinding until it turns into powder and then strains the powder by putting the larger pieces of turmeric back into the food processor.
Step 6: Remember that you need a special type of food processor to grind your spice
Check out these food processors below. They are surely multipurpose as they come in handy and will be a good addition to your kitchen.
KitchenAid KFP1466CU 14-Cup Food
Kitchen Aid food processors are ultimate and customers are always happy to use them. If you join the party there is no doubt you are going to enjoy it.
When it comes to good performance, KitchenAid models will not leave you disappointed and this claim has been confirmed from the customer reviews over the years.
You can check some of the features here
- This machine, in particular, is an industry’s First hands-free commercial-style.
- It is made of a dicing kit that can slice and then dices your ingredients for easy processing;
- It comes with a Feed tube type that is medium in size.
- The machine is nice to use as it is made of externally adjustable ExactSlice System that enables optimized speeds, and an external lever that allows you to go from thick to thin with one slide of the lever any moment in time.
- The machine is made of high, low and pulse speed options that are made to enable you to accurately and properly handle both soft or hard ingredients with the touch of a button.
- The food processor comes with a 2-in-1 Feed Tube that allows you to use either the large or narrower opening during continuous slicing or shredding and is depending on the size of the ingredients.
- The food processor includes 14-Cup Work Bowl, 4-Cup Work Bowl, Lid with Feed Tube, Lid without Feed Tube, Adjustable Slicing Disc, Reversible Shredding Disc, Multipurpose Blade, Multipurpose Blade for 4-Cup Work Bowl, Dough Blade, Dicing Kit, Clean Out Tool, Storage Case.
Customer ratings by feature
- Easy to clean – 4.4 stars
- Easy to use – 4.3 stars
Cuisinart DFP-14CPY Custom 14 Food Processor
Cuisinart product is another one I am not always hesitated to recommend to people and the reason is that over the years, they have proven that they are capable of.
If you are really serious about getting yourself one of the best food processors in the world, try this very model and come back later to thank me.
Here are the invincible features that separate it from the rest of the food processors:
- This is a food processor that comes with an Extra-large Feed tube that slices whole fruits and vegetables in seconds
- It is designed to be powerful enough to Knead bread dough with ease and full convenience and control
- It comes with 14-Cup work bowl that will surely accommodate your ingredients batch by batch.
- It is endowed with Full 5-year motor warranty so that your cash is safe.
- The machine is easy to use and clean, with a BPA free mechanism.
- It should be noted that Shredding and slicing blades are not adjustable.
Customer ratings by feature
Durability – 5.0 stars
Storage Capacity – 5.0 stars
Quality of material – 4.8 stars
Safety Features – 4.5 stars
Frequently asked questions on using food processors to grind spices
Can you use a blender to grind spices
The best tools I recommend for people to grind whole spices in mortar and pestle or spice grinder. It is only when there is no choice than to grind with other alternatives that I recommend any machine different from them.
A blender blade is not originally developed to grind spices as effective as the mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Except in the case of a Nutribullet blender that may get close to finest comparable with the use of mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind a whole spice.
How to Grind Spices Without a grinder
I have some set of ways you can grind spices without a grinder. This is very important should in case you are on a tight budget and still have to grind your spices.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a spice grinder, food processor or coffee grinder.
There are always alternative to ways through which we get things done. The absent grinder, in this case, is the electric grinder rather than the manual or mortar and pestle, so it should be noted.
Mortar and Pestle
Traditionally speaking, mortar and pestles have been our friend centuries after centuries just like dogs are to humans—good friends. You can grind your spices without an electric grinder and one of the first solutions is the use of mortar and grinder.
Place the spice in the mortar batch by batch and in a moderate quantity depending on the size of the mortar. Start crushing the ingredients with the pestle continuously until the dried spices are ground into powder. After the crushing into powder, get a clean bowl and spoon.
Transfer the ground spice into the clean bowl using the clean spoon. Repeat the same step batches by batches until you completely grind the entire ingredients.
Microplane Grating
Grating spices such as cinnamon with a hand grater is possible when there is no electric grinder. You can easily get yourself a Microplane grater to do the work for you.
How do you go about grinding your cinnamon spice using a grater? It is by holding the grate upward and pressing the head down against a plate.
The next step is to start grating the cinnamon stick by moving your hand upward and downward until you completely grate it.
However, do not expect a complete powder ground in this method. Remember, half bread is better than none.
That’s exactly what you have just done because you have no choice. Don’t forget to transfer the ground cinnamon into a fresh new and neat plate using a spatula or spoon.
Pepper Mill
Using pepper mill to grind spices in the absence of an electric grinder is another ideal alternative. All you need to do to achieve this is to unscrew the empty pepper mill and then remove it.
Clean both the inside and outside of the pepper mill with a clean rag after you must have washed it using soap, water and detergent and then pour your spice into it in small quantity.
Remember, larger spices are not groundable in a pepper mill, so, therefore, you will need to cut them into smaller sizes accommodative by the mill grinder.
The next step is for you to secure the pepper mill back on, and then hold the pepper mill over the food you intend to prepare and twist the top to start the grinding mechanism. Grind your desired spice until you are satisfied.
Is it better to grind spices in mortar and pestle or food processor
Mortar and pestle are great tools since centuries but some people still prefer electric appliances such as coffee grinder to grind their spices because they are cheap enough and as well come in multiple choices. For instance, the one made for the coffee bean.
Electric grinders do excellent jobs even on spices such as cinnamon sticks that can be very hard. Mortar and pestle are the best tools I chose to grind hard spices if you have the time and energy and the reason why I prefer it is that, the density at wish the pestle matches the ingredients is so high that it pulverizes them well and fine.
As in the case of food processors, the blades are set too high that they can actually hit the spices they are to grind on the bottom.
Mortar and pestle are the better if you need the spices to come out with their flavour and health benefits.
How to grind spices with mortar and pestle
It is a tradition act to grind and store your spices using mortar and pestle. For many centuries back, our mothers and grandmothers have been into the habit of pulverizing their food substances using mortar and pestle and have been working well with them.
They grind whole spices such as cloves, star anise, melon, cardamom, and many more using this simple tool known as mortar and pestle to release the fresh flavour of spices.
For this reason, let us see how we can grind our spices using mortar and pestle.
- You can easily crush the varieties of spices or ingredient such as whole spices, herbs, spice leaves, spice seeds, nuts, tomatoes, peppers, or salt in a mortar and pestle. This is easier if you are conversant with the basic techniques of grinding, crushing or bashing as it is a fact that every technique results in a different consistency. Grinding will give you fine texture, while bashing or crushing helps to release the flavour of your spices. That’s why I love grinding and crushing small amount of spices in mortar and pestle.
- Fill your mortar with some small amount of the spices in the capacity of 1/3rd of it. if you allow the spice more than this, it will be difficult for you to conveniently grind it. So, after this step, the next is to start grinding as much as you need the flavour.
- If you are grinding a whole spice such as a cinnamon stick or nutmeg, you must, first of all, crush them before grinding. You must learn the technique of grinding and crushing to do better here. This will aid in the quick release of fantastic flavours of the spice.
- Take for instance you are to grind herbs to add to your meal or dish, crush them slightly with the pestle in the mortar. All you need to achieve this is to roll the pestle gently over the ingredients so that they burst and liberate fresh flavours.
- If your choice is to make a paste, you can, first of all, grind the entire dry ingredients in the mortar and then add water or any liquid of your choice to the ground ingredient, ensure you add the liquid in batches.
- After the whole grinding and crushing, you can now clean your mortar and pestle. This is a quick trick to clean your mortar and pestle: empty the mortar of the ingredients and then come with clean water to rinse it thoroughly. If you are afraid that the flavour of previously ground spices could remain in it, ensure you wash it several times until the flavour is removed. Do not wash mortar and pestle with soap and water as it adapts to the smell of the soap and therefore spoils the taste and flavour of your food items.
Final words on How To Grind Spices In Food Processor
There are lots of means through which we can grind our spices, and using the traditional ways explained above is one of them.
However, this modern-day era, our schedule is too much, and we may want to get things done very fast. Choosing a food processor to grind your spices seem to be the most ideal thing to do when you do not have choices of fast spice grinders to use but a food processor is readily available.
Have you tried using a food processor to grind your spices before? Share how it went with us.