Spice or Coffee Grinder Question

Edrof

Edrof

Edrof

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Joined
16 Nov 2009
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I'm really into fennel seeds with porky stuff at the mo, but I need to find a better way to grind them as my pestle & mortar is incompatible with my dodgy elbow. I've searched online, but there doesn't seem to be anything specific.

Has anyone got any suggestions for grinding the fennel seeds? Preferably something electronic but I don't mind a hand cranked sort of thing. Ive never had a coffee grinder...are they robust enough for this? It's getting to be sausage roll season and I need my fennel seeds!
 
Have you tried an old pepper mill?
I made an awsome one by attaching a powerdrill to the top of an old mill, so much pepper so fast LOL!
 
i've got a turkish spice grinder i picked up in, erm, Turkey - use it for pepper but they can be used for spices (or coffee) if you wanted. There seems to be a few floating around on that internet thing.
 
I've got the Andrew James coffee/spice grinder from Amazon. Works pretty well. I agree that fennel seeds are awesome. Try them in a pork (sauage meet) ragu - delicious! Think I got that from Jamies 30 minute meals.
 
Edrof said:
That's a thought. I could pick one up super-cheap as an experiment (sans drill!). Cheers!
Click to expand...

argos do uber cheap corded drills, I bought one when I needed to stick some wall plugs in a ceiling and it worked great the trigger was also pressure sensitive and not just on/off.
I think it was about £14 or something silly cheap, The one that also has the hammer drill setting.

I don't know much about spice grinders but something like a porlex hand grinder with ceramic burrs designed for cofee should do just as good a job as a pestle and mortar
 
This is what I use when I can't be bothered to use the pestle and mortar - www.amazon.co.uk/Krups-Twin-Blade-Coffee-Mill/dp/B00004SPEU

I bought it off the back of numerous positive reviews. It's got a powerful motor and I can personally attest to it making light work of Cinnamon sticks, Star Anise, Coriander seeds... well, everythiong I've thrown at it so far. There are a few minor annoyances such as the spice chamber (which is larger than most spice grinders) being non removable... which makes it a little awkward to clean (grinding uncooked rice will help clean and remove lingering odours). And, this really very minor but the way the lead sticks out of the side of the main body bugs me as it makes it more suceptable to damage.

All in all though, it's a very solid bit of kit and very good for the price.


On little side note, always clean the grinder after grinding Coriander seeds as their residue can corrode metal.
 
I picked up one from Robert Dyas a while back. It might have been a James Martin one (it was on offer). It wasn't much more than £20 and does a decent job. There are loads out there. Unless you're wanting to grind things on an industrial scale I wouldn't worry too much about the particular one that you buy.
 
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