spice mill like a pepper mill?

Unknown

Last night while grinding some juniper berries so as to try Cat's new salmon recipe tonight I got into a real mess using a small coffee grinder. That took 20 minutes and produced a mess and a tired arm! I reloaded that output into a pepper grinder thinking it would refine the results. Texture was such that just created more mess and more stuff to disassemble and clean. Ultimately (way too far into happy hour) I resorted to my trusty mortar and pestle. Will someone enlighten me as for what kind of grinder I should buy which will take care of these do-it-yourself tasks, clean up easily and get me back on schedule for happy hour? Thanks. ^oo^~

Nature Boy

one feral kat,
Mortar and pestals are trusty like you mentioned. We have a mini food processor I use for large batches of rubs. When I make single portions, I always use my trusty mortar/pestal. It really does a nice job, and I think does something special by pressing the spices together with each other while you work out your frustrations with a heavy pounding motion.[p]IMO sometimes the old manual way is best.[p]NB

Grillin' Bill

Nature Boy,
Another method is to use an old coffee bean grinder. I'm talking the electric kind not the manual type. I have an old one that I use all the time to grind peppercorns, coriander seeds, juniper berries, sea salt, Bay leaves etc. works great. Of coarse this grinder is never used for coffee again. Works for me.[p]Grillin Bill

Cat

one feral kat,[p]Sorry the recipe cut into happy hour! The juniper berries I get are pretty dried out, & I store them in the freezer; they went straight from there to the coffee grinder & turned into powder in a few seconds.[p]I agree with NB. A mortar & pestle is best for softer stuff.[p]Hope this experience won't discourage you from trying the salmon. One caveat: the rub is a bit salty, and I sprinkled it on a little too heavily in places. Taste it first so you can decide how much to use. [p]Cathy

Mike Oelrich

Howdy Nature Boy,[p] This thing (or one of its big brothers) is high on my list of kitchen toys to get someday:[p]http://www.sumeet.net/multigrindchut.html[p] However, since I signed up for a dive trip in December, my underwater photography toy list has taken precedence again. So many toys, so little time . . .[p]MikeO
[ul][li]Sumeet Multigrind[/ul]

Nature Boy

Grillin Bill,
I have done it a few times in mine and it works fairly well. Mine is just a basic model where you adjust the grind by how long you grind the stuff. Problem I have is that some of the stuff is reduced to powder and some end up in big chunks. [p]I do use it a bunch for corriander seeds for small batches of fish rub.[p]Thanks
NB

Nature Boy

Wassup Mike,
Looks pretty cool! I don't even want to see the price....but like you, it will be a while for that one. [p]I still need to get several gadgets to be anywhere near being in your league!![p]Cheers!
NB

JimW

Nature Boy,
The electric coffee grinder works great. To get rid of the big chunks, you can shake the grinder while it's doing its thing. That works like a charm. Also I use a piece of kind of dry bread to clean it up. Just put it in the grinder and pulse it a few times.
JimW

Nature Boy

JimW,
Great tip on the bread and the shaking. Do purshiate!
NB

Unknown

Cat, oh that didn't hold me back from trying your recipe and I rubbed a beautiful slab of salmon first thing this morning so as to go the 12 hour distance! Have the adler ready and will fire up humpty later this eve. Your idea about freezing those make sense and that surely would have solved the gooey problem I encountered. As for too much salt, well, that's too late as I followed your directions to the T. Let you know tomorrow! ^oo^~

Cat

one feral kat,[p]The salt didn't affect the interior very much (although I only fridged it for 4 hours). The excess was only in a few spots on the outside, mostly on the edges, & it was easily scraped off after cooking.[p]Cathy

Sundown

Grillin Bill,
I've been using a small bean grinder and one day whilst I was cussin' and funin' cleaning it my daughter suggested I toss in a piece of bread to clena it...duh!
The crusty breads work best
When the teacher becomes the student[p]Carey

BD

MikeO,[p]it has a strange egg-like quality to it. I like the sound of it ! Toys, gotta love 'em ![p]

KennyG

MikeO,[p]Thanks for the link on this one!! This is exactly what I've been looking for and I can justify it to the wife since we need a new coffee grinder anyway hehehe[p]K~G

Unknown

Cat, well, going the full 12 hours probably was a bad idea. I'm sure it was the 2 T of kosher salt that did it, but when I unwrapped the salmon it was sitting in pools of water obviously drawn out of the fish. It tasted fine, but was a bit too dry for our tastes. The juniper berries have a unique favor and sort of "outdooresy" to coin a term! I'll do the recipe again though this time I'll go for just 4 hours. Thanks for your help! ^oo^~

RhumAndJerk

Nature Boy,
I definitely agree with you and Cat that it is hard to beat the manual method. About a month ago I purchased an electric coffee grinder, which I have yet to take out of the box. I normally use the standard white marble mortar and pestle, but for bigger jobs I use a Molcajete. [p]A Molecajete is a Mayan Lava rock Mortar and Pestle. From what I have heard it is the only proper tool to use to make Guacamole. It is also hard enough to grind dry rice. [p]By the way, I pulled out the mortar and pestle last night and built a not-so-ordinary curry paste. When the recipe is complete, I will post it.[p]Happy Grinding,
RhumAndJerk[p]
[ul][li]A Molcajete Mortar and Pestle[/ul]

KennyG

RhumAndJerk,[p]On my recent vaca to New Mexico, we found a great little Mexican restaurant whose specialty of the house was fresh guacamole prepared at your table. They used a molecajete and it sure does make a difference.[p]K~G