Cuisinart Style Collection Electric Spice & Nut Grinder | Midnight Grey | SG21U

Product Information

Electric spice grinders typically work by using a spinning blade to pulverize whole spices and herbs into powder. Manual grinders use a ceramic or metal (usually carbon or stainless steel) mechanism to crush spices, salt, and pepper to the desired grind. Unlike other grinders, which can be obnoxiously loud, the Krups Silent Vortex Electric Grinder was designed with quiet in mind. If you’re an early morning cook or need something that gets the job done during a child’s afternoon nap, this model from Krups is probably the best choice for you. It comes equipped with patent-pending Vortex Spin Technology that helps pull ingredients into its blades for grinding that’s as quiet as it is efficient. It has a one-touch button that you can hold down for continuous grinding or tap to pulse.

Although there aren’t any programmed settings that allow you to control grind size, the grinder comes with a clear lid that allows you to see what you’re doing so you can stop grinding when your spices reach the desired fineness. Out of all the best spice grinders on the list, the Kuhn Rikon may also be the easiest option to clean. Instead of hand washing or putting it through the dishwasher, all you have to do is add some coarse salt to the chamber and grind it to clean the blades.KitchenAid Blade Coffee and Spice Grinder: This comes equipped with two bowls with different blades, one for spices with a winged blade and one for coffee with a straight blade. The one for coffee performed poorly, leaving lots of large and unevenly processed cumin seeds. The spice bowl performs better, but only slightly. It's slow to grind, has an uneven grind, low capacity, and the opaque lid makes it difficult to see inside the bowl to monitor the grinding process. The spice bowl performed better with 20 grams of spices than with 10, but it can't do much more than that, resulting in a limited sweet spot where it grinds well. Spice gets under the removable cup, where the ridged surface makes it difficult to clean. Lindsay Boyers is a certified holistic nutritionist with extensive nutrition knowledge and cooking experience. She’s developed over 1,000 original recipes and is constantly on a mission to find the best kitchen gadgets, at the best prices, to help make life in the kitchen more streamlined and efficient. With many appliances, we often want to know their maximum capacity, but when it comes to spice grinders, minimum capacity is an important piece of information, too. If you're only planning to grind a teaspoon or so at a time, you'll want to make sure your grinder can manage such a small amount. It's also important to differentiate between a grinder you can use for larger spices such as nutmeg versus something finer like peppercorns or rosemary. The design of this grinder makes it an excellent choice for anyone with manual dexterity problems, especially since, instead of pressing down on an on/off button, you can activate the motor by pushing down on the entire lid instead. Many spice grinders are also advertised as coffee grinders, but make sure the manufacturer explicitly states that it is suitable for that use. Some grinders are specifically designed only for spices and might not deliver the ideal grind for coffee. A few models on this list come with multiple bowls that can be swapped out for coffee, spices, and/or wet ingredients, like fresh herbs, onions, and garlic.

The Secura also brings power in a compact, counter-friendly size. The 200-watt motor can easily handle most spices as well as larger items like nuts and coffee beans, while the built-in overheat protection extends its lifespan so you can keep it around for a while. Lifting the lid releases a visible twine of vapour, the unfolding presence of aromatic oils; you feel yourself an alchemist, if not a demigod. In addition to blasphemous urges, the machine supplies two grinding bowls with airtight lids, doubling as storage. Good for coffee beans or extra spice mix. (I no longer store mine in unlabelled baggies, sniffed at indiscriminately, a hapless dealer high on his own asafoetida.) It’s brilliant at wet rubs and pastes, too – messing chilli, garlic and galangal with fish sauce takes no time. And the dishwashable brushed metal doesn’t taint or transfer smells. Hamilton Beach Fresh Grind Coffee Grinder: This model has a low capacity of only 35 to 45 milliliters, depending on what spice you are blending. The activation button is hard to hold down and the plastic parts in the grinder bowl easily became clogged with spices. The lid fits on very tightly and it’s tough to remove, leading you to spill upon opening.Grinding whole cloves and allspice should generally not be done in any grinder with plastic parts, as the oils tend to degrade and cloud the plastic. Instead, use a traditional mortar and pestle to crush these spices into a fine powder. What to Look For in a Spice Grinder Capacity