Coffee grinders?

[Cecilia]

I have a question about coffee grinders. I got one for christmas and I love it. I wanted to use it to make dressings and small amounts of macadamia cream etc, however reading the instructions it said to never use liquid in the grinder as it could destroy the motor. I know people here use liquid in their coffee grinders. So my question is if yours is the same as mine? I'm not sure what make mine is, but it looks similar to this Braun model

http://www.braun.com/de/products/fooddrink/breakfast/coffeemills/models/ksm2whi.ImageJPG.294.431.100.jpg

[Sheryl]

I never do liquid, but I occasionally do pastes (that are ground herbs and would have some liquid in them). I do occasionally rinse with water though and pour out quickly. I personally wouldn't grind liquids in mine. Maybe some do though.

Cheers,
Sheryl

[Tirza]

You cannot use liquids in that type of coffee grinder. Its motor is not protected by a seal against liquids. Even with moist things that aren't actually liquid, it will get gunk in some of those fine little cracks which would breed germs as well since you couldn't wash it properly.

For pates, cremes, etc. in small amounts, you have to do them in your blender or food processor. Depending on what kind of blender you have, sometimes they have a mini jar you can get that works really well. I know Oster has one, maybe others do too.

Otherwise, for those smaller jobs you might consider getting a bullet blender (Tribest, Magic Bullet, Mr/Mrs Kitchen, lots of them around. You see them advertised on late night informercials). I have one of them and use it every day for all kinds of small jobs from flax seeds to garlic and onions and cremes.

If you are worried about the coffee grinder going to waste, maybe someone in your circle of family or friends could use it. Or if you would feel awkward or the giver might feel insulted, just keep it and use it for flax seed and any other dry thing.

But I sure wouldn't use it for anything moist, or wash it out. Wipe only.

[Cecilia]

Thanks. I haven't been using liquid in it as I was worried it would break. I use it all the time for dry stuff, so it won't go to waste. I was just curious as others use their with liquid. I've been planning on buying some sort of small blender for liquids, I just wanted to make sure I couldn't use my coffee grinder instead.

[rawpriestess]

I have two small coffee grinders, one for sweet spices, cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, etc, one for savory spices, cayenne, cumin, chili, etc.


they work fine, I also have a Bamix, hand held blender, and use the mini food processor thingy for small things, but it has a small dry container, that you can emerse in water if you wish, I use this for herbs, as they get wet, and garlic, ginger things like that, to make a baby batch of something.

I have lots of gadgets, and although I love them all, if I had to pick only one, it would be my Bamix, as it has several blade attachments, and can do almost anything, with super easy cleanup.

http://www.bamix.com/english/index.htm

the one I use for herbs is the processor, but the Slicesy is excellent as a mini food processor, grates, slices, etc, I use mine all the time, and the blender part, makes anything a high speed blender makes and is super easy to clean, YES, I love this baby machine. easy to take on the road too.

[stiletto]

I didn't know you couldn't put liquid in coffee grinders. I always buy mine at garage sales and have never seen a manual. I always make my salad dressings in there with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, fresh herbs, ginger and so forth. So far there haven't been any problems.

[Tirza]

Wow, Stiletto
One of the main things that worried me about that was getting a shock since the thing isn't sealed. EEK

[fuzzywater]

I'm trying to remember the manual for my Kitchen Aid coffee/spice grinder... it's fairly unique since the base is sealed and the grinder actually comes off and apart. It's got a stainless steel base and a polycarbonate cover. In theory, I believe you could do liquidy things in it (you can take off the grinder part and stick both parts in the dishwasher) but I've never tried it.

http://www.kitchenaid.com/catalog/product.jsp?src=Coffee+Mills+&+Grinders&cat=227&prod=413

I love this little thing!