When it comes to freshness and depth of flavor, ready made ground spices from a jar just can’t compete with freshly ground whole spices. From the moment that a spice is ground it begins to lose flavor. The longer the time between grinding and preparation, the more it loses flavor. By buying whole spices and grinding them, you can get the best flavor and quality.

Traditionally, Indonesian households use stone mortar and pestles to grind whole spices. They are reliable, durable, free-maintenance and widely available. Nothing is too hard, too soft, too small, or too large to grind with the time-tested appliance that has been used from generation to generation for centuries. That’s why even until nowadays when all other cooking tasks are automated with various electric time-savers, most kitchens in Indonesia still have one of these traditional mortar and pestles sitting on the countertop.

However, for those of you who prefer practicality and do not have allegiance to that “primitive” Indonesian tradition of spice grinding, modern spice grinders are the better option. With a press of button, they can perform the same task in a matter of seconds.

Types of Spice Grinder

For grinding a small quantity of spices that most recipes call for, spice grinders are the tool of choice as food processors or blenders are often way too large. Typically those grinders can also be used to grind coffee beans, but of course you will need a separate set unless you want to enjoy cumin or coriander-flavored coffee. Electric spice grinders work with either burrs or blades. Look for burrs if you do a lot of grinding. They last longer and do not produce much heat when grinding.

Blade Grinders
Most inexpensive grinders use a metal blade. The blade cuts up the whole spices, and you control the fineness by how long you let the grinder run. Unfortunately, the resulting spice grounds can be uneven in size and if you are grinding for a longer period of time, there can be significant heat created by the blades. This can degrade the flavor of your final spices.

Burr Grinders
Burr grinders crush the spices between a moving grinding wheel and a non-moving surface. The positioning on the burr is what regulates the ground size, which allows for a more consistent grind.

Popular Spice Grinders in the Market

Not all spice grinders are created equal. Some are of high quality while others have flaws that limit their ability to grind various types and amounts of spices. An example of such flaws is a blade grinder that can not handle small amounts of spices. The spices would either sit untouched below the blades or swirl above their reach. In other cases, the grinders’ blades aren’t sharp enough to swiftly crush hard spices, like pepper seeds.

Below are two most popular spice grinders in the market that are known to be reliable and offer the best value for money.

Both spice grinder models from Krups and KitchenArt mill spices quickly and evenly. The designs are simple, yet highly functional. They are pleasantly quiet but also pulse well, their metal blades spin at very fast speeds and chop spices anywhere from a coarse to a powder fine grind depending on how long you push the button.