A question about a recipe: Divine gluten free chocolate cookies. No seriously.

Sam1148 added 7 months ago

Yes you can do both...

But here's a trick I use for a coffee grinder. "They" (whoever they are) say not to use coffee grinder for spices. That's because they're very hard to clean.

To clean them after grinding spices, use a couple of tablespoons of raw rice, and a tsp of baking soda. Grind it to a paste..that will collect all the smell of the spices. You might need to repeat a couple of time, but it's cheaper than having a dedicated spice grinder/coffee grinder.

YMMV depending on the blade, and composition of your grinder tho. Worth a try.
(and you'd probably want to do it before grinding spices to remove the coffee smell--but heck, a little cinnamon back note in a coffee grind might be very good).

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ChefOno added 7 months ago

Cinnamon is the one spice I don't grind myself. When it's commercially processed, they run it through a *very* fine sieve (60-mesh to be precise). Otherwise it feels dry and gritty and tastes woody. In cookies though, maybe it won't matter so much?

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sexyLAMBCHOPx added 7 months ago

It worked grinding in my mini processor but had to use an entire bottle for them to become truly ground. I will put the extra in a spice jar. Thanks for the help.

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susan g added 7 months ago

In my meager experience grinding whole sweet spices, a gentle pan roast until they are fragrant seems to make a difference in grindability.

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Chris is a trusted source on General Cooking

added 7 months ago

I have some big chunks of cinnamon, and I grind them up all the time. ChefOno is right that it doesn't get as fine as commercially processed cinnamon, but in some recipes, that texture is an enhancement. I've made a Dutch ontbijtkoek (a breakfast spice cake) with my ground cinnamon that surpasses anything I ever ate in the Netherlands--at least I think so--largely because of the more coarsely ground spices. Besides grinding it electrically by itself, I keep cinnamon, cloves and allspice in a little hand grinder (like a pepper mill) so I can add a little at will.

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sexyLAMBCHOPx added 7 months ago

Hmm, found my ground cinnamon like the jack ass I am. But good to know I could swing it with the sticks, fml... : )

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susan g added 7 months ago

...smell the bottled vs the home ground -- what's the verdict?

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sexyLAMBCHOPx added 7 months ago

My sticks werent Saigon, so I would say bottled. But there was NO taste difference or textual issues and plan on using what I have now at home.

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