I have some herbs which are very hard.They look like tree twigs but are even thicker and are probably similar in hardness or harder.I need to get these herbs to powder.
Can anyone tell what kitchen or hardware tool(preferably cheap) i would need to buy that could crush/reduce them to powder.
A hammer is one option but it might be hard to do inside and i dont think a mortar and pestle would be strong enough because they’re pretty hard
Thankyou
Im using it for medicine.Its called Gan sui-a chinese herb.Its already dried but really hard.If i chop it into small pieces somehow and put into blender will it break the blender.
8 Responses to “Cooking people can you please help.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
it would be helpful to know what kind of herb you are dealing with. For example. rosemary is very twig like but the part you actually would want to grind into powder is the green part, in which case you strip the green from the twig and do the mortar and pestle thing. If it is just the twig I am not familiar with that herb, but it would seem logical if you dried it out first like in the oven at a low temp and then put it in a blender or food processor. You will need to have all of the moisture out to make it into a powder. Try making the big pieces about an inch long before using the blender or food processor.
try the mortar and pestle, or cut into medium sized pieces and use a coffee grinder, I use mine to grind herbs and spices all the time.
is it licorice root. if so its gonna be difficult to grind, so try just steeping it in hot liquid.im not sure what you are using it for though.
Coffee grinder would be my weapon of choice.
They are about $10 to $15. Wal-Mart or your local drug stores have kitchen gadgets that are reasonably priced.
Happy grinding. Remember once you use this for herbs you shouldn’t use it for coffee.
But, if your like me, I like multitask tools. To clean it for grinding coffee take a slice of bread and give it a whirl in the grinder. That should take care of the left over herbs (if any).
Hi. Depending on the herb or spice, there are many ways you can go about it.
Are the herbs fresh, and wet, or are they dry. Do they need to be ground on the outside first, like mace is ground from nutmeg.
If you cannot use a hammer or mortar and pestle, then a used older Krups coffee grinder would do. I use my old one from the late 80’s to shred my herbs, and it works quite well. if they are not dry, I put them in the oven in the cold months and on the shelf in warm months.
Ok. I have a little more detail. I would say soak that puppy for 48 hours to rehydrate it and make it a bit more happy. I have not dealt with that item, but I have heard it needs a bit of soaking to make it workable. If it is not that soft use the coffee grinder, if it is, use a 10-15 dollar food grinder at walmart.They do the trick, and handle the water as opposed to the coffee grinder
hope this helps
Pound it with a mallet
My great uncle who used to sell Ginseng taught me that in order to cut the ginseng root into slices, it would be easier if I dried it in microwave for short period of time. I guess it can be applied here. After that, put them into grinder or blender.
http://www.chineserecipeonline.com
Coffee grinder.a decent one will pulverize almost anything.
buy some new herbs hon