I need help!

I am tired of using a coffee grinder to grind the chia seeds. It is hard to clean and creates too much waste. I've tried a mortar but the chia seeds are so small that they are like water and don't get crashed.

Are there any tricks?

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I need help!
>
> I am tired of using a coffee grinder to grind the
> chia seeds. It is hard to clean and creates too
> much waste. I've tried a mortar but the chia seeds
> are so small that they are like water and don't
> get crashed.
>
> Are there any tricks?

You just need a better grinder. IMO, this one's oval shape is what makes it a standout for grinding the little seeds. It's easy to clean, not wasteful, and cheap. I use mine every day.

[www.amazon.com]

I have one like that

How about this one (with burrs as opposed to blades)?

[www.amazon.com]

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have one like that




If you have one like that but not that exact one it's a different story. Even the same brand's, (Krupp). round grinder doesn't work well at all on the small seeds in my experience.



>
> How about this one (with burrs as opposed to
> blades)


>
> [www.amazon.com]
> er/dp/B001804CLY/ref=sr_1_3


That's a good bet if you want to find out how really bad cheap ass burr grinders work.

well, thanks. I have two +1500 burr grinders. But I would not use them for high humidity seeds that form a paste. The cheap hand grinder may work if I purge a little to clean the old stuff every time I use use it. There isn't much room for stuff to get trapped. The only thing is that it is manual. But I think I already have a peppercorn battery powered motorized grinder. All I have to do is find it and try it.

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well, thanks. I have two +1500 burr grinders. But
> I would not use them for high humidity seeds that
> form a paste. The cheap hand grinder may work if I
> purge a little to clean the old stuff every time I
> use use it. There isn't much room for stuff to get
> trapped. The only thing is that it is manual. But
> I think I already have a peppercorn battery
> powered motorized grinder. All I have to do is
> find it and try it.


I just did some experimenting. I tested both a VitaMix regular and a grain carafe. They both worked fine and fast for 1/4 C. chia seeds. Oddly, as is usual in my experiences, the wet carafe gave a finer and much more regular texture than the grain carafe who's blunt blades did more batting the seeds around than crushing them.(I don't like the VitaMix grain carafe at all and almost never use it because it sucks at just about everything, IMO.)

I also tested a few T. of chia seeds in my 8 c. honking Thai granite mortar and pestle. No need to pound chia seeds with this set. Just spiral grind the seeds up and down the sides for two minutes and the work is over with hardly any chance of oxidation and it's good for the wrist and hand muscles. Since that was so easy I went ahead and tried some flax seeds in it too. They required a bit of pounding, though, due to their shape but still an easy and fast job.

Another easy alternative is to use a cheap ghetto blender from a resale shop, remove the carafe from the base/blade set and screw in an upside down canning jar with your chia seeds in it. This is the old fashioned way of getting such things as small amounts of seeds and nuts ground. You can then put the canning jars lid back on it when you are done for storage and you don't have any mess to clean up at all.


So, even though I have all these various tools that get the job done I still will be using my little Krupps oval grinder. It's just too easy, fast, and small to bother messing with the other stuff.

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well, thanks. I have two +1500 burr grinders. But
> I would not use them for high humidity seeds that
> form a paste. The cheap hand grinder may work if I
> purge a little to clean the old stuff every time I
> use use it. There isn't much room for stuff to get
> trapped. The only thing is that it is manual. But
> I think I already have a peppercorn battery
> powered motorized grinder. All I have to do is
> find it and try it.


One thing it sounds like you are forgetting with these cheap Chinese grinders - cleaning the seed oil off of tight spaces on the internal plastic surfaces. That would not be fun and you don't want rancid oil residue building up in there.

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I need help!
>
> I am tired of using a coffee grinder to grind the
> chia seeds. It is hard to clean and creates too
> much waste. I've tried a mortar but the chia seeds
> are so small that they are like water and don't
> get crashed.
>
> Are there any tricks?

Why are you grinding chia seeds? They're not like flax! You don't have to grind them at all. They plump up when you soak them.

banana who

maybe panchito doesnt want to soak them and just grind them for a paste

I toss chia seeds on salads. I don't bother soaking things before hand. If I soak them, they clump together on a heavy ball. I would rather crash the seeds the easiest way possible (cleaning, etc).

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I would rather
> crash the seeds the easiest way possible
> (cleaning, etc).

Me, too, unless I'm not going to use them immediately and they'll have time to oxidize.

I just also want to say that although I don't use them for seeds much I wouldn't be without my big granite mortar and pestle. Every kitchen should have at least that, IMO, even if you just need some greens bruised.

Don't bother with the sets which are made of porous stone or ceramic ones as they are pretty useless for most things and the granite ones do even the things the other's are useful for better.

With practice with the granite ones anyone can get the exact and even sized grind for whatever you're going for in both dry and wet ingredients.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2014 02:28PM by SueZ.

you know that granite is porous and that stones can have toxic metals, right? What do you think of the stainless ones?

[www.amazon.com]

I think chia digests better when it's been dissolved in water or eaten with something water-rich.

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> you know that granite is porous and that stones
> can have toxic metals, right?

I'm not worried about the porosity or composition of them at all. Granite vs. chia seeds = chia seeds busted and granite oiled.

What do you think of
> the stainless ones?
>
> [www.amazon.com]
> ss-Steel/dp/B00BWJ1TAI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397
> 666109&sr=8-1&keywords=heavy+stainless+steel+morta
> r

Sure, and don't forget to wear your safety glasses. If you make a YouTube video of busting chia seeds down in that thing it will probably go viral. Better block the comments though. Ha ha ha.

I'm not worried about the porosity or composition of them at all. Granite vs. chia seeds = chia seeds busted and granite oiled.

la_veronique Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> banana who
>
> maybe panchito doesnt want to soak them and just
> grind them for a paste


I never heard of people eating chia as is. I thought you always soaked them first but in any case, I do believe they would be like poppy seeds and you could just eat them. They are very small and unlike flax, do not need to be broken down in order to be assimilated by the body. From what I understand, of course.

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I need help!

Was that enough help or have you given up on your chia seed dilemma?