Topic: Grounding spices?

[outatime]

Hi All

First real post since I have joined.  I am a little confused as to what consistancy grinding spices need to be. 

I used my Magic Bullet today as I read people use coffee grinders to grind with so I test with coriander seeds and it didn't grind down to a powder but more of what looks like sawdust and I wanted to make sure thats ok or if it would cause a problem.

What do you think?   

Thanks

Stuart

[Peripatetic Phil]

I wouldn't normally bother to grind my own, unless (a) the recipe called for "freshly ground", or (b) I had no pre-ground but I did have seeds.  That said, I have just tried grinding coriander seed in a Kenwood coffee grinder, grinding for periods of 15 seconds and then resting the grinder so as not to overheat it.  After 15 seconds, I had coarse sawdust; after two minutes, I could see no further improvement (from 1:45, that is), so stopped at that point.  The resulting ground spice was slightly coarser than my pre-ground coriander, but it is possible that commercial spice grinders also sieve as the final stage to remove any remaining husk.  I would have no reservations about using this after 2 minutes of grinding in lieu of pre-ground coriander, and the smell released by the essential oils during the grinding process really made the freshly ground version seem more appetising.

** Phil.