Excellent news: I’ve found a spice grinder that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Last time I posted about spice grinders, I lamented that I couldn’t find one that was effective, easy to clean, and didn’t leak. The simple Krups one works well and doesn’t leak, but cleaning it requires employees. So I got rid of that and got the Kitchenaid, which leaked like crazy.
Now there’s a grinder that does it all–assuming all you want to do is grind, which seems like a fair assumption. It’s the Hamilton Beach Custom Grind Deluxe:
The design is a total ripoff of the Kitchenaid, although it adds superfluous dials and levers. But it doesn’t leak, and it grinds faster than the Kitchenaid. I’ve tried toasted dried chiles and coriander seeds so far, and the Hamilton reduced them both to powder without complaining. The grinding cup is removable and dishwasher-safe. The lid, for some reason, is not dishwasher-safe, but it’s easy to clean in the sink.
And it’s only $25. I put my Kitchenaid out on the corner for free. I’ve come to think that the definition of a good neighborhood is one where you can put things out on the corner for free and they disappear fast, but things don’t disappear equally fast from inside your house.
We used a Cuisinart spice grinder at both Robuchon and Savoy and it worked well for us. Grinds very fast to a fine powder, doesn’t leak, easy to clean.
On the topic of Kitchenaid, I recently bought one of their food processors to replace a Cuisiniart that broke. I HATE it. Too many stupid design flaws to list. I would like to send it back, but I got it from Amazon and it would be too much of a hastle and I would have to pay to re-ship it.
That’s too bad, Neil. What about the newer Cuisinart food processors that responded to the KA design? I wonder if they have the same problems.
We have an old Cuisinart 14-cup, bought at a moving sale for $10. Best bargain ever.
Just from a quick look in the store, it looks like the new Cuisinarts that look more like the kitchenaids also have some of the same problems. Specifially a hollow bowl handle with small openings so that liquids can get in, but it’s basically impossible to clean inside.
Hey, just read an email that Mrs Cook’s in U.Village is collecting unused/unwanted kitchen gadgets to donate to the Windermere Foundation during the month of October…..seems a little odd, but okay….