Do you use a mortar and pestle?

I was just crushing some toasted sesame seeds in my mortar - tedious work to me. As my eyes were wondering around, I saw our antique wooden mortar and pestle by the fireplace and realized how long these things have been around with little change in design. Do you still use one and if not what do you use?

Yup, I use one.

Yup, use it (especially for grinding spices like freshly roasted cumin seeds). Couldn't do without.

Definitely part of my kitchen essentials.

Yup, we've got a few in different sizes. I mostly use them for pulverizing "wet" ingredients like garlic, rehydrated chilies, etc. For dry spices, we've got our "spice grinder" (aka a dedicated Braun coffee grinder) -- whzzz, done

Mark Lipton

We do have one and use it infrequently for ourselves. It's used on a daily basis to crush lysine tablets for one of our cats.

I have a small one that I use for grinding small amounts of spices (I use a Braun coffee grinder when there's more to be ground). I have a large one that I use for some Thai curry pastes, although for most I use a food processor.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Like almost everyone who has answered so far, yes, two sizes. Both marble, one's got about a 2" bowl, the other maybe 6".

Add another yes for me. Have two that I use regularly - for wet items the mortar and pestle made from onyx and for dry items, an antique wood item that I found on a trip through Paris' Flea Market many, many years ago. For larger quantities of dried spices, a dedicated gizmo that was originally a mini-coffee grinder.

Best
Rogov

Yes, I use it for small amounts, larger amounts go into a dedicated small coffee grinder.

Yup, essential tool for my cooking. A molcajete has been on my wish list for awhile as well.

I have 3 but only use 2 of them. The original marble one is too small to be of any real use. I use them all the time.

Yep. Large marble and small ceramic. I used the large one once to grind coffee beans when hurricane Elvis knocked out power in Memphis. I don't recommend them for that task, btw.

I have three: a small marble for dry seeds/spices, a larger wooden one for wetter ingredients (lotsa pesto!), and a Japanese model with a ridged, rough ceramic interior that is specifically designed to quickly grind sesame seeds into paste. It works a treat, so if you do grind a lot of sesame and find it "tedious work", it might be worth looking for. (You probably won't have to look too far - I see them all the time in Asian markets here in the NYC metro area. I can't imagine there's any less call for them where you are in those communities.)

Tom

We have a small mortar and pestle for grinding small quantities. For larger quantities, like making dry rub, we use the spice(coffee) grinder.

We find a small marble one very handy for pinches of this or that, but like others, use a coffee grinder (Braun is the easiest to clean) for larger quantities. I used to use a large mortar for making pesto, but now mix up a large batch every month or so in a food processor to freeze in ice-cube portions. We also have a good-sized mocajete, indispensible for the nine billion Mexican salsas. Despite my pestal-less pesto, it's comforting to see that a 30,000-year-old invention is still useful!

Not any more. My mum barely uses hers now. I think that's quite ironic given I'm the only Asian replying (I think). I use a spice grinder (I now have a dedicated poppyseed one which is great for lots of spices) and a food processor for all my pastes. I know it's not as authentic, but I've kind of moved on - the m&p was heavy to lift, cumbersome to store and it marked the white stone bench when I used it without something under it. Oh, and I was always told it put little bits of stone into your mix, which is partly how the grinding worked. Not sure if that last bit is actually fact though.

One wooden, one stone. I use them fairly regularly, but will resort to an old bladed (electric) grinder for jobs where I'me seeking more of a paste. The Pestle & Mortar give more flexibility when texture is sought.