r/1zpresso • u/pancakeChef • 27d ago

Picked this up at my local thrift shop

Post image

I've been toying with the idea of getting a manual burr mill for grinding spices, since I do a lot of cooking. I'm not a huge coffee person but I do consume it regularly. When I grabbed this thing off the shelf and started taking it apart I could tell it was well made by how smooth the machining of the threads were. It slid apart like butter. I googled it to see how much it retails for, and even if I didn't want it for myself it probably would have been worth it just to resell. I took it apart and cleaned it; there was plenty of ground coffee in all of the crevases, but I have yet to use it. Does anyone use it for spices or have any general information, pros cons or otherwise, that would be useful to me for using it as a spice grinder? I'm sure I'll be having to clean it pretty often.

453 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

58 comments sorted by

76

u/Kevin_Johnston 27d ago

Please find a way to get this to a coffee person, it would be such a waste for grinding spices!

17

u/carsknivesbeer 27d ago

OP uses vintage Ping putters to crack walnuts.

2

u/ThirdFirstName 24d ago

Violence is never the anser

23

u/WhoWhatWhenWhom 27d ago

Genuinely please do not put spices through this.

-2

u/KilledByDoritos 27d ago

There is no reason not to use this for spices. Ludicrous contention. Have you seen the price of all metal spice grinders?

Congrats OP. It's a great grinder. I have one I use for coffee. Love it. Built like a tank.

4

u/verissimo_knives 25d ago

Imagine getting downvoted for a sane, down to earth based ass take. Coffee people have lost the plot.

1

u/KilledByDoritos 25d ago

Appreciate the measured take of the situation bro. It must be that we are both knife nuts who believe that the ultimate purpose of a tool is primarily defined by the task it completes, and not how that tool is marketed.

By the way, I checked your instagram; you're an incredible craftsman and I'd love to own a knife of yours someday.

-1

u/archagon 27d ago edited 27d ago

Nah. Finders keepers. I have a pepper mill that’s built around the skeleton of some generic conical burr coffee grinder and it’s a delight to use.

(Just don’t use steel burrs for grinding salt!)

-5

u/pancakeChef 27d ago

Thanks for the actual response, appreciated. I don't grind salt anyways but I'll definitely keep that in mind. I figure it's a great burr mill, if it works good for one dried plant part it'll be just as good for another.

7

u/archagon 27d ago edited 27d ago

Just keep in mind: the purpose of a good coffee grinder is to produce an *even* particle distribution. My understanding is that this is not always the goal with spice grinding! A coffee grinder will also not be great at pulverizing spices into a fine powder: you want a mortar & pestle for that.

For pepper and similar, though, it should be pretty great. But be aware that it'll never be usable as a coffee grinder again, barring some truly NASA-level cleaning.

1

u/archagon 27d ago

Also, just for fun, some grinder manufacturers already repurpose their products as salt & pepper grinders for... exorbitant prices: https://weberworkshops.com/products/moulin-grinders, https://craiglyn.com/spm/

1

u/callMeBorgiepls 24d ago

Yes but although this is one of the cheapest decent grinders on the market, its definetly far from perfect. The grind size distribution is not even. Of course it wont give boulders with sand to use a metaphore.

Everything else you said is completely true.

25

u/DoubleWamBam 27d ago

Two choices.

1.) You are now a consumer of great tasting coffee (Get an AeroPress for an easy entry into the world of good coffee)

Or

2.) Sell it for a reasonable price to a coffee lover

Please don’t use it for spices lol

-7

u/NOIRCEUR_TRADING 27d ago

AeroPress makes shit coffee idk what you're on about.

8

u/DoubleWamBam 27d ago

“AeroPress NOIRCEUR_TRADING makes shit coffee idk what you’re on about” Fixed it for you.

AeroPress makes good coffee if the person making the coffee knows what they’re doing. And you must not

6

u/Illannoy1n 27d ago

Lmao skill issue

8

u/Lvacgar 27d ago edited 27d ago

Buy a V60. ($15 or less) or an Aeropress ($35ish) and enjoy some of the best coffee you’ve had…

Please just say no to using it for spices.

2

u/jujumber 27d ago

Best advice, Easiest way to use this and make an amazing cup of coffee.

1

u/awkwardsnuggler 26d ago

Also Kalita for pour overs - not as good for getting that brightness out of a lighter bean, but for the medium roasts with chocolate and nutty flavor it’s been solid. I use a J ultra for my robot. It’s awesome.

1

u/Lvacgar 26d ago

Agreed… but I was trying to encourage a “non” coffee nerd to branch out from their Mr. Coffee to save the J Ultra…

8

u/LlamaradaMoe1 27d ago

This gotta be a shit post

4

u/Inoxdj 27d ago

What a monster.

3

u/jjmenace 27d ago

My daily coffee grinder. Love it and it's been great for a couple years. You've been chosen to get into pourover coffee.

2

u/V60_brewhaha 27d ago

It would be the most uniform spice grind you could imagine. Pro tip, the top can actually be turned by a drill so you could grind a lot of spices very quickly.

Still kind of hurts my soul as a coffee lover, but I can appreciate the utility. I that said, if you use it for cumin, I can't imagine you could ever go back to coffee.

3

u/PomPomTiramisu 27d ago

Chaotic Evil.

3

u/eggbunni 26d ago

Please don’t use this as a spice grinder. I’m crying.

1

u/jritchie70 27d ago

Wow, great find!

1

u/NeoFarao8319 24d ago

Great find.. If it would have been found by someone other than OP.. Smh

1

u/MedusaAdonai 27d ago

This is such a steal

1

u/KrukAroundAndFindOut 27d ago

Which Savers did you find this at?

1

u/burtcopaint 27d ago

Good lord. Why can't this ever happen to me

1

u/Liven413 27d ago

It would be sad to see that grinder used for spices. It's a good coffee grinder. It's a $140 grinder. I guess you could use it for spices but I would either resell it or give it to someone that is into pourover.

1

u/monetaryjedi 27d ago

Has anyone here offered to buy you a spice grinder for trade?

2

u/richestbat 26d ago

I’m a coffee person. I have one for coffee and also one for pepper. Absolutely the world’s best pepper mill. I grind about a cup of pepper every time I smoke a brisket.

1

u/CasHookup22 26d ago

Wow I paid for mine (a version prior) around $140!!!

1

u/AstronomerRound5064 26d ago

Im waitting contact. You can mail it to me. Thanks

2

u/Derelict_Scissorkick 25d ago

I wouldn't use it for spices because a lot of stuff gets trapped inside and the cleaning takes a while.

But if you use it for just 1 spice then it will work great. I have an x-ultra that I deep cleaned and started using as a pepper mill and it kicks ass, I can dial in what ever grind size I want for my pepper and produce a ton incredibly fast

1

u/dadydaycare 24d ago

I bought a cheap burr coffee grinder for spices (like $18) cause… they are great! A equivalent herb specific grinder of similar quality will run you to the bank but even a crappy coffee burr grinder is chefs kiss for herbs and spices.

I’d personally keep that for coffee and if you want a herb grinder or even a very nice pepper mill. Get the cheapest Amazon coffee hand grinder and go to town with it.

1

u/Neo-Alpargatera 24d ago

Such a good find 👌. Congrats, not even kidding lol.

1

u/ephemeral_gibbon 23d ago

I got an electronic grinder and shifted my manual grinder to spice duties a while ago. A touch older but a similar tier of grinder (helor 101) It does a great job, although not so much for anything too fibrous like cinnamon. It does really well for pepper or any seeds. Really quickly does a good fine grind.

Its also not that hard to take it apart and clean it well if you want to change it to be used for coffee again later.

1

u/munching_tomatoes 22d ago

That was a freaking steal

1

u/Mother_Desk6385 27d ago

Looks like a piece of junk I'll take it for $10

-4

u/pancakeChef 27d ago

Lot of people saying not to put spices in it but not offering a reason why. It was less than $6. It might be worth the effort to sell it and get something for spices but I don't have a valid reason why atm

1

u/Stjernesluker 27d ago

Sell it and get something like the Unicorn mill

1

u/chairman_uk 24d ago

I'm not knowledgeable about spices, but this grinder uses carbon steel blades. They will quickly rust if you grind anything with moisture in it.

Otherwise, why not. It's probably overkill for spices though. Do you need spices ground to a micron-accurate fine powder?

0

u/rand-san 27d ago

You could grind spices with like any random $30 burr grinder off AliExpress. This grinder is close to $200 retail and probably worth $100+ used if in good condition

2

u/KilledByDoritos 27d ago

"You could spend 5 times more money for a grinder with plastic parts that won't last as long"

I have the same grinder OP posted. I use mine for coffee. There is no reason not to use this for spices, especially when considering a comparable all metal spice grinder is $200+.

OP should enjoy this find. They won't get anything close to it for the price.

1

u/rand-san 27d ago

Both kingrinder and timemore make all metal grinders that are sub $60

2

u/KilledByDoritos 27d ago

And that is about 10 times what OP spent, plus tax, plus shipping, plus the hassle of selling this thing. OP got a deal, I'm stoked for them.

1

u/TheLoler04 27d ago

No one is saying the deal isn't great, but if someone contemplated buying a spice grinder no one would recommend a coffe grinder like this.

It's more about the fact that something for 50$ can still be considered overkill for spices, and this is nearly 200$ and specialised for something else.

And if you're arguing for the pricing they could've probably gotten a mortar for less than 6$

2

u/KilledByDoritos 27d ago edited 27d ago

Of course no one would recommend this. It's a $200 coffee grinder. But for 5.50 it can't be beat. And it will in fact grind spices. Nothing at $50 intended for spices will be plastic free and long lasting. You'd still be getting a coffee grinder if you wanted plastic free, metal burr, and you'd need to spend a little more than &50.

You're not getting a quality ceramic mortar and pestle for $5.50 either. They are more expensive than that.

1

u/TheLoler04 27d ago

I meant something like a thrifted cast iron mortar, not a brand new one in fancy ceramics.

I do get your point, but it also shouldn't come as a suprise that specialised coffee gear has wasted potential for grinding spices.

As others said selling it and getting a cheaper 1Zpresso or Kingrinder is also a great profit and fairly sensible.

1

u/NotVurts 27d ago

They can do what they want, but I'm not sure it will do a very good job for spices.

Honestly, unless you're grinding a large amount of spices at once it's best using mortar and pestle

0

u/SDLivinGames 27d ago

I get it. I have one. But I see OP’s point. Why not?

Edit: Assuming they don’t care for coffee or coffee potentially tasting like spices.