If you are a coffee enthusiast, chances are you already have a small coffee grinder in your kitchen, and this is not a problem you have encountered.
Unless your grinder breaks.
Maybe you don’t own a grinder, and you usually buy your coffee already ground, and you accidentally bought whole bean coffee. Perhaps you were given some whole bean coffee, and you don’t know what to do with it.
Regardless of how you got into this predicament that requires you to grind your coffee without the luxury of this vital piece of equipment; we are here to help get you out of this mess and still allow you to be able to enjoy your coffee.
Grind Your Beans in the Faithful Blender
A ubiquitous kitchen appliance that is used for many uses and grinding coffee is just another one of its abilities. If you have one of the small personal size blenders, these will work too. Just be careful not to blend too long as this could cause the beans to heat up.
What you need:
A blender personal sized or regular
How to do it:
Place a small amount of the coffee beans in the blender and grind to your desired consistency being careful not to run the blender for too long.
Continue until all the coffee is ground.
Coffee in a Mortar and Pestle? (It’s not just for spices)
A fail-safe way is to use this antiquated device for grinding your coffee. While it is not one the most common tools found in a kitchen, there is a reason it is perfect for grinding spices. It achieves a reasonably even grind consistency.
In case you want to add this to your kitchen to use besides grinding coffee, here is a link.
What you will need:
Mortar and Pestle
A small bowl to put the finished ground coffee in
How to do it:
Add a few beans at a time so that they don’t all escape.
Forcibly use the pestle and crush the coffee beans then move the pestle in a circular grinding motion in the mortar to give the beans a finer texture.
Put the ground coffee in the small bowl and repeat these steps until finished grinding all the coffee you need.
Use a Hammer Or Meat Tenderizer Mallet to Crush Coffee Beans
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, this option could work for you as most have at least a hammer.
This way won’t yield that perfectly even ground coffee you would find in a grinder, but in a pinch, it can crack the beans enough so that you can brew and get through your day.
What you will need:
Hammer or a Meat Tenderizer Mallet with a flat side
A large Ziploc bag
Parchment paper
Thin towel such as a flour sack towel
How to do it:
Cut two pieces of parchment paper, so they fit inside the Ziploc bag.
Put the coffee beans you want to grind inside the bag in between the two sheets of parchment paper.
Place the bag of coffee inside the folded towel.
Hammer the beans with enough force to crush from one side of the bag to the other, periodically checking them to check the grind consistency.
Use a Rolling Pin, Can or Even an Empty Wine Bottle
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle or a hammer, you are sure to have at least one of these. Using one of these is a bit more refined way than the hammer and will yield a bit more even grind consistency than the hammer option.
The rolling pin’s design allows a downward force to be applied to the coffee beans and can grind your beans in a pinch. You can still use a full can of food or carefully use an empty wine bottle.
What you will need:
A rolling pin, large can of food or an empty wine bottle (be careful not to hurt yourself)
A large Ziploc bag
Parchment paper
Thin towel such as a flour sack towel
How to do it:
Just like in the previous method, cut two pieces of parchment paper to fit the Ziploc bag.
Put your coffee beans inside the bag in between the two sheets of parchment paper.
Place the bag in the folded towel.
Using the rolling pin, can or wine bottle like a hammer, gently beat the coffee beans until they are crushed.
After beating the beans, roll over the bag using downward pressure in a smooth motion, so the beans get ground as evenly as possible.
A Hand Operated Meat Grinder or Mincer Could Work
While this may is a long shot, perhaps you just might have this in your kitchen. You won’t be able to choose a grind setting, but it will give you a more even grind than the rolling pin method.
Once you run it through, it will be somewhat coarse and to get a finer grind, collect it and run it through the grinder again.
What you will need:
Hand grinder or mincer
Bowl
How to do it:
If your grinder has a smaller grinder plate, use it.
Place your coffee in the hopper and grind the coffee through once until all the coffee has been cracked open.
Put the ground coffee back in the hopper of the grinder and grind again.
You should have a nice even coarse grind nearly perfect for french press as a result.
The Bottom Line
Coffee experts and aficionados all agree that freshly ground coffee produces the best cup of coffee. The natural flavors of the coffee are preserved in the whole beans and then released in the grinding process. Of course, a regularly cleaned coffee maker makes a huge difference as well.
Grinding your coffee just before brewing, protects the flavors of origin and preserves the freshness of your coffee until you use it. We understand that a grinder may not be available to you at all times.
If you keep finding yourself in this situation, you may just want to buy a grinder to make your life easier and your morning habit a bit more stress-free. Nevertheless, these five tips can get you out of a bind and enable you to enjoy your coffee at the peak of freshness.
What is more worthwhile than toiling through a problem and finding success in your solution?
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