Top 3 Reviews for the Best Blender for Grinding Spices
A blender is a wonderful addition to any home kitchen. Many novice home cooks assume a blender is only used for making smoothies or milkshakes. However, if you get the right blender, your options increase dramatically and you will discover a whole new world in cooking. In fact, you will probably wonder how you ever did without a blender.
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Vitamix 5200 Blender Professional-Grade, Self-Cleaning 64 oz Container, Black - 001372
Ninja Professional Countertop Blender with 1100-Watt Base, 72 Oz Total Crushing Pitcher and (2) 16 Oz Cups for Frozen Drinks and Smoothies (BL660), Gray
Features to Consider when Looking for The Best Blender for Grinding Spices
Motor Power
To be able to pulvarize seeds and roots into a spice powder a blender’s motor has to have a bit of power behind it. We would recommend a blender that has a minimum of 100 V of power to ensure you are happy with the results and achieve a fine powder for those spices.
Heat in the Unit
This feature is not one that you would normally think about, however it is actually very relevant when grinding your own spices. Especially so when you are dealing with high powered motors for a finer grind.
It is important to be aware of the amount of heat that is produced in the blender while in operation. The ideal blender would not produce too much heat, as you do not want your spices to be cooked while being ground up. It also also important to not over heat the ingredients in a blender as the more heat applied, results in less nutritional value contained in the ingredients.
When you are going down the DIY path for grinding spices in a blender, the end result should be raw spices (to be cooked later when you are ready to use them).
Blades Design and Materials
Blades are an integral part of any blender. They not only slice and dice (or grind in this case) the ingredients, they actually are an important element in mixing the ingredients. The design of a blade will influence how ingredients are tossed around inside the container to ensure the end product is a consistent and even mix.
The reputable manufacturers will factor the blades design into their blenders, making sure they test the efficiency of the blades in mixing the ingredients around the container. A good blade design will toss and pulse food up and around the capsule so ALL the ingredients receives a good blitz.
Container Design
When it comes to grinding spices or turning spices into powdered form, the container is actually a very important aspect for a blender. If you have a blender that is general in nature and primarily focused on liquids (like smoothies and milkshakes), the container will have what we call “Dead spots”. These spots are areas in the mixing action of the blender that ingredients get caught and are not mixed or processed evenly with the rest of the batch. Unfortunately, this results in an inconsistent mix at the end of the blend.
Auto Shut-Off Function
This feature is actually more for safety more so than affecting the grinding of spices.
As a standard, we always recommend looking at the safety features of any kitchen appliance.
For blenders, we love to see auto shut-off functions for the motor. Auto shut-off features prevent the over heating of the motor, which has a two fold effect. It helps to prevent spot fires from occuring in the ktichen. It also helps to prevent the motor from malfunctioning from over heating, therefore prolonging the use of your blender.
Now you know what you are looking for in your next blender, let’s get into the top list for our favorite blenders to grind up your spices.
Vitamix is a well known brand when it comes to the blender space. They have built up a reputation of quality and reliability – two features that many consumers highly value.
The Vitamix Blender Professional Grade sports a 120 V powered motor, which provides ample power to grind any spice into a powder.
It speed can be controlled to a variety of settings, so you can achieve the perfect consistency of your spice powder. It can even be controlled during operation, which is very helpful in case you feel the grind is too fine.
The Vitamix has a large container so you can make large batches of spices in one sitting. And to top it off, it has an easy self-cleaning mode where you simply add warm water and a drop of dishwashing detergent to a cycle.
Variable Speed Control: Easily adjust speed to achieve a variety of textures. The dial can be rotated at any point during the blend, so you’re in complete control
Large Batches: The size and shape of the self-cleaning 64-ounce container is ideal for blending medium to large batches. Design Feature : Radial cooling fan and thermal protection system
Hot Soup: The blades in the Vitamix container reach speeds fast enough to create friction heat, bringing cold ingredients to steaming hot in about six minutes
Hardened Stainless-Steel Blades: Our aircraft-grade stainless steel blades are designed to handle the toughest ingredients, so from the first blend to the last, you get the same quality results
Self-Cleaning: With a drop of dish soap and warm water, your Vitamix machine can clean itself in 30 to 60 seconds.
Whats in the Box: motor base, 64 oz. container, getting started guide, DVD, classic tamper.Cord: 6 ft.Electrical Ratings: 120 V, 50/60 Hz, 11.5 Amps and HP- 2-peak
Blendtec is one of the the other major competitors in the blender space and is also well reknown amongst blending enthusiasts.
The Blendtec Original Professional Grade Blender uses a 120 V powered motor and has 6 pre-programmed cycles that can be set in motion with a push of a button.
The one that is of particular interest to us and grinding spices, is the pulse setting that helps to push the ingredients around the capsule. Like the Vitamix, you can adjust the settings of the speed during operation which is helpful to achieve the perfect consistency.
The container is a 75 ounce jar which allows for large batches of spices to be blitzed in a matter of minutes.
Pros
reputable brand known for quality and reliability
strong motor with speed variable controls
8 year warranty by a family owned American company
Cons
container has four sides which may form dead spots for ingredients to be caught, causing an uneven grind.
Easy blending cycles: 1-touch buttons, 6 pre-programmed cycles, pulse, and 10 speed manual control with the ability to achieve a variety of textures. Complete control to adjust your blending at any time while blending
Patented blade/80% thicker: stainless-steel forged blade, with wings, for amazingly smooth blends (10x stronger than other blender blades). note: Blade is not sharp, blade is dull. No more cuts and pokes. Self-cleaning: add a little soap and water, your jar can clean itself in less than 1 minute
Large batches: BPA-free four-sided jar is a 75 ounce volume jar with 32 ounce blending capacity (wet or dry) ideal for blending beverages for 3-4 people
Warming Soup: Blendtec blenders heat soups and drinks through blade friction heat. Enjoy a warm meal or beverage in 6 minutes or less. Electrical ratings: Volts 120, Watt 1560, Hz 50-60, amp 13, cord: feet 35inches/3 feet
8 year warranty/American Company: Family-owned and driven to build the best quality products - without compromise. Engineered and assembled in the USA.
The third and final blender we recommend for grinding spices is from the Ninja brand.
It sounds like we are only choosing the well known brands here, but it is for good reason they have been selected in our top 3 favorite blenders. They are good at what they do – and the Ninja Professional Countertop Blender is no exception.
With a 120 V motor, the Ninja will blitz your spices into a powder, quickly and efficiently. You can use the Ninja Nutri Cups which combine a 16 oz smooth walled capsule to ensure all the ingredients are mixed around thoroughly.
The Ninja containers are dishwasher safe, meaning no more cramming your hands into the narrow containers, or cutting your hands and fingers on the blades.
Blenders have come along way since their intended single use for smoothies and milkshakes. A good blender can now expand your kitchen repertoire to include making your own spices.
If you are looking for a blender that can grind spices to a fine powder there are a few features that are must-haves on your next model. This includes a powerful motor, a blender that does not heat up too much, and good design and materials used in the construction of the blender.
We have put together a list of our favorite blenders for grinding spices, which include the Vitamix, Blendtec and Ninja brands. Anyone of these will do a fantastic job of grinding your spices into a fine powder, however if we were to pick just one it would probably have to be the Vitamix for it’s outstanding speed variable control.
Let us know what spices you are grinding up in your blenders in the comments below.
