How to grind whole cloves: Many of the plants we grow and cultivate are very important in our life. Most of them are beneficial to our health while some are perfect for our culinary purposes. In that regard, cloves are the perfect examples of beneficial plants we have to discuss today. The health benefits of these plants are numerous, but that’s not the focus of our article today.
Clove is a plant normally grown in Asia, South America, and most parts of Nigeria. You can extract clove oils for usage, and the dried flower buds, stems, and leaves can also be used for medicine. Cloves are known for their master effects when it comes to toothache, so you can apply them directly to your tooth gums to regulate the pain during a dental examination, and other issues that are related to dental conditions.
How do you grind Cloves?
Here we are confronted by this question. Is there any way you think we can grind cloves? Yes, there are various ways we can use to grind our cloves and the various ways will be discussed shortly.
Methods of Grinding our Cloves at Home
Normally, in the olden days, people grind things with the use of mortar and pestle or sometimes with the use of stones. However, in this modern-day, we have things such as blenders, food processors, and other kitchen tools like graters and so on. Today, I am going to touch on the whole methods I have for you so you can learn more about them.
Using a Food Processor
We can make use of a food processor to grind our cloves. This method is faster and quicker when using the electric food processor, apart from that, you may be able to grind your cloves faster even with the manual food processor. How do you go about that? First of all, get your cloves and food processor ready.
What you will need:
• A food processor.
• Some cloves to be ground
• A bowl or two.
Some free tips to start with:
Before grinding your cloves, ensure that you kept them in an airtight container to preserve the whole.
The Grinding steps
• Plug your food processor into a power source.
• Get your cloves in batches if they are plenty.
• Pour each batch into the food processor.
• Switch on your food processor and start grinding the cloves.
• Once you are done grinding the first batch, start all over with the second batch.
You may be thinking that this is the end of the article, but that’s not the end, we are going to look at other ways we can grind cloves without a food processor. These other methods will place more flexibility on our mission to grind cloves alternatively.
How to Grind Whole Cloves without a Food Processor
Mortar and Pestle
There is no doubt that mortar and pestle have been used for grinding spices and other food ingredients, including herbs since the ancient days. In fact, they are one of the oldest methods through which humans ground their food items and other ingredients as well. For this reason, we will talk more about the process involved whenever we want to grind our cloves using mortar and pestle.
Things you need:
• Mortar and pestle
• Clove.
• Bowls or a bowl.
• Spoon or a spatula.
The Grinding Process
• Ensure that your mortar and pestle are newly bought or well cured.
• Get your whole cloves ready and pour them in one of the bowls provided.
• The next thing is to decide whether they are to be ground in batches or in little quantity.
• If they are plenty, you can grind them in batches.
• So, pour the cloves in your mortar bowl and start pressing and twisting the pestle on them.
• You should also once in a while pound the cloves gently to avoid splitting.
• Keep grinding until you achieve your desired consistency.
• Get your plate or one of the bowls provided and turn your cloves powder into them.
• You may want to turn the cloves powder into the bowl by using your spoon as well.
A pepper Mill
Another method I can recommend to you is the pepper mill. You can grind your whole cloves using the pepper meal method. The processor is not different from the way you grind your peppercorns. In fact, check out the process here:
Things you need:
• A pepper or salt mill.
• Whole cloves.
• A bowl or two.
• A spoon.
The Grinding Process
• Pour your cloves into the pepper mill in small quantities.
• Cover the mill and tighten it.
• Start twisting the mill until your whole cloves are ground to your desired consistency.
• Pour out your cloves powder in the bowl provided.
• Repeat the same steps for every batch.
Knife and Chopping Board
Apart from the previous methods discussed, you can as well grind your whole cloves using a knife and rolling board. You can chop the whole cloves on a chopping board. This method is simple too compared to the previous steps.
What you need:
• Chopping board.
• Whole cloves.
• A bowl or two.
• A knife.
• A tray, option.
The Grinding Process
• Get your whole cloves ready and pour them on the chopping board.
• Ensure the chopping board is kept in the tray to further hold back the cloves from splitting on the floor.
• Start chopping the whole cloves gently until they become smaller.
• Preferably, use a chef knife for the next step.
• Place the flat side of your chef knife on the cloves and press it against them.
Coffee Grinder
A coffee grinder is normally used for grinding coffee beans. Sometimes, it can be used to grind spices too. Remember, cloves are also spices, which makes a coffee grinder a perfect alternative for grinding them. This means, anytime you are stranded with mortar and pestle, and you have a coffee grinder at home, don’t hesitate to make use of it.
What you need:
• A coffee grinder.
• Bowl.
• Cloves.
• Spoon.
The Grinding Process
• Clean up your coffee grinder—electric or manual is perfect.
• Plug your electric coffee grinder into a power source.
• Pour your cloves in the coffee grinder.
• Switch on the grinder.
• Start grinding the cloves gently until you get your desired texture.
Coffee Mug or Tumbler
A coffee mug or a Tumbler can be an ideal hack for grinding your cloves. You may not necessarily smash your coffee mug or tumbler or cloves to avoid possible breakage. This method will be perfect if you are only interested in smashing soft ingredients. You can do your grindings on a clean cutting board.
What you need:
• A coffee mug or tumbler.
• A cutting board.
• Cloves and bowls.
The Grinding Process
• Pour your cloves gently on the cutting board.
• Ensure that they are well placed to avoid roaming around the cutting board.
• Press the bottom of your coffee mug on the cloves to quickly break them into smaller pieces.
• Smash the mug on the cloves gently but quickly and then go to and fro until you grind them to your desire.
• Move the ground cloves from the cutting board by pouring them into the bowl provided or with the aid of the spoon.
Use a furnished Plank and Cutting Board
You can as well make use of a furnished plank and board to grind your cloves. This method can go well with other spices, especially the dried ones that crumble easily. You can get your cloves ground by pressing the plank on them against the cutting board. This method is similar to the coffee mug method.
Hammer and cutting board
Hammer or mallet handles are another perfect solution for grinding your cloves. If you need a quick alternative in times of difficulty, those cloves you preserved can still be useful when necessary. In fact, if you don’t have a hammer, your nice neighbors may have one. Get one from them, use it nicely, and return it nicely.
How to do it:
• Pour your cloves on the cutting board in small batches.
• Press your hammer handle against them gently.
• Repeat the pressing several times until you reach your desired consistency.
• Continue with the rest of the cloves in the same pattern.
Conclusion
Cloves have a lot of health benefits such as their good source of beta-carotene which gives them their rich brown color. However, the color is not the focus here, it is the carotene family pigments that are important antioxidants and provitamins. Carotene pigment in cloves can be converted into Vitamin A.
With this brief health benefit mentioned in cloves, I think it works applying them to our meals, and also, for that reason, it calls for grinding them, it is very necessary. After reading this article, I don’t think you will still have a problem grinding your cloves in the absence of the major grinders anymore. This article is written to sharpen your creativity. You can always improvise for everything you don’t have just to get your job done.