Ultra Pride Wet/Dry Grinder

[andiesenji]

I'm glad you bumped this topic up, Chris.

On Wednesday I visited some friends who recently moved to a tiny town further east in the Antelope Valley (actually across the county line in San Bernardino County) - he is Dutch, she is Indonesian, although they have lived in the San Fernando Valley for thirty-some years, they both grew up in Indonesia.

Entering their kitchen I was surprised to see an Ultra Pride and commented on it.

Alia said that she bought it a year ago, specifically for making sambals, which she used to make entirely by hand in a mortar and pestle.

Like me, she has arthritis in her hands, as well as in her right elbow (had surgery on this joint five years ago) and it had gotten extremely difficult for her to do the extended pounding necessary to produce the desired texture in this condiment.

They both were enthusiastic about the appliance. Piet was never much interested in cooking but since retiring and then getting this machine, he has been doing more in the kitchen. (Likes playing with the mechanical type appliances).

I suggested they check out the forum and gave them a link to this topic. Hopefully they will have time to check it out. (They have nine children and fifteen grandchildren, and communication takes up a lot of their computer time.)

Alia did try a "mixie" grinder made by Preethi (? sp) and did not like it, then bought the Ultra Pride.

Edited August 22, 2010 by andiesenji (log)

[runwestierun]

Used the Ultra Pride this afternoon for masa for tortillas, and I think I'm going to defrost some penang paste I made with it for dinner later this week. Anyone else buy one of these lately?

Chris,

I have been looking at these for awhile and I wonder if you can talk a little about cleanup? I am most concerned about strong flavors from pastes carrying over to batters and things with delicate flavors. Now that you've had yours awhile, how do you clean it and does it clean up completely?

[Chris Amirault]

I have the chocolate version in the house - just haven't gotten around to playing with it lately.

Is there a specific model or do you have one dedicated to chocolate?

I have been looking at these for awhile and I wonder if you can talk a little about cleanup? I am most concerned about strong flavors from pastes carrying over to batters and things with delicate flavors. Now that you've had yours awhile, how do you clean it and does it clean up completely?

The components that have contact with food are primarily nonporous granite and stainless steel, so they don't retain odors, flavors, and so on. There are small components that are hard plastic, and when I used fresh turmeric in a kroeung it stained slightly. Those stains are gone now, and I haven't noticed any retention of flavors at all.

Clean up is a breeze. For masa, I clean it in about three minutes with hot, soapy water. The kroeung and other pastes can require a bit more work, but not much. In addition, the parts that come into contact with the food can be put in the dishwasher.

[Kerry Beal]

I have the chocolate version in the house - just haven't gotten around to playing with it lately.

Is there a specific model or do you have one dedicated to chocolate?

This is the one. Essentially it's the ultrapride with forced air cooling and it sits up on a stand to keep the bottom cooler. Kitchenspecialist up thread has lent it to me to play with.

[Chris Amirault]

That's smart. The UP definitely heats up after 40-50 minutes or so. It's never been an issue for me; masa's the most time-consuming item I've made. But I'd be concerned about several hours of nib destruction.

[Tom Gengo]

Chris, thanks for your introduction on this equipment. Sounds like a great addition to the kitchen.

I have been looking at getting the Nutrimill (Here's a comparison of the various mills on the market) and am now second guessing myself. Seems that the UP would have more universal uses- pesto, masa, etc, etc.. Is the UP capable of an adjustment to the granite grinders to yield various grinds such as a cracked grain? Any thoughts on it's use for preparing flours for bread making? Also, what is the warranty on the machine?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Tom Gengo (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Is the UP capable of an adjustment to the granite grinders to yield various grinds such as a cracked grain? Any thoughts on it's use for preparing flours for bread making?

The UP is designed to allow for a range in the gap between the granite base and the granite rollers, which enables them to handle the corn kernels I grind for masa both when they are whole (~5-8 mm) and as they grind down. For that reason, I think they'd be fine to handle any grain. Regulating the grind would be entirely up to you.

Also, what is the warranty on the machine?

According to this, there's a limited 1 year manufacturer's warranty.

[Tom Gengo]

Is the UP capable of an adjustment to the granite grinders to yield various grinds such as a cracked grain? Any thoughts on it's use for preparing flours for bread making?

The UP is designed to allow for a range in the gap between the granite base and the granite rollers, which enables them to handle the corn kernels I grind for masa both when they are whole (~5-8 mm) and as they grind down. For that reason, I think they'd be fine to handle any grain. Regulating the grind would be entirely up to you.

Also, what is the warranty on the machine?

According to this, there's a limited 1 year manufacturer's warranty.

Thanks Chris, great information.

[andiesenji]

Chris,

I got the link to this recipe on one of the Thermomix forum sites but thought the processing of the rice might be a natural for the UP.

fresh rice noodles

I tried making the "noodles" and did cut one batch into noodles but used some of the whole ones for wraps.

It worked quite well, but I used an 8-inch round cake pan in the steamer.

I have a larger steamer (actually a big couscousiere which I am going to try next time as it will hold a 10-inch round pan.

Anyway, I thought you might like to try it.

[Chris Amirault]

Couldn't agree more, Andie! Click here.

[andiesenji]

Sorry I missed that one Chris.

Please ignore my far too late post!

[Chris Amirault]

Not at all! It's a great use of the UP!

[edsel]

Does anyone have any experience with the Premier Tilting Grinder? It has a slightly larger capacity than the Ultra Pride and the tilt feature sounds handy.

[Chris Amirault]

After a few more successful projects, including a great mustard, I had my first so-so experience today with the UP: making pesto. In some ways, it was terrific, particularly the silky texture created from all of that crushing. However, there were two problems. First, some of the leaves got wrapped around different components and had to be dislodged, which was a pain. More importantly, the time it took to grind it up and the motion of the grinder itself incorporated a lot more air than other methods, which meant that the pesto was a darker greenish brownish. No deal breakers, really, but worth noting with the machine that has knocked everything else out of the park.

[edsel]

I wound up buying the Premier grinder mentioned above. So far I've only had time to play with it a bit. I ground a masala for biryani following Niloufer Ichaporia King's method. Also made idli batter - the texture was amazing.

I'm cooking dinner with friends on Christmas Eve, and the idea has been floated that we should do a proper mole. I'd also like to make tamales with freshly made masa. Sourcing the right kind of corn for that will be interesting...

[mtigges]

After a few more successful projects, including a great mustard, I had my first so-so experience today with the UP: making pesto. In some ways, it was terrific, particularly the silky texture created from all of that crushing. However, there were two problems. First, some of the leaves got wrapped around different components and had to be dislodged, which was a pain. More importantly, the time it took to grind it up and the motion of the grinder itself incorporated a lot more air than other methods, which meant that the pesto was a darker greenish brownish. No deal breakers, really, but worth noting with the machine that has knocked everything else out of the park.

grind the pine nuts and cheese in the UP and then into the foodpro with oil and basil?

[andiesenji]

After spending two days (off & on) preparing a batch of vanilla paste, I am considering getting one of these machines to make this task a bit easier.

My method is okay for a small batch but making this stuff for gifts, required six times the amount I usually prepare.

I put the beans through my regular meat grinder and then through the poppy seed grinder, which is much finer and sadly, is not powered. Gah!

I'm sure I will find other tasks that work better in this machine but if it only makes this task easier, it will be worth it.

Of course it is all my fault, giving the stuff as gifts and teaching people how to use it. Now my friends who are recipients of the gift baskets are expecting it.

[qrn]

Interesting Thread,and may be timely....I was digging around in my garage the other day and found an"AllGrain mill'' model A22, Its a stone grinding thing and I have not a clue where it came from, or what to do with it....so this thread may give me some answers(not sure, however....Any comments would be appreciated...

Bud.

[andiesenji]

Interesting Thread,and may be timely....I was digging around in my garage the other day and found an"AllGrain mill'' model A22, Its a stone grinding thing and I have not a clue where it came from, or what to do with it....so this thread may give me some answers(not sure, however....Any comments would be appreciated...

Bud.

The All Grain mills are only for grinding dry grains, beans, etc. Not for wet grinding of anything such as nuts, or other items that have a high oil/moisture content.

All Grain mills

[qrn]

Thanks!!!I looked at the link ,and will call em and see if I can get a manual...

And, Will try to figure out something to do with it, ,,,

Tnks agn!

Bud.

[egale]

I purchased an Ultra Pride grinder about seven months ago and had to wait about 6 weeks until it was back in stock and shipped to me. During this period my Dad died. The Ultra Pride sat on my counter for months, unused.

Just last night I used it for the first time to grind chiles and garlic for Zhug. This machine is terrific! It does a fantastic job and is far easier to clean than my heavy mortar and pestle. Visions of curry pastes are dancing in my mind....

If you are thinking about getting one of these, do so!

[patrickamory]

I recently got an Ultra Pride mainly for the purpose of making Thai curry paste.

I have to concur with Chris's assessment that it does a good job. It makes smooth, creamy pastes that are better than anything a food processor or blender can do, and often better than the ones that I spend agonizing hours pounding by hand in a mortar and pestle.

However I have some caveats to add:

- You must chop ingredients finely - galangal in particular, because it's so hard, but also garlic. Su-mei Yoo's recipe for crying tiger calls for 3 whole garlic cloves to be smashed and pounded into the paste. The wet grinder cannot handle this - the stone blades will choke on the large clove segments. You have to mince the garlic, or at least chop it roughly

- No small quantities. David Thompson's paste recipes often start off, as Chris notes, with 10-20 dried red chiles, seeded and soaked. If you just put those in the grinder with a pinch of salt, it won't be able to grip them - the tolerances are not that fine. It might be better to add the red chiles later, or start by making 4X the amount.

- Chile skins in general are the grinder's weak point - both with dried and fresh bird chiles, I would find flecks of unpounded red and green chile in the paste. This may work better with larger quantities

- As Chris mentions, you can use the paddle while the machine is running to flick back ingredients into the mix - in my experience you HAVE to do this, because there are plenty of places for ingredients to get caught when you add them to the grinder.

- In addition, you must occasionally stop the grinder, lift out the blades, and flick back bits of garlic, galangal or chile that get caught under the central spoke.

- Also, the blades each have 2 grooves cut in them - this may be useful for grinding corn and other whole grains, but for curry paste it's a pain because they of course fill up with paste that is tough to get out at the end

- It's hard to get all the paste out at the end - there are so many places in the mechanism where it gets caught - lots of clumsy scraping, lifting and pouring

All this said it's still much easier and faster than pounding by hand - unless you're doing a simple paste, especially those in small quantities, such as Su-mei Yoo's "Big Four" paste (cilantro roots, garlic, white peppercorns and coriander seed), or David Thompson's garlic-ginger paste that gets added to his jungle curries alongside the jungle curry paste.

I look forward to trying to make masa next.

ALSO - two more questions:

1. Can this really be used as a dry grinder? The instructions seem to assume you're going to add water with the first ingredient. I haven't done this, because enough moisture is squeezed out of the garlic, but can it be used on totally dry ingredients?

2. Are the parts really dishwasher-safe? It doesn't say that in the manual that I could see.

Edited June 18, 2011 by patrickamory (log)

[Jenni]

1. Can this really be used as a dry grinder? The instructions seem to assume you're going to add water with the first ingredient. I haven't done this, because enough moisture is squeezed out of the garlic, but can it be used on totally dry ingredients?

Hmm...I'm pretty sure the instructions say not to use it totally dry...must check though (if i still have my instructions!)

[patrickamory]

And here is a picture of some red curry paste fresh from the Ultra Pride:

[patrickamory]

And here's another question....

Does anyone know where to get the coconut scraper attachment if you're not in India?

All the sites say that it's not safe to use in the US, which obviously means that safety experts in the US are more conservative than those in India... but I don't have any kids and I would like a coconut scraper!