WTB: Chocolate, curry, mole, nixtamal, grinder

[ExtraMSG]

I've been looking around on the internet for something that can grind wet and dry ingredients to relatively smooth paste, but haven't been able to find what I'm looking for. I had originally hoped I could just get KitchenAid's grinder attachment, but they warn over and over that it's only to be used for dry ingredients, not even oily nuts. I have no clue if that's just a shallow warning or not, but I don't want to risk it on a $100 attachment. They recommend the griding attachment used for meat, etc, for wet ingredients, but it doesn't grind fine enough.

In Mexico, people will take things like chiles and nixtamal (think hominy) to a town grinder and have them ground for them. There are also chocolate makers where you can go and have mixes of chocolates made, cacao combined with sugar, nuts, cinnamon, and other spices.

In Thailand, they have grinders for making curry pastes. They also use grinders to puree coconut meat so that it can be strained into fresh coconut milk. The grinders looked very similar to what's used to make the chocolate pastes in Mexico.

I'm looking for something that can do all this and hopefully fit on my countertop. Any suggestions?

[prasantrin]

What about the Sumeet Grinders? http://www.sumeet.net/

[ExtraMSG]

Looks very promising, especially since they all appear to be under $200. Has anyone used one?

[sanrensho]

There's some info in this thread.

[prasantrin]

There's some info in this thread.

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I was just about to post that one! Great minds think alike, fools seldom...nevermind, that part doesn't apply to us, of course!

ExtraMSG--if you do a search on Sumeet on eGullet, you'll find many mentions of it. The few I read from people who own one give positive reviews. ymmv, of course.

[Patrick S]

What about a Santha wet/dry grinder? Check out this thread to see it being used to make chocolate. It interests me because I think it might be great for making a smooth praline paste, which in my experience has been impossible to create in a food processer.

[Kerry Beal]

Looks very promising, especially since they all appear to be under $200.  Has anyone used one?

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I have a Sumeet multigrind, I love it. I use it to grind spices including difficult ones like dried ginger, turmeric and cinnamon (I have siagon cinnamon sticks 2 inches in diameter). Grinds them to a powder in minutes. It also makes great nut butters, and I have recently started using it to grind roasted cocoa nibs to chocolate liquor as the first step in making chocolate from scratch. It then grinds regular sugar into icing sugar consistancy to add to the chocolate liquor.

Go to www.sumeet.net, click on outlets, then North America, then phone and talk to Mayear who owns the place. The multigrind will cost $90. US and that includes shipping as I recall.

[Kerry Beal]

What about a Santha wet/dry grinder? Check out this thread to see it being used to make chocolate. It interests me because I think it might be great for making a smooth praline paste, which in my experience has been impossible to create in a food processer.

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Patrick,

Check out www.http://chocolatetalk.proboards56.com/index.cgi?board=techniques&action=display&thread=1139456849

This is on the chocolate alchemy form and it talks about someones experience using the santha to make praline, they did however add something with liquid to it, it seized and caused the stone on the bottom of the santha to separate.

I think you probably could use the santha however as long as you avoided all aqueous solutions.

Another piece of equipment I have been considering to make praline is an ointment mill used in pharmacies that compound - exakt is the company. It has ceramic milling wheels. Only downside is the few thousand dollar price tag.

[Patrick S]

What about a Santha wet/dry grinder? Check out this thread to see it being used to make chocolate. It interests me because I think it might be great for making a smooth praline paste, which in my experience has been impossible to create in a food processer.

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Patrick,

Check out www.http://chocolatetalk.proboards56.com/index.cgi?board=techniques&action=display&thread=1139456849

This is on the chocolate alchemy form and it talks about someones experience using the santha to make praline, they did however add something with liquid to it, it seized and caused the stone on the bottom of the santha to separate.

I think you probably could use the santha however as long as you avoided all aqueous solutions.

Another piece of equipment I have been considering to make praline is an ointment mill used in pharmacies that compound - exakt is the company. It has ceramic milling wheels. Only downside is the few thousand dollar price tag.

←

Looks like I can kiss my dream of low-cost praline paste goodbye.

[ExtraMSG]

So I asked this on both Chowhound and here and I'm getting the same answers: the Santha and the Sumeet. The Santha is about twice the cost, but uses stone to make a more traditional grind. From what I gather, the Sumeet is more like a coffee grinder or food processor with the ability to efficiently redistribute the ingredients. Both can do both wet and dry ingredients. Both have been used to make chocolate, nut butters, etc.

So, has anyone used both?

Aesthetically, I like the Santha better perhaps because it seems more traditional and may produce a more traditional product. But that doesn't in itself make it better or worth the huge price jump.

[Kerry Beal]

So I asked this on both Chowhound and here and I'm getting the same answers: the Santha and the Sumeet.  The Santha is about twice the cost, but uses stone to make a more traditional grind.  From what I gather, the Sumeet is more like a coffee grinder or food processor with the ability to efficiently redistribute the ingredients.  Both can do both wet and dry ingredients.  Both have been used to make chocolate, nut butters, etc.

So, has anyone used both?

Aesthetically, I like the Santha better perhaps because it seems more traditional and may produce a more traditional product.  But that doesn't in itself make it better or worth the huge price jump.

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I own a sumeet that I have had for years, and recently purchased a Sowbaghya stone grinder (essentially the same as a Santha). I bought the stone grinder to make chocolate. The advantage I see for the Santha is that it doesn't add the kind of heat to what you are mixing that the sumeet does. So if you were making a nut mixture the oil wouldn't separate out the same way.

At this point I can't see myself without both, but then I got a gadget addiction.

[ExtraMSG]

Have you seen any disadvantages to the stone grinder? Just speed?

[Kerry Beal]

Have you seen any disadvantages to the stone grinder?  Just speed?

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Speed would certainly be one issue, but there is also the weight and I don't think you can put the parts in the dishwasher.

If you buy the sumeet, you might want to buy and extra jar too.

[andiesenji]

I tried to order a Sumeet a month or so ago for a wedding gift. Every place I called, they were out of stock or backordered.

So I ended up ordering this as I was told by the bride's mom that it was an alternative and would serve as a regular blender for drinks also.

I haven't heard about performance as they are still on their honeymoon trip to Sri Lanka, but her mom said she was thrilled when she opened it.

They had this 3-stone grinder also, but I called her mom and she said she would rather have one that was more versatile - could be used to make smoothies, etc.

Edited April 5, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[Briarhill]

I just called the Sumeet people at the 800 number and ordered the multi-grinder. They are backordered until 4/15. I'm psyched to do Thai curry pastes and masalas in this thing!

[Leena_k]

Hi nybody purchased SUMEET Asia Kitchen Machine , where did you get yours from? there are a ot of websites, but not really sure which one to go for.

thanks all!!

[Jay Francis]

If cost is a consideration, (and I too think the Sumeet is the way to go), we can find the Cuisinart Mini-Mate Plus Chopper/Grinder here in Houston for around $20. Though mine came from a second hand store for $4. I've used it to successfully grind up lemon grass and Thai curry ingredients. It doesn't have a large capacity and is a bit of a mess to work with, but it's cheaper.