For most people, the day can’t really start before they drink a cup of coffee. This beverage is so strongly connected with the morning routine and the effects are so good that coffee is without doubt, the most consumed beverage around the globe. Most households have a coffee grinder so making coffee is simple and quick, however, even if you don’t have this tool inside your kitchen, there are plenty of ways you can get your favorite beverage. So, if you want to find out how to make coffee without a coffee maker or you’re interested in how to grind coffee beans for espresso without a grinder, this article will give you all the answers you are looking for.
How to Grind Coffee Bean at Home
Even if you’re inside without a grinder, there’s no reason to panic. There are plenty of ways to grind coffee and pour yourself a cup to refresh and reenergize when needed. Of course, the easiest way to grind coffee is with a grinder but you can get very good results with other tools as well. Especially if you have a fully-equipped kitchen, there are plenty of devices around your kitchen that can be used for grinding coffee beans. However, since you never thought of extra uses for these devices, it will be a huge revelation when you’ll read about them and the capacity of delivering perfectly grinded coffee. So, without further ado, let’s check out how you can grind coffee beans for espresso using various electronics or other tools that are simply lying around your house.
Can You Grind Coffee Beans in Blender?
If you’re not ready to just use your hands and non-electronic tools around your home to grind coffee beans for espresso, your blender provides a very good solution. Some models come with a grinder setting, however, even if your model doesn’t offer this setting you can still use it to get grinded coffee beans for espresso. You have to make sure the blender cup is perfectly dry before adding the best coffee beans for espresso and select the medium-high speed. Choosing the speed too slow won’t give the blender enough power to smash the coffee beans while if you put it on maximum speed, it will just throw them all around without a chance to properly grind them.
Start by pouring a small amount of coffee beans for espresso first and make sure to always close the lid before starting. If you’re worried about the coffee not being finely grinded, use a “pulse” technique to get all the bigger pieces. The pulse technique refers to grinding in quick, short bursts and eventually turning the entire blender from one side to another to get everything grinded.
Even if after you’re putting the coffee beans for espresso through the blender for a couple of times doesn’t get you the fine grind you want, there’s no reason to panic. You can still get great results as long as the inside of the coffee bean is exposed to the hot water and steam in the coffee brewing process. If you add the best coffee scale to the mix, you won’t have an issue.
Can You Grind Coffee Bean in a Food Processor?
Next in line in our list of alternative ways to grind coffee beans for espresso, we are taking a look at food processors. Just like with the blender, a food processor is totally capable of grinding fine coffee that you can then use to make your favorite beverage. Especially if your food processor has extra functions, you can even get the best coffee for cold brew with one. So, if you’re still looking for ways on how to grind coffee beans without a grinder, check out this step-by-step guide on using a food processor to get the perfect grinded coffee beans for espresso.
First of all, add a small quantity of coffee into the food processor and close the lid. Depending on the size of your food processor, you can add 3 to 5 scoops of coffee and see how this quantity works for you. If your food processor has speed settings, then it’s best to use the highest speed setting available because, opposed to a blender, the blade on a food processor is designed to move slower. Again, to get the best quality coffee beans for espresso, you should make use of the pulse technique to catch all those bigger pieces that just refuse to get in contact with the blade. You can also tilt the processor from one side to another so that the pile of grinded beans changes direction in the blade’s path and you get a finer grind.
Once you got the coffee beans for espresso cut down to a size that you consider good for making coffee, empty the food processor and repeat the process with new beans. If you grind coffee beans in food processor make sure to wash it properly before using it for preparing any other food in it. Especially if there’s a baby in the house, you won’t want the food to contain coffee, they’re full of energy as it is.
How to Grind Coffee Bean with Mortar and Pestle?
Next on our list of ideas on how to grind coffee without a coffee grinder, we are looking at a solution that doesn’t involve any other electronic device in your home. It’s time to “get your hands dirty” with this one. Don’t worry though, that’s just an expression as you won’t be actually getting your hands dirty. At least not if you’re doing this process properly.
If you’re a big cooking fan, you surely have a mortar and pestle in your kitchen that you use to smash garlic or other spices. Well, the same tools can be used on coffee beans for espresso and even though it may sound like a very difficult and time-consuming process, it’s not. Plus, you have full control on how fine the grind will be in the end which makes it the best way to grind coffee beans without a grinder.
Those that used a mortar and pestle before know the rolling and hammering motion is excellent for creating the texture you want. So, reducing coffee beans for espresso to a fine powder is an excellent job for a mortar and pestle. If you choose to grind coffee beans without a grinder using this method you will need to start with small scoops of coffee and get ready for quite an exercise. It’s not exactly like going to the gym, however when you grind coffee by hand you will put some effort into it.
Hold the pestle with your stronger hand and use the other hand to keep the mortar in place. Start by pressing down and crushing the coffee beans for espresso while also applying a twisting motion for greater effect. As soon as all the coffee beans are crushed, you can start rolling the contents around the bowl to get all those bigger pieces. Keep repeating the process until the coffee beans for espresso are grinded to the size you want. This method can be applied to get the best decaf coffee as well since there’s no difference in the process.
How to Grind Coffee Beans with Knife
You don’t have a blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle in your kitchen? No worries! Assuming you have the best coffee roaster money can buy, you will be able to grind the coffee beans for espresso using only a knife. Yep, you read that right. One of the ways to grind coffee beans only involves a knife. However, the process may not go exactly how you imagine it now. Instead of using the blade of the knife to prepare the coffee beans for espresso, you’re going to use the flat part of the blade. So, you will need a knife with a wide blade. A chef’s knife or a butcher knife should be the best fits for the operation. Once you’re sure you have the knife for the job, you can grind coffee at home using this simple tool that’s available in every kitchen. If you’re still not sure how to grind coffee without a grinder when using a knife, we’ll explain the steps in just a bit.
Place some beans on the cutting board and then take your knife and place it over the beans with the flat side. To prevent pieces of coffee beans flying around all over the kitchen, you can use a kitchen towel and place it over the knife. Once you’re in position with the knife over the coffee beans for espresso, start pressing as hard as you can for the beans to break. Then, moving your palm on top of the blade you should continue pressing on the blade and slowly rotate so other bigger pieces of coffee beans are crushed.
It’s a longer process than anything we presented so far, however, when there’s simply no other way to grind your coffee beans for espresso, you can get out of the jam using it. Once the beans are broken down in very little pieces, you can get them together and use the blade of the knife to get them even finer if that’s what you need.
How to Grind Coffee Beans with Hammer
The above-mentioned method looks like a lot of work for you and you’d rather use something a bit more efficient? A hammer, meat tenderizer, or mallet should do the trick. Of course, since it’s a more violent approach to grinding coffee, you shouldn’t really expect to get coffee beans for espresso with it. However, it can give you a coarse to medium grind which is perfect for making a nice cup of coffee when there’s no other option.
Besides the hammer you will also need a plastic bag, Ziploc or freezer bags work just as well, and a large cutting board. Place the coffee beans inside the Ziploc bag and place them on the cutting board. With your hammer, start pressing down firmly until the beans start to get crushed. Try to avoid actually hitting the beans at this stage because the Ziploc can break and you will get coffee beans for espresso all across your kitchen.
Once you break all the beans, you can start hitting gently to refine the bigger pieces and move the bag around to be able to get as many angles as possible. It helps so shake the bag in between crushing sessions so that the beans inside reorganize themselves.
How to Grind Coffee Beans with Rolling Pin
The process of crushing coffee beans for espresso using a rolling pin is quite similar to using a hammer. So, we won’t go into specifics with this one. You’re also going to need to place the coffee bean inside a Ziploc and start applying pressure on the rolling pin while going over the Ziploc evenly. Once the individual beans get smashed, you can start picking up some speed and change the direction of rolling. Again, shaking the bag will help you identify any bigger pieces that were left untouched so you can repeat the process. Remember to change the Ziploc in between repetitions otherwise it can break.
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Benefits of Grinding Your Own Coffee
When talking about grinding coffee with a grinder, the benefits are numerous. First of all, freshly-grinded coffee is going to give you that perfect flavor and smell that is enough to get people out of bed sometimes. Also, you can decide on how fine the grind will be, depending on what you intend to prepare with that coffee.
Another benefit of being able to grind your own coffee comes from buying larger quantities of coffee. So, you will save some money in the long run since coffee beans can be stored for a long time and maintain their freshness until grinded.
The list of benefits can go on forever, however, we will also mention the part where you get to choose exactly how much you grind each day so you don’t have any grinded coffee left around the house which is harder to store and maintain fresh.
Conclusion
No matter if you have a coffee grinder at hand or you’re trying one of the methods detailed above, you will always be able to enjoy that life-saving cup of coffee in the morning. Sometimes you’re not aware of how many options you have to grind coffee until you’re forced to try them out. Hoping that we’ve provided a solution for many of our readers to enjoy their perfect cup of coffee in the morning, the team of Mykitchenadvisor wishes everyone the best and thanks you all for reading the article.
