As per Sheldon's recommendation, I bought
a poppy seed grinder:

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=158486

Maybe I bought the only one! They're out of stock now.

I asked for something like a meat grinder, but more fine grain.
That's sort of like the effect this machine achieves, but the
mechanism isn't quite like a meat grinder. It's more like
a minature grain grinder, surrounded by a collar so all the
ground stuff goes in one direction. The material is forced
by a screw feed between conical grinding burrs.

Running dried apricots through it, it produces a nice
paste, less grainy than my meat grinder. Closer to
being mashed. Running almonds through it produces
a powder. It seems that this machine was designed
to avoid expressing oil from any seeds it ingests.

It's easy to clean. My main complaint is that it is
contaminating the food with some gray stuff,
probably iron from the exposed iron surfaces.
I've run most of a pound of dried apricots through
it, and the contamination is still present though
it is much reduced. I'm hoping it'll go away
completely with enough use.

The texture it produces is unique. Even if I don't
use it much, it will be valuable to have this capability
available to supplement the range covered by the
meat grinder.

I'll have to try running some poppy seeds through it.
Here's some interesting recipes:

http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=4613
http://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=24436

They would seem more appetizing if not for the throwing up part.

Incredulously, Mark Thorson > wrote in
:

> As per Sheldon's recommendation, I bought
> a poppy seed grinder:
>
> http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=158486
>
> Maybe I bought the only one! They're out of stock now.
>
> I asked for something like a meat grinder, but more fine grain.
> That's sort of like the effect this machine achieves, but the
> mechanism isn't quite like a meat grinder. It's more like
> a minature grain grinder, surrounded by a collar so all the
> ground stuff goes in one direction. The material is forced
> by a screw feed between conical grinding burrs.

The grinder you bought looks exactly like the Porkert Poppyseed Grinder I
boughbt several years ago. Mine is made exactly the same way.

> Running dried apricots through it, it produces a nice
> paste, less grainy than my meat grinder. Closer to
> being mashed. Running almonds through it produces
> a powder. It seems that this machine was designed
> to avoid expressing oil from any seeds it ingests.

Yes, it is specifically designed to minimize oil expression. It was also
specifically designed for grinding poppyseed, but I imagine a "dry" nut
like almonds would work rather well.

> It's easy to clean. My main complaint is that it is
> contaminating the food with some gray stuff,
> probably iron from the exposed iron surfaces.
> I've run most of a pound of dried apricots through
> it, and the contamination is still present though
> it is much reduced. I'm hoping it'll go away
> completely with enough use.

This is typical of tinned cast iron, especially when it is new. The
apricots, being sticky and containing sugar, acid, and moisture, would
clearly exacerbate this problem. Grinding apricots is contrary to the
purpose of this grinder, although I doubt the grinder will suffer from
it.

It's important to wash the grinder in hot soapy water and dry thoroughly.
I usually put mine in a 150 degree oven for 20-30 minutes after cleaning.

It would probably be a good idea to lightly grease or oil the interior of
the grinder before grinding anything other than seeds or nuts.

> The texture it produces is unique. Even if I don't
> use it much, it will be valuable to have this capability
> available to supplement the range covered by the
> meat grinder.
>
> I'll have to try running some poppy seeds through it.
> Here's some interesting recipes:

Yes, you really should, since that's it's designed purpose.

I don't use mine very often, but I do grind several pounds of poppyseeds
around Christmas and Easter, primarily for use in poppyseed rolls.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

Incredulously, Mark Thorson > wrote in
:

> As per Sheldon's recommendation, I bought
> a poppy seed grinder:
>
> http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=158486
>
> Maybe I bought the only one! They're out of stock now.
>
> I asked for something like a meat grinder, but more fine grain.
> That's sort of like the effect this machine achieves, but the
> mechanism isn't quite like a meat grinder. It's more like
> a minature grain grinder, surrounded by a collar so all the
> ground stuff goes in one direction. The material is forced
> by a screw feed between conical grinding burrs.

The grinder you bought looks exactly like the Porkert Poppyseed Grinder I
boughbt several years ago. Mine is made exactly the same way.

> Running dried apricots through it, it produces a nice
> paste, less grainy than my meat grinder. Closer to
> being mashed. Running almonds through it produces
> a powder. It seems that this machine was designed
> to avoid expressing oil from any seeds it ingests.

Yes, it is specifically designed to minimize oil expression. It was also
specifically designed for grinding poppyseed, but I imagine a "dry" nut
like almonds would work rather well.

> It's easy to clean. My main complaint is that it is
> contaminating the food with some gray stuff,
> probably iron from the exposed iron surfaces.
> I've run most of a pound of dried apricots through
> it, and the contamination is still present though
> it is much reduced. I'm hoping it'll go away
> completely with enough use.

This is typical of tinned cast iron, especially when it is new. The
apricots, being sticky and containing sugar, acid, and moisture, would
clearly exacerbate this problem. Grinding apricots is contrary to the
purpose of this grinder, although I doubt the grinder will suffer from
it.

It's important to wash the grinder in hot soapy water and dry thoroughly.
I usually put mine in a 150 degree oven for 20-30 minutes after cleaning.

It would probably be a good idea to lightly grease or oil the interior of
the grinder before grinding anything other than seeds or nuts.

> The texture it produces is unique. Even if I don't
> use it much, it will be valuable to have this capability
> available to supplement the range covered by the
> meat grinder.
>
> I'll have to try running some poppy seeds through it.
> Here's some interesting recipes:

Yes, you really should, since that's it's designed purpose.

I don't use mine very often, but I do grind several pounds of poppyseeds
around Christmas and Easter, primarily for use in poppyseed rolls.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

>Wayne Boatwright writes:
>
>Incredulously, Mark Thorson > wrote:
>
>> As per Sheldon's recommendation, I bought
>> a poppy seed grinder:
>>
>> http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=158486
>>
>> Maybe I bought the only one! They're out of stock now.
>>
>> I asked for something like a meat grinder, but more fine grain.
>> That's sort of like the effect this machine achieves, but the
>> mechanism isn't quite like a meat grinder. It's more like
>> a minature grain grinder, surrounded by a collar so all the
>> ground stuff goes in one direction. The material is forced
>> by a screw feed between conical grinding burrs.
>
>The grinder you bought looks exactly like the Porkert Poppyseed Grinder I
>boughbt several years ago. Mine is made exactly the same way.
>
>> Running dried apricots through it, it produces a nice
>> paste, less grainy than my meat grinder. Closer to
>> being mashed. Running almonds through it produces
>> a powder. It seems that this machine was designed
>> to avoid expressing oil from any seeds it ingests.
>
>Yes, it is specifically designed to minimize oil expression. It was also
>specifically designed for grinding poppyseed, but I imagine a "dry" nut
>like almonds would work rather well.
>
>> It's easy to clean. My main complaint is that it is
>> contaminating the food with some gray stuff,
>> probably iron from the exposed iron surfaces.
>> I've run most of a pound of dried apricots through
>> it, and the contamination is still present though
>> it is much reduced. I'm hoping it'll go away
>> completely with enough use.
>
>This is typical of tinned cast iron, especially when it is new. The
>apricots, being sticky and containing sugar, acid, and moisture, would
>clearly exacerbate this problem. Grinding apricots is contrary to the
>purpose of this grinder, although I doubt the grinder will suffer from
>it.
>
>It's important to wash the grinder in hot soapy water and dry thoroughly.
>I usually put mine in a 150 degree oven for 20-30 minutes after cleaning.
>
>It would probably be a good idea to lightly grease or oil the interior of
>the grinder before grinding anything other than seeds or nuts.
>
>> The texture it produces is unique. Even if I don't
>> use it much, it will be valuable to have this capability
>> available to supplement the range covered by the
>> meat grinder.
>>
>> I'll have to try running some poppy seeds through it.
>> Here's some interesting recipes:
>
>Yes, you really should, since that's it's designed purpose.
>
>I don't use mine very often, but I do grind several pounds of poppyseeds
>around Christmas and Easter, primarily for use in poppyseed rolls.

http://www.jewish-food.org/recipes/hamafavs.htm


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> The grinder you bought looks exactly like the Porkert Poppyseed Grinder
> I bought several years ago. Mine is made exactly the same way.

Porkert it is! Did you join the owner's association.
I chose not to, because I didn't want to purchase
the extended warranty. Apparently, you can't
join unless you do. :-(

And the shirts look dopey. :-)

> > It seems that this machine was designed
> > to avoid expressing oil from any seeds it ingests.
>
> Yes, it is specifically designed to minimize oil expression.
> It was also specifically designed for grinding poppyseed,
> but I imagine a "dry" nut like almonds would work rather well.

I'll have to try every type of dried seed sold
at the Chinese food store.

> > It's easy to clean. My main complaint is that it is
> > contaminating the food with some gray stuff,
> > probably iron from the exposed iron surfaces.
> > I've run most of a pound of dried apricots through
> > it, and the contamination is still present though
> > it is much reduced. I'm hoping it'll go away
> > completely with enough use.
>
> This is typical of tinned cast iron, especially when it is new.
> The apricots, being sticky and containing sugar, acid, and
> moisture, would clearly exacerbate this problem. Grinding
> apricots is contrary to the purpose of this grinder, although
> I doubt the grinder will suffer from it.

It seems I had the grinder set too tight.
Running it looser seems to have helped.

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> The grinder you bought looks exactly like the Porkert Poppyseed Grinder
> I bought several years ago. Mine is made exactly the same way.

Porkert it is! Did you join the owner's association.
I chose not to, because I didn't want to purchase
the extended warranty. Apparently, you can't
join unless you do. :-(

And the shirts look dopey. :-)

> > It seems that this machine was designed
> > to avoid expressing oil from any seeds it ingests.
>
> Yes, it is specifically designed to minimize oil expression.
> It was also specifically designed for grinding poppyseed,
> but I imagine a "dry" nut like almonds would work rather well.

I'll have to try every type of dried seed sold
at the Chinese food store.

> > It's easy to clean. My main complaint is that it is
> > contaminating the food with some gray stuff,
> > probably iron from the exposed iron surfaces.
> > I've run most of a pound of dried apricots through
> > it, and the contamination is still present though
> > it is much reduced. I'm hoping it'll go away
> > completely with enough use.
>
> This is typical of tinned cast iron, especially when it is new.
> The apricots, being sticky and containing sugar, acid, and
> moisture, would clearly exacerbate this problem. Grinding
> apricots is contrary to the purpose of this grinder, although
> I doubt the grinder will suffer from it.

It seems I had the grinder set too tight.
Running it looser seems to have helped.