Mortar & pestle options, was Re: SC - Wafers -- and Questions (long)

[Jenne Heise]

> > Q1)  How do I grind up saffron threads without a mortar &
> > pestle?

You can also try the 'soak the thread in lkiquid from the recipe' method.

> > 
> > Q2)  I’ve been thinking I need a m & p, but most of the
> > ones I see are
> > marble, and being a lapidary-type, all I can think of is
> > how soft that
> > is, and won’t I end up with a lot of extra calcium
> > carbonate in my
> > food,

Well, I have had good luck with both ceramic and marble M&p's. You have to
clean them immediately after using, of course, just as you would a
breadboard. Remember that in general the object is to be grinding the food
between the mortar and the pestle.. if the M&P are grinding against each
other too much adjust the amount of the substance in the mortar.
Be sure you get a non-smooth finish on the working surfacts-- smooth ones,
brass or suchlike, are not as efffective.

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.

" Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees 
That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees, 
So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray
For the Glory of the Garden, that it may not pass away!" -- Kipling