Kuhn Rikon Vase Spice Grinder

Pros

• Attractive, ergonomic design.
• Comes with 3 interchangeable spice containers.
• Adjustable ceramic CrushGrind® mechanism has a 25 year warranty.
• Dishwasher safe.
• Additional spice containers available in sets of 6 at kuhnrikon.com.

Cons

• Large spices, like whole nutmeg or cinnamon sticks, will not fit through the grinding mechanism.
• Instructions are not included in the box or on the website, and use isn't entirely intuitive.
• Some spices will not grind finely or uniformly.
• Spices may catch in the grinding mechanism, and fall back into other spice containers.
• Fine for grinding spices directly on food, but less conducive to grinding for easy measurement.

Description

• A stylish spice grinder with interchangeable spice containers and a ceramic grinding mechanism.
• Compact, ergonomic design is powered with a simple twist -- no electricity or batteries required.
• Spice residue still in the grinder can mingle with newly ground spices, which may be a drawback for some.
• Kuhn Rikon's customer service agents are friendly and helpful, but it shouldn't be necessary to call for instructions.
• Whole and coarsely crushed nutmeg and cinnamon sticks couldn't fit through the underside of the grinding mechanism.
• Coriander seeds did grind, but not finely. The resultant non-uniform texture would be undesirable in many recipes.
• Fennel seed ground finely overall, but appeared a bit "twiggy."
• Whole cloves ground well, but some bits appeared coarsely ground, even with the grinder set for a fine grind.
• Poppy seeds ground very well on the fine setting.
• The grinder does an excellent job of grinding coarse salt.

Guide Review - Kuhn Rikon Vase Spice Grinder

Kuhn Rikon's Vase Spice Grinder looks brilliant, with it's interchangeable containers that allow easy access to freshly ground spices in the midst of cooking. The stay-sharp adjustable ceramic grinding mechanism is a draw too.

But as much as I want to love this grinder, I'm lukewarm on its overall practicality. Though I now find it easy to use, the grinder came sans instructions (a call to customer service confirmed that this was the norm). I had to figure out how the containers snapped into the base, which way the grinder was supposed to turn, and how to adjust and disassemble the grinding mechanism for cleaning, all the while worried I might break something.

Once I got it set up, I discovered that neither whole nutmeg nor cinnamon sticks could fit through the grinder, and crushed versions didn't do well either. Smaller, softer spices fared better (see above), but didn't always grind uniformly or finely, despite the fact that Kuhn Rikon's press materials tout the Vase's "perfectly uniform grind."

More problematic is that spices adhere to the grinding mechanism and around the mouth of the grinder, so cooks should anticipate that flavors will commingle if they pop in a new spice without first cleaning the grinder. That's fine for multiple spices used in a single recipe, but not so desirable while prepping dinner and dessert at the same time. And measuring spices for recipes is tricky without grinding them into another dish first.

Customer service and press materials suggest grinding coarse salt to clean the grinder. During testing, though, various spices caught in the grinder fell back into the container, obviously adulterating the salt (as they would any other spice).

Stick to single spices or homemade blends, clean the grinder between spices, and you may love it. Just don't rely on the spice changing feature.