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(X-Post) What to do with coffee beans when you don't have a grinder? (Original Post) IrishAyes Mar 2014 OP
No more than blending nuts would, if you have a good blender. dixiegrrrrl Mar 2014 #1
That was only because I didn't know if I could find a way to make them ready for the percolator. IrishAyes Mar 2014 #3
One trick I learned was dixiegrrrrl Mar 2014 #11
I'd have to buy a grinder of any sort online. $ I can't spare after having all my plumbing under IrishAyes Mar 2014 #14
Aromatic Coffee Bean Candles: Quick and Easy Gifts MerryBlooms Mar 2014 #2
Now that's incredible. I love scented candles and already have tea lights because I have to prepare IrishAyes Mar 2014 #6
If you have a decent food processor, you can probably grind them enough for brewing, I would think. nomorenomore08 Mar 2014 #4
You wouldn't anyway - I don't have one!!!!!!!!!!! Just a cheap used blender from a yard sale. IrishAyes Mar 2014 #7
Looks like your blender will do fine. LiberalAndProud Mar 2014 #5
Great. IrishAyes Mar 2014 #9
I saw the rolling pin, but can't imagine the elbow grease that would take. LiberalAndProud Mar 2014 #10
Well, there's such a wealth of ideas showered upon me that I'm sure one or more will work. And it's IrishAyes Mar 2014 #12
Cover them with chocolate. winter is coming Mar 2014 #8
You can bet I will at some point. I'd chew rocks if they were covered in chocolate. IrishAyes Mar 2014 #13
no coffee!!!! i did this once irisblue Mar 2014 #15
What do you do when you don't have a grinder? Lizzie Poppet Mar 2014 #16
Civil War soldiers used to grind their own... Wounded Bear Mar 2014 #17
As a barista, I wouldn't use a blender. Chan790 Mar 2014 #18
Thank you, all truly wonderful ideas if a person has $ and/or lives near civilization. Neither IrishAyes Mar 2014 #19
Google "brewing unground coffee" for some good tips. Eleanors38 Mar 2014 #20
Wow - I don't even know where to start.... thanks. IrishAyes Mar 2014 #21

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
1. No more than blending nuts would, if you have a good blender.
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:11 PM
Mar 2014

I don't get why you want to simmer them overnight tho.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
11. One trick I learned was
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:49 PM
Mar 2014

to keep a qt jar of ground beans in the freezer.
Just in case
the power goes out, as it often does
the electric grinder dies

did you know....they still sell hand grinders. Another "just in case" cool thing to have.

you can tell I have been caught without my coffee once too often...

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
14. I'd have to buy a grinder of any sort online. $ I can't spare after having all my plumbing under
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 09:06 PM
Mar 2014

the house replaced with better material, and buying a new kitchen range and dishwasher all in the space of 3 months. Plus since the trap for the washing machine in the laundry room likes to freeze over during the longest and worst cold spells, I snatched a small apartment size washing machine at a salvage place so I can use it in the kitchen if the big one in the laundry room is offline so to speak. Right now I couldn't afford to buy a toothpick.

I know what you mean about being separated from my nectar of the gods, known to mere mortals as coffee. Because I prefer it perked, and percolators are very expensive brand new and prone to quit at the worst possible moment, I keep a few others in the pantry just in case. Loving old design, I use a couple of the Art Deco era ones as decoration. Beautiful things. If we lose power here, I have a stove top percolator just in case. And camping equipment since my kitchen range is electric. I AM PREPARED!

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
6. Now that's incredible. I love scented candles and already have tea lights because I have to prepare
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:32 PM
Mar 2014

well ahead for potential emergencies way out here. But I'm not likely to give too many away after 8 years of being beat over the head by a lot of these teabaggers. I could NOT survive here w/o the internet. Absolutely could not.

So I'll make some scented candles for myself and run some of the other beans through the blender so I can brew them.

Thanks, everyone!

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
4. If you have a decent food processor, you can probably grind them enough for brewing, I would think.
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:30 PM
Mar 2014

Don't do it solely based on my advice, though - I don't want to owe you a new Cuisinart!

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
9. Great.
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:37 PM
Mar 2014

Thanks. Now excuse me - I have to go apologize to the person I told I didn't think a rolling pin would work. I actually DO have one of those!

LiberalAndProud

(12,799 posts)
10. I saw the rolling pin, but can't imagine the elbow grease that would take.
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:43 PM
Mar 2014

Rolling pins are great for flattening dough. Crushing things not so much,.

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
12. Well, there's such a wealth of ideas showered upon me that I'm sure one or more will work. And it's
Sat Mar 1, 2014, 08:52 PM
Mar 2014

cheered me up on a gloomy day. That's really the best part.

irisblue

(32,794 posts)
15. no coffee!!!! i did this once
Sun Mar 2, 2014, 11:27 AM
Mar 2014

measured amount of beans in a paper bag place that in a bigger plastic bag, then hammered the heck out of it. the 2 bag idea is after learning that a meat tenderizer rips paper really easily
the shear idea of no coffee is horrid and terrifying

 

Lizzie Poppet

(10,164 posts)
16. What do you do when you don't have a grinder?
Sun Mar 2, 2014, 01:02 PM
Mar 2014

What do you do when you don't have a grinder?
What do you do when you don't have a grinder?
What do you do when you don't have a grinder?

Ear-lie in the moooooooorning.

Wounded Bear

(58,362 posts)
17. Civil War soldiers used to grind their own...
Sun Mar 2, 2014, 01:02 PM
Mar 2014

generally with either rocks, or their rifle butts. Coffee beans keep much longer (ask any afficianado) than ground.

I guess I'm saying be creative. 'Though I've never thought of 'slow cooking' coffee.

 

Chan790

(20,176 posts)
18. As a barista, I wouldn't use a blender.
Sun Mar 2, 2014, 01:15 PM
Mar 2014

It's not that the beans are hard, they contain enough oil that a blender (many times stronger than a blade coffee grinder) likely to reduce them to a greasy dust. That's fine if you're making Turkish coffee but not for anything else.

The best way to grind them...wait? Where did they come from if you don't have a grinder? Are they Starbucks? Another coffeehouse chain? Your local indie? Most of the previous will grind your coffee beans for you if you you bring coffee they sell you back to their store.

In a pinch, I once went to my local grocery store where I'm a regular and they know me and asked to use their conical burr-grinder. They said yes I think mostly because they wanted to keep my business.

As for cheap grinder, try your local Goodwill-type store. They're the kind of thing people often buy, never use then donate to get out of their cabinet. I got my $400 burr grinder second-hand for about $15. (They have no idea what they have or what the quality is. I also bought a Shun Nigiri (vegetable cleaver) for $5. MSRP: $210) Then because who knows what the condition of the burrs is or what it was used for, I replaced the burrs for another $20 from the manufacturer.

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
19. Thank you, all truly wonderful ideas if a person has $ and/or lives near civilization. Neither
Sun Mar 2, 2014, 04:11 PM
Mar 2014

applies to me. Somebody gave me the 4 bags of beans because they didn't know what to do with them. I have no idea where their friend got the beans, but it certainly wasn't anywhere around here. Although it's the county seat, by golly, this speck on the road is so small it doesn't even appear on many maps.

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