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The Best Mortar and Pestles of 2024
Mortar and pestles are indispensable tools in the culinary world, offering a timeless method for grinding, crushing, and blending ingredients with precision and control. With origins dating back thousands of years, these simple yet effective devices have stood the test of time, retaining their relevance in modern kitchens. Crafted from materials like marble, granite, or wood, mortar and pestles come in various sizes and designs to suit different needs. Our favorite is the ChefSofi Mortar and Pestle if you want a high-quality product with an easy-to-use design. Whether it's pulverizing spices for aromatic curries, crushing herbs for flavorful pestos, or blending ingredients for savory pastes, mortar and pestles provide a tactile and authentic cooking experience, enhancing the depth and complexity of dishes with their hands-on approach to food preparation.
Our Top Picks For Mortar and Pestles
View all ContentsThe Best Mortar and Pestles
Best Overall
Boasting a deep round shape, the ChefSofi Mortar and Pestle provides metate-like friction for smooth and effortless crushing of your food. The organic granite construction makes it highly durable and hygienic, ensuring longevity while providing safe nuts, ginger, and chili paste, along with much more.
Furthermore, this mortar and pestle set comes unfinished, so the mortar will stay in place while on your kitchen’s countertop during a crushing session. At the same time, it packs brilliant scratch protection to ensure your shelves remain as pristine as possible. Overall, we think this ChefSofi’s mortar and pestle set is the best one around as it combines extended capacity with a durable and hygienic design — all at an affordable price!
Pros
- Durable granite construction for longevity
- Perfect for crushing various food items
- Hygienic design for safe grinding
- Stable and anti-scratch base
Cons
- Pestle is fairly short
Sturdiest Choice
The HiCoup Mortar and Pestle is the ideal tool for anyone looking to prepare delicious meals and treats. Featuring a large, granite bowl with a rough texture that provides the perfect grinding surface, it can be used to grind herbs, crack peppercorns, muddle nuts and seeds, and mash garlic and ginger root. With a capacity of four cups, this is the perfect size for preparing appetizers for a crowd. Not only is it easy to use, it is also easy to clean. Simply wash the mortar and pestle under running water or wipe down with a towel.
The mortar and pestle is made from high-quality stone, which ensures that no residual flavors or odors remain after each use. The set also includes an additional pestle in case one breaks, or if two need to be used at once. This makes it an ideal gift option for anyone who loves cooking and wants to add the perfect kitchen tool to their collection.
Pros
- Heavy and sturdy
- Large enough to make guacamole
- Easy to clean
Cons
- Must clean and season before use
Best Design
This HIC Kitchen Mortar and Pestle boasts a clean design made from fine quality porcelain to complement any kitchen decor. Packing a brilliantly deep design, this mortar and pestle ensure your ingredients remain inside, allowing for quick grinding with minimal effort. With this mortar and pestle, you’ll be able to grind whatever you want while enjoying impeccable style.
What’s more, the pestle features a well-designed grip for easy handling. Other than that, its minimal design provides easy cleaning and maintenance; you can simply chuck it in the dishwasher for cleanup.
Pros
- Clean and beautiful design
- Fits most decor
- Ensures the ingredients stay in place
Cons
- Pestle is relatively small
- Not that durable
Most Durable
As rock-based mortar and pestle sets tend to be more effective and durable than ceramic ones, most people prefer them. This crushing set by PriorityChef is a perfect stone-based mortar and pestle and is made from natural, high-quality granite. Its hefty 6.5-pound weight can give you a good idea of its quality and durability.
Though this set’s exterior is polished for a stunning appearance and ease of use, it has an unfinished bottom for maximum stability. This way, you can focus on grinding your ingredients rather than worrying about the frequent movement of your mortar.
Pros
- Unfinished bottom surface for stability
- Easily stays in place
- Natural granite build
Cons
- Not easy to move around
- May cause scratches on countertops
Most Stable
The problem with most mortar and pestle sets is their bottom. If it’s too unfinished for improved stability, it may put scratches on your shelf. But if it’s too polished, you may feel your mortar is moving around a lot when grinding food. That’s where this innovative set by CoolerKitchen comes in. It offers a detachable silicon base that keeps the mortar and pestle in place while ensuring your counter remains safe after a session of heavy crushing.
This set’s upper part is made of unfinished porcelain to ensure stable handling while providing a clean look. What’s more, this porcelain construction makes sure the mortar doesn’t absorb or transfer the flavors and scents of your ingredients.
Pros
- Stable yet anti-scratch base
- Easy to clean
- Silicon handle for convenience
Cons
- Rough and unfinished appearance
Most Versatile
Many manufacturers overlook aspects like microwave and freezer compatibility when it comes to constructing mortar and pestle sets. But this one is different — SWEEJAR has made sure its mortar and pestle set is food-grade and supports dishwasher cleaning, microwave heating, and freezing.
Even better, this mortar and pestle come with thorough authentication by SGS, a well-known multinational inspection company. When it comes to functionality, this set’s mortar is not that deep but still has a perfectly respectable capacity. And for those who care about aesthetics, you can opt for different colors to compliment your decor, too.
Pros
- Available in various colors
- Freezer and microwave-safe
- Simple, modern design
- Doesn’t affect the food’s flavor or odor
Cons
- Pestle’s grip could be improved
- Not fit for heavy grinding
Mortar and Pestle: A Buying Guide
Mortar and pestle sets have varying sizes, features, and purposes, making it hard to pick the right one for your needs. Thankfully, this buying guide will help you get the information about mortar and pestles that you need to ensure you invest in the right product.
Benefits of Mortar and Pestles
Fast grinding
Imagine cutting all your different ingredients with a knife one by one. Now, compare that to making a paste with a mortar and pestle. See the difference? By far, mortar and pestles are a faster option for preparing your meals.
Better taste and scent
Breaking your food into small pieces with an electric blender or knife is effective, but it doesn’t release your ingredients’ flavor, nutrients, and scent like a mortar and pestle does — by crushing them. The bashing motions involved in crushing with a mortar and pestle help with releasing the flavor and aroma of your ingredients.
On-the-go crushing
There are instances when you’re running low on time to chop your ingredients with a knife or when there’s no electricity to power up your blender. A mortar and pestle set is your best friend in such cases, allowing quick crushing of your ingredients to improve your meal’s taste and aroma.
Considerations When Choosing a Mortar and Pestle
Material
While some mortar and pestle sets are made of stone, others are crafted from ceramic materials. Opting for stone-based mortar and pestles is generally preferred, as stone is natural, higher-quality, and more hygienic.
Weight
The more a set weighs, the more stable it’ll be, allowing for convenient grinding of your ingredients. If you’re looking to crush something light, like pills, you can get away with a mortar that weighs a couple of pounds. But for heavy crushing, we recommend a minimum weight of 5 to 10 pounds.
Capacity
In most cases, a regular 2-cup capacity works fine for mortars. If you’re considering a mortar and pestle for grinding small pills from time to time, you’ll be good with a mortar with less capacity. But for grinding ingredients for meals and scientific experiments, a 2-cup mortar is the optimal solution.
Additional Buying Tips
Stability or anti-scratch functionality?
Mortars can either have a polished bottom for scratch resistance or an unpolished surface for stability. A way around this is a silicone base, which would ensure the mortar stays in place while providing resistance against scratches.
Polished or unpolished mortar?
Some mortars have a polished exterior for a clean and minimal appearance, while others are rough to allow for a sturdy grip in your hands. Unless you’ll be holding the mortar with your hands for stability, consider a polished one for safe handling and a clean look.
Things You Should Know About Mortar and Pestles
Pestle handling
Your set’s pestle will highly impact your user experience, especially if you’re into heavy crushing. We recommend pestles that offer a big, soft, and stable grip for the convenient grinding of ingredients. Pay special attention to this if you suffer from a wrist injury or another medical condition.
Effect on flavor and scent
The last thing you’d want from your mortar and pestle set is it changing your food’s flavor and scent. Unfortunately, that’s the case with most ceramic crushing sets since they’re made from industrial chemicals. So, make sure the mortar and pestle set you consider doesn’t contain any chemicals that might ruin the taste of the crushed goods.
People Also Asked
What are mortar and pestles used for?
Mortar and pestles are used for grinding food ingredients like nuts, garlic, ginger, or chilies. They’re also widely used for experiments and in the medical field for chopping pills and blending other medicines.
Are mortar and pestles necessary?
Mortar and pestle are important pieces of equipment for meal preparation. While you can always chop your ingredients with a knife or electric blender, the taste and scent offered by a mortar and pestle set upon crushing your food are unmatched.
Are mortar and pestles safe?
Most mortar and pestle sets are made from natural stones and are safe for crushing food ingredients. Even the ceramic mortar and pestles are food-grade and usually have been authenticated by food authorities for safety.
