How are you going to grind your beans to brew your morning coffee? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

There are plenty of tools and appliances in your house that can grind your coffee beans just how you need them to brew your favorite drink. I’ve been in your shoes before, so I’ve already done thorough research on how to grind coffee beans without a grinder. So grab your pen and paper, and take notes!

Mechanical Coffee Grinding Methods

Your kitchen is full of all kinds of food preparation appliances. And believe it or not, some of them can also be used for grinding coffee beans. Can you guess which machines I’m talking about?

Food Processor

A food processor works on a principle similar to a blade grinder. It slices through your coffee beans and gives you a coarse grind, similar to the one used for a French press. But keep in mind that the processing chamber is rather large, so you’ll need to use a lot of beans.

Here’s how you can use this appliance for grinding beans:

Pour coffee beans into the food processor. Put at least half a cup of beans, but no more than a full cup.
Close the lid.
Grind the beans with the pulse settings, with intervals from 3 to 5 seconds.
Repeat the previous step until you get the right consistency. This shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds in total.

Blender

In this case, a kitchen blender is like a mini version of the food processor. It grinds your beans on the same principle and will get you the same results. This is a pretty simple method, but don’t expect a miracle. Like with any other appliance with a blade, this won’t give you an even grind size. Still, it’s not a bad option when you don’t have a coffee grinder at your disposal.

One thing to keep in mind:

A blender, like other machines with a blade, creates heat when working. As you might know, heat extracts flavors and aromas from your coffee beans. That’s not something you want to happen prior to the coffee making process.

So what can you do?

Keep the grinding process short. It’s better to grind in short bursts than to keep the blender working without a break.

Here’s a step-by-step explanation:

Pour coffee beans into the blender (¼ to ½ cup at a time would be best) and close down the lid.
Set your blender on a medium-high setting. If there’s a grinder option, go for that instead.
Just like you’d do with a food processor, grind the beans with the pulse setting, with intervals from 3 to 5 seconds.
Do this no more than 6 times in total. All up, this shouldn’t take longer than 30 seconds.

Immersion blender

Obviously, this method isn’t much different to the two above.

The only novelty is that you need some kind of a tall and narrow container that you can stick an immersion blender in. A slim measuring cup will do the trick.

As for the steps, they’re pretty simple:

Pour your coffee beans into the container.
Insert the immersion blender in and cover the top area with your hands. This will prevent the beans from flying out while the blender’s working.
Grind your beans in intervals no longer than 10 seconds, until you achieve the desired grind.

Manual Coffee Grinding Methods

What if you don’t own a blender?

Well, your hands can do the job as well. There were no automatic coffee grinders back in the 15th century, yet coffee was a popular drink in Ethiopia and the Middle East.

And besides – the methods above give you a result that’s in no way perfect. Your hand will do a much better job, trust me.

Mortar And Pestle

Speaking of the 15th century, you know what they used back then?

The mortar and pestle.

This tool allows you to grind basically any plant into a fine powder. Well, the final result really depends on how long and firm you’re grinding.

One thing to note though. You can’t use more than ⅓ of the mortar capacity at a time. If you put too much, the grounds will fly out in all directions as you press them with the pestle. So, if you need lots of coffee grounds, you’ll have to repeat the process several times.

Here’s how you do it:

Fill your mortar with coffee beans, up to ⅓ of its capacity. If you’re using a small one, go for ¼ instead.
Take the pestle with your dominant hand and the mortar with the other one. This is because you need to use a lot of force to grind them.
Start by hammering down the beans with the pestle, until you break them down.
Then, switch to a swirling motion until you crush all the beans to a coarse consistency.
Move the pestle in a circular motion until you reach the desired fineness.

The great thing about this method is that you can make your grind coarse or fine, depending on which brewing method you’re using.

How To Grind Coffee Beans Without A Grinder: 8 Easy Methods To Try

How are you going to grind your beans to brew your morning coffee? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

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