You like freshly ground coffee but don’t have a coffee grinder. Like you, many people keep wondering whether can you grind coffee beans in a blender or can’t.
Let me give you a straight answer. Of course, you can! You can do it with your Magic Bullet, Ninja, NutriBullet, or any model of the blender.
Not everyone owns a coffee grinder to have their medium or coarsely grind coffee. Many people have been using their blender for years!
In this article, you will get all of your questions answered including how to grind coffee beans with any blender. Stay with me…
How To Grind Coffee Beans With A Blender?
Smart DIY kitchen enthusiasts have already figured out multiple ways to grinding the beans without grinder. In fact, you can use your food processor for the same too!
In this guide, I will show you a couple of alternative methods of grinding your coffee beans.
But for now, let see how you can use your basic kitchen blender like Ninja to make your perfect good cup of coffee. Follow these steps:
- Measure The Coffee Beans
The right ratio of coffee beans and water is 10 grams of beans for every 6 ounces of water. I take ¼ cup of coffee beans for myself. Now, you figure out the number of coffee beans you need.
Of course, you will be brewing exactly the number of cups of coffee you need. But you should not be grinding for later use.
- Determine The Grind Type
Everyone has their preferred grind type. What’s yours? It can be an either coarse or medium-fine grind. Yes, both can be done using your blender!
- Grind medium-fine Coffee
If you are wondering how to grind coffee beans for Espresso with a blender, this is where you should pay attention. Because you need a fine grind coffee for your Espresso.
If you are up to a medium-fine grinded coffee, it’s very easy to achieve. Add the beans to the blender. Turn it on and let it blend for a few minutes.
Within just a few minutes, you will get your perfectly fine grinded coffee. Now, you can use it with your pour-over or Fresh press coffeemaker right away!
- Grind Coarsely
For a cold-brew cup of coffee like Turkish coffee, you need coarsely grinded coffee.
It’s a little bit difficult to grind your coffee coarsely using a kitchen blender. You can’t just add the beans and blend them for a minute. You need to grind them in pulse!
You need to grind them in small batches. That way you can ensure ample groove and move to grind them consistently. Consistency is really important when it comes to grinding your coffee beans.
Inconsistency in grinding will result in a bitter flavor. Because the natural oils of the beans will be inconsistently extracted.
Another reality check is no matter how well you try; you will never get the same consistency as the coffee grinder. But you will get a pretty much closer result.
But no need to fret. It’s still doable and this is what you should do…
You need to add the beans incrementally and use the pulsing option of your blender. Keep shaking the blender between each grind.
Do not keep the blender running at a higher speed for a long time. Naturally, you won’t get finely-grinded coffee. When you are done, you can use the coarsely grinded coffee with your drip coffee maker.
- Enjoy!
No matter which type of grind you prefer, when you are done, use the grinded coffee just what you would do normally. Lastly, enjoy!
Grinding Coffee Beans In Magic Bullet Or Nutribullet Blender
Many households have various types of blenders. Of course, not every type of them is not suitable to grind your coffee beans.
So, they keep asking whether they can use theirs mentioning the specific brands and models. Yes, you can use your nutribullet or magic bullet blender. Let me explain briefly how you can do it.
Pick the right blade first. In this case, it should be a flat one. Now, add the required amount of beans into the grinding cup and place the cup at the bottom of your Magic Bullet blender.
Use the pulsing motions and push the cup down while grinding. But don’t keep it pushing down constantly.
Keep pushing using the pulsing mode until you get your desired consistency. The more you press the finer grind you will get.
As long as you use the pulsing method, the beans won’t get overhead and the motor of your blender will be protected.
Alternative Method of Grinding Coffee Beans
What happens when you don’t have the grinder and the blender? You can still enjoy your coffee applying these methods I am about to talk about.
- Mortar and Pestle Method
People who prefer their own blends, like this method. It requires a little bit of manual labor, but still worth it!
You need to go slow. There is no place of rushing here. You can’t add too many beans in the mortar at a time. Your mortar won’t be able to offer you any fine grind that way.
This is how you can do it.
Start with a small handful of beans. Place a small handful into the mortar and hold it with one hand. Now, use the pestle to grind the coffee beans.
To have consistency, apply a twisting motion with a little bit of force to crush the beans into smaller pieces.
Now use the pestle with a rolling motion. Roll the crushed beans around the mortar until you get the consistent grind you are looking for.
If you have some patience, you will be able to get your medium to fine grind coffee.
- Hammer and Rolling Pin Methods
Don’t worry if you don’t have the blender or mortar & pestle. Every home has the hammer and rolling pin, right?
Well, you can use them to grind your coffee beans too!
Bear in your mind that, you will be grinding the coffee NOT smashing them into pieces. So, you must go easy while hammering.
Get your materials together:
- A large chopping board.
- Parchment paper.
- A dishtowel.
- A large plastic bag.
This is how you should do it.
Place the plastic bag flat on the chopping board. Now, press the hammer onto the beans to crush them gently. Move the hammerhead in a sideway action to crush the beans.
Keep doing this until you get your desired texture. Keep in mind that you can have both the coarsely and fine grind coffee applying the same technique. That just depends on how long you keep hammering in sideways action style.
The Problem of Using Blender To Grind Coffee
Your blender is a beast, no doubt. You can use it as a coffee grinder. Not just that, you can use the blender as your food processor too!
While we are on the subject, I need to disclose some risks associated with grinding beans with the blender. There is a huge chance you will get a lousy coffee.
Consistency in grinding is important to have a perfect cup of coffee. And it’s hard to get such consistency using the average kitchen blenders.
When there is inconsistency (some particles are large and some are too small), the hot water will react with them chemically indifferent manner. The taste will become either bland & flat or sour. Sometimes, even both!
So, if you are a REAL coffee person, you should get a coffee grinder to do the job. And make sure it’s a conical burr grinder to ensure having the same size particles.
Sum Up
So, can you grind coffee beans in a blender NOW? I just showed you how! Your blender is perfectly capable of handling such tasks easily. No need to worry if your coffee grinder stops working suddenly.