HiCoup Mortar and Pestle Set - 6 Inch Granite, Large Molcajete Bowl with Stone Grinder - Spice, Herb and Avocado Masher for Guacamole, Salsa and Pesto - Holds 2 Cups

I have ALWAYS wanted one of these for things like homemade salsa, spinach dip, and guacamole. It's been on my wishlist for a while, and after the price recently dropped below $15... I knew I just had to have it! This thing is heavy, well-made, and now a beautiful new addition to our kitchen countertop. We're currently halfway through the initial seasoning/setup process - which consists of grinding up cups of dry white rice until its pulverized into powder... several times. The end goal is no blueish tint or visible rock dust in your white rice powder when finished, which would signify that you've smoothed out the inside well enough to avoid getting granite in your future food. Be forewarned! The process has taken us about 40 mins so far and it has been nothing short of a full arm workout for both my husband and I. We may be overdoing it a bit, but better safe than snaggletoothed. 😭Arm workout aside... both the mortar and pestle are beautiful! It has anti-slip felt padding on the bottom. It's a great size and weight - perfect for a family/party-sized amount of whatever you're mixing up. Very high quality. The price (currently $13 and change) is absolutely unbeatable. In my opinion, it's worth 5 times that amount.If you're seriously eyeing it, trust the overwhelmingly positive reviews here and add to cart! There are tons of recipes and herbal/medicinal experiments to discover. I also feel like it would be a nice gift. Comes in a professional looking box, well packaged. ❤️

Very pretty and decorative as well as useful. I got this to find ingredients for golden milk as well as other things and it works like a charm. The mortar is heavy enough that it does not slide or move around. The inside is just the right roughness to grind but there are no cavities for things to get caught in and it s definitely nonporous. It is also a beautiful black granite with some scattered mica type inclusions that twinkle as the lighting shifts making it a decorative addition to the kitchen when not in use.The size is just right for my needs. Grinding things like ginger root and turmeric root to make golden milk as well as other similar applications. The depth helps keep things from jumping out while grinding and the size is perfect for such applications. I do not think it would be large enough to make salsa or guacamole in unless you were making a very small batch but then that is not why I got it.The only issue I had is with the seasoning recommendations. The first step after washing and allowing to air dry was to grind ⅓ cup of rice in it till it was powder. I can understand the breaking in process but this was amazingly difficult or else I used the wrong kind of rice (white Jasmine rice). Maybe a short grain would have worked better but I ground off and on for the entire evening and for some time the next morning and the rice never completely turned to powder. In fact many grains were still whole but my wrist sure noticed. Needless to say I did not finish grinding the rice. The mortar was already so nice and seemed the right roughness/smoothness that I am not sure it actually needed this step but I am sure some pre-grinding of something does help get excess stone dust of manufacturing out and does perhaps smooth any excessively rough edges.

Exactly as expected. Solid stone, heavy and works

Bought this M&P for myself. It is well made and good looking. The neutral color tones fit most decors. Some granite M&P owners complained that the Pestle would crack. I haven't had that problem, even the vigorous pounding necessary to crash peppercorns and other seeds. I do baby it though and make sure it won't fall, as it rolls on the counter easily. Be certain to season it as instructed with rice. Cleanup is easy using just water or a non-scented dish soap (a few drops only). It dries easily. Even when using oils in it cleans up well. No residual odor. I love this implement and enjoy how it releases flavors from spices. I make all my meat rubs in this. I wouldn't dishwasher this though because I put the felt pad on the bottom to protect my counter tops.Update: Purchased in 2018 and have used it regularly since. A M&P is a must-have in the kitchen for getting that freshly ground flavor out of your spices. It is my go-to for my meat rubs. So far nothing broken with use. I have avoided any drops by being careful. It doesn't really retain any flavors as long as you use the unscented detergent - and remember only a few drops needed. Still highly recommend. And it continues to look great.

Recently, due to old age, I had to pull all my remaining teeth. I need to grind my food to eat it. I have an electric grinder but I can't get it to grind chicken, for example into a paste. There are bits of chicken that remain, no matter how long I grind. The granite mortar was to be the final step . . . grind the large, remaining bits into a paste. This task has not worked out for me. It takes too much time. The granite mortar works fine if you start out with soft foods, but the electric grinder is much faster. I love the granite mortar, but I have to keep experimenting with it. In my kitchen, it sits on the counter top. I love to look at it. I just have to learn how to use it.

I bought this to grate spices, specifically nutmeg and cinnamon for holiday eggnog. I've compared it with decent ground spices. Grind them yourselves.This is basically machined granite. Outside is kinda rough, inside is smooth.So I put in my usual 2 whole nutmeg to two cinnamon stick eggnog spice mix... and it leaves a lot of chips. I ground for a long while, scraped the sides. I'll keep using it, hand it down to my grandkids if they want it, but I've used better mortars. The one at the culinary school I attended part time cooking classes in would gring whole nutmeg and cinnamon and leave no chips, everything would be powder.I have no idea where to get one. Nor do I understand why that one left no chips while this one leaves chips.So this is the second best mortar and pestle I've ever used.I am still happy I bought it.