How To Grind Cloves – The Detailed Guides

Cloves are popular ingredients used for various recipes. It can help elevate the flavors of your soup, stew, and sauces.

Are you interested in adding cloves into your spice collection but don’t know how to grind it? In that case, this article is for you. Here, you’ll learn about different methods on how to grind cloves.

What Are Cloves?

Cloves are the sweet-smelling dried-out flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum tree. They are originally from Maluku islands in Indonesia but are now grown in other tropical areas. The clove tree of the Syzygium genus is a small to medium-sized tree with many thin, aromatic flowers arranged in a dense spherical head.

Ground spice is sold in small, round pods and is used for cooking, baking, and medicine. Cloves are used as a spice and as a flavoring for chocolate, candy, gum, and liquor. Cloves can also be used to make herbal tea or alcoholic beverages.

Can You Eat Whole Cloves?

The answer is yes, but only if you have a very high tolerance for cloves.

Whole cloves differ from ground cloves because they contain all their pungent bits intact. Ground cloves were used historically to enhance the flavor of bread and other baked goods.

In contrast, whole cloves made strong-tasting pastries like Danish pastry and Stollen. However, with time whole cloves have been used as a substitute for ground cloves.

Whole cloves contain an organic compound called eugenol found in clove oil. This contains antioxidant properties similar to those of vitamin E and other vitamins.

How To Grind Cloves With A Spice or Coffee Grinder

If you want to grind your own clove stems, you can use a spice or coffee grinder. The best option is to use a spice or coffee grinder that has a tamper. This will make sure that the cloves are ground evenly and efficiently.

To use your spice or coffee grinder, you will need to put it in the right setting for grinding. You can find this setting by looking at the bottom of your device. The first number is what will determine how fine or coarse you want your cloves to be ground. If you want them very fine, then choose settings between 0 and 1; if you want them medium-fine, choose a setting between 2 and 3; and if you want them coarsely ground, choose 4 or 5.

Here are the steps on how to grind cloves using a spice or coffee grinder:

1. Place the coffee or spice grinder on a flat surface.
2. Remove the coffee or spice grinder’s top plate.
3. Put the clove stems into the coffee or spice grinder, and close it.
4. Turn on the coffee or spice grinder to grind your cloves.
5. After a few seconds, remove the top plate from your grinder and scrape down any clumps of cloves that are stuck to it (you may have to do this more than once).
6. Turn off your coffee or spice grinder, remove the cloves from it, and put them into an airtight container until you’re ready to use them

How To Grind Cloves In A Mortar And Pestle

The easiest way to grind whole cloves is in a mortar and pestle. This method is suitable for small amounts of cloves, but if you have larger quantities, you will need a spice grinder.

1. Place the cloves into your mortar and add the sugar.
2. Use a pestle to crush the cloves until they are ground up into small pieces.
3. Add some water to the mixture and mix it well with your hands, then transfer it to a bowl (or another container). Allow it to sit for about 10 minutes before serving or storing in an airtight container in a cool dark place for up to 1 week.
4. Serve with hot drinks such as tea or coffee for added flavor.

How To Grind Cloves In A Blender

You can also grind cloves using a blender. These are the steps on how to do that:

Step 1: Put the cloves in a blender.

Step 2: Add a bit of water to the blender, then turn it on and let it run for about 30 seconds. This will break up the clove into smaller pieces and make them easier to blend.

Step 3: Add some more water if you need to.

Step 4: Continue adding water until the mixture starts getting too thick for your blender jar, then stop adding water. You’ll have to do this a few times until you get the best consistency. You can always add more water if needed.

How To Grind Cloves Using Sharp Objects

In this case, you can use a knife and a cutting board.

Another way to grind whole cloves is with a knife, which can be done in two different ways. One method involves using the flat of the blade to crush the clove, while the other method involves using the heel or back of the blade to crack open the clove.

The first method works best for small amounts of ground cloves, while the second method works best for larger amounts of ground cloves.

1. Place a single clove on top of your cutting board, perpendicular to it.
2. Place your knife flat against one side of the clove and push down with enough pressure so that you can see white lines forming between your finger and thumb where your hand meets your arm.
3. Do this again until you have crushed all four sides of your clove.

Repeat the process with each remaining clove until you have crushed all sides. You should have four piles total. If any clove breaks during this process, just continue crushing until there are no fragments left behind.

How To Grind Cloves Using A Ziplock Bag

You can grind cloves into a fine powder using a ziplock bag. This is an easy way to make your own clove powder, or use it to flavor your baked goods.

Follow these steps to grind cloves using a ziplock bag:

1.  Place the cloves in a ziplock bag and seal the top. This will help you get more out of your ziplock bag.
2. Put the bag in a bowl and crush it with a rolling pin or something similar until they are crushed into small pieces.
3. You may need to add some more water to the bag if there isn’t enough liquid in it already. You can also use salt instead of water to make larger quantities of spice paste.

How to Grind Cloves by Hand

There are various ways of grinding cloves by hand, but in this case, we will concentrate on one of the easiest methods of grinding cloves using two cutting boards.

1. Place your clove stems on top of the first cutting board
2. Place the other cutting board on top of the clove as if you are covering it
3. Start smashing until you get the desired texture and size of the ground cloves
4. Repeat in the other direction, smashing both sides of each clove before moving on to the next one.

What Are Some Great Ways To Use Cloves?

Cloves are one of the most commonly used spices in the world. The spice is used for cooking, baking, and even for medicine. There are many different uses for cloves, but here are some of the best ways to use clove:

1. In baking: Cloves can be used in baking to add a pleasant flavor to your favorite recipes. They work especially well with pieces of bread and cakes.
2. In medicine: Cloves have been used as medicine for centuries, especially when it comes to treating coughs and sore throats. A small amount of clove oil can be used topically on these areas as well as inhaled through a steam inhaler or vaporizer to relieve symptoms of colds or flu season.
3. As an insect repellant: Cloves have been used for centuries as an insect repellant due to their strong scent and ability to ward off insects from entering your home or workplace while keeping other people out.

FAQs

1. What part of cloves do you grind?

The ground part of the clove is the clove stems which is the dried flower bud that is dark brown and has a powerful smell.

2. How do you grind cloves without a grinder?

The easiest way to grind whole cloves is to use a mortar and pestle. However, this method is only good for the small number of cloves that you need at a time.

3. How much is 4 cloves ground?

Three whole cloves are equivalent to 1/4 of a teaspoon of ground cloves. So 4 ground cloves might be around a third of a teaspoon.

4. Can I grind whole cloves in a food processor?

To grind cloves with a food processor, it will take a while. You need to use a sharp knife to cut the clove stems in half before putting it in the food processor. Use the medium speed and grind until you achieve the desired texture.

5. How to grind cloves for baking ?

The best way to get the most flavor from your cloves is to use whole cloves. The easiest way to do this is by using a blender. Set up your blender with the blade attachment, add the cloves, and pulse until they’re in a small piece. You can rub the powder with your fingers to feel if they are ground well.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are several different methods available for grinding cloves. As long as you learn how to grind cloves using any of these methods, you should be able to add more spice and aroma into your recipes.

Ground cloves can be used on a variety of areas, with the most prominent being cooking. However, as mentioned earlier, you can also use them as medicine and an insect repellent. Hence, learning how to grind them is a skill that will surely come in handy.