James Martin by Wahl Spice Grinder [Energy Class A]

I bought this to grind spices to make chai, and if you follow the manufacturers instructions then it works exactly as advertised, the extra part for grinding small amounts works perfectly, I followed the instructions to the letter by starting without the attachment for a few short pulses, then I put the attachment on and I got the result I was after. The only problem I had was in the instructions it says ''no more than 5grams(easy to understand) and NOT above the level of the blades'', the problem I have, is that the blades are bent up at the ends and the instructions don't make it clear if they mean the horizontal or uprights when they say ''not above the level of the blades'', so I only added enough spices to come up to the horizontal part of the blades, and I found that this is enough to do a pot of chai the way I make it, because I like the taste of fresh ground spices in my chai this works well for me, it only takes a few seconds to do, so I am happy to do it as I need it. I found that cleaning up afterwards was fairly easy with a piece of kitchen paper, but I am going to get a pastry brush to make it easier, one thing I would add that I have not seen elsewhere, is that you should clean underneath the grinding chamber if you are doing a very fine grind, as I did, I found some very fine dust underneath the grinding chamber, and this could be a problem if it's not kept clean, which is easy to do. The spices I had to grind were, whole Nutmeg; Cloves; Cinnamon stick; Cardamom pods and black Pepper, I broke the cinnamon stick up and crunched the Nutmeg(with pliers) all of the rest were whole, I am now going to get all of the other spices I need to make chai the way I like, the only thing I will change is that I will try toasting the spices first, if I like this, then I may grind large batches, which is an option with this machine, the only thing I would change is that I would have made it good for wet grinding as well, the booklet is a good starting point for those new to making Masalas and rubs etc, I hope this is helpful.

I spent ages trying to find the right spice grinder. Previously had a DeLonghi coffee grinder but I didn't like the fact that you couldn't wash it out.... this was one of my key criteria. I do not use it for coffee but grind a lot of different spices.I've had this product for a month and it has performed really well. I like the fact that you can take out the bowl and blade and shove it in the dishwasher. It has a neat insert which allows you to grind small quantities. I also find it useful if I want a really fine powder. If you leave the insert off then you generally get a rougher grind.It pulses when you press the button which prevents you grinding too far or over-heating the device. Today I ground dried chillies which are a little tacky and it ground them to a nice even size. It works great on whole spices, even a stick of cinnamon. I haven't tried whole dried turmeric yet (which killed my last grinder) but I think if I break it up first it should work.It has a short lead (which all of these products seem to suffer from) but if you pull down the bottom section and you can wind the cable around the base then push it up again for storing neatly.On the whole, I've very pleased with this product.

Fantastic little grinder for dry ingredients only. Excellent attachment to get a really fine powder which is to be used after the initial grind. Do not keep the motor running continuously - you'll only burn the motor out if you do - short sharp bursts do a much better job. It's easy to clean too as the grinder and cup are removable. The cable is neatly stored in the bottom of the appliance - just pull the black part down to remove it and push it back up when in use (hope this is clear). We use ours mostly for grinding black peppercorns, they taste much fresher than a hand grinder and you get a finer, more even grind. No more choking on the large bits!

First couple of times I used it it worked ok. Plastic top now cracked. The plastic dome nut on the top of the blade has also broken off and the insert for grinding smaller quantities spins as it grinds. It also occasionally stalls. I do not use it very often but if you use grinder a lot I would skip past this one. It still grinds spice really fine but for how much longer I am not sure.

Previous reviewers are right in saying that the bowl cracks. However, mine has lasted for twenty years and has more than paid for itself despite hairline cracks that appeared early on. It also has a real advantage over other low cost grinders in that it will finely grind small amounts of spices because of the shroud that you can fit inside the bowl. I’ve just bought a new one when one of the cracks finally caused the bowl to fall apart. Here’s the good and bad news: the bowl is now made from a softer less brittle plastic so I’m guessing it won’t crack as easily. However in just a few days the transparent part of the bowl became scratched and became opaque. It doesn’t diminish its effectiveness though. The other thing that concerns me is that the drive shaft to the blades rattles badly when it’s running. Again, it doesn’t effect its operation but I have my doubts that I will see another 20 years from this model!The bottom line is that it’s inexpensive and particularly good for small quantities of spices. If that’s what you need - as I do - then the Wahl should suit you fine