Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Having purchased a horrid Pinzon knife block in the past, I didn't have very high hopes of this mortar and pestle set and it definitely delivered on those low expectations.
The first thing you have to assume about ceramic mortars is that you will have dust where the pestle grinds against the mortar. Ideally the dust is simply the final finish on the product grinding off and with a liberal seasoning with a salt grind; the ceramic dust will stop hopping in your basil pesto recipes. This mortar set was no different except for the sheer amount of dust - the finish was pretty rough and created quite a bit of excess dust even after several grindings using kosher salt. The item description says that the mortar is "ribbed," and I thought that might have been contributing to the dust, but I'm not really sure what "ribbed" might mean in this case. The only "ribbing" that's visible are the ceramic finish lines (such as when you wipe wet clay with a wet paper towel to smooth it out before finishing it in the kiln). I'm not sure if you can truly call those lines "ribbing" (when I think "ribbing" I'm more thinking along the lines of a Helen's Asian Kitchen 5-1/2-Inch Ceramic Suribachi Set).
The second problem with ceramic is that when it's not glazed, it's rather porous so it has this habit of absorbing discoloring agents, such as chlorophyll from herbs. My first grinding was a mix of basil and peppermint fresh from the garden. After the grind, I hand-washed the mortar and pestle with dish soap. Afterwards the inside of the mortar was very discolored - even after following up with a second wash with a dish sponge the discoloration did not dissipate.
An additional problem with this particular mortar and pestle set is the joint where the head of the pestle meets the wooden handle - the connection is not flush. Therefore food, bacteria, and in my case, extra glue which was not properly cleaned off during manufacturing, can accumulate, making sanitation a concern.
My suggestion would be to skip this particular mortar and pestle set unless you're a collector and just need another piece to look good in your kitchen. The only good thing that I can say about this set is that it was pretty solid while being used on a countertop, which actually surprised me because compared to a marble set, there wasn't very much heft. Unfortunately being a ceramic set, I "pinged" my mortar and pestle against each other quite a bit and I was really expecting chips and cracks to start appearing - but I will say that it hasn't happened yet!
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