I’m a salt-and-pepper kind of a cook, and I’m particularly keen on thefreshly-ground pepperhalf. That is, until I need alotof pepper. Have you ever cookeda recipe that calls for two full tablespoons of ground black pepper? It's annoying enough to make younever want to cook with black pepper again.
Many recipes ask you to crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, which is great for the 5% of the population who have one. Others will suggest you use your coffee grinder—just be prepared to have your coffee taste likesteak au poivrefor the next month.
Thinking there must be a better way togrind black pepperin bulk (without buying a mortar, spice grinder, or电动胡椒研磨机), I turned to the Epicurious Test Kitchen. Luckily, it turns out you don't need a miracle to easily get properly pulverized peppercorns for topping a steak or making thegreatest pull-apart biscuits you'll meet. All you need is a blender.
That's right. No crazy contraptions, no special equipment, and no upper arm strength: justa plain ol’ blender, the kind you’d use for making your morning smoothie or margaritas.
To use your blender as a pepper grinder, pour in at least a quarter cup of whole peppercorns into the bottom of a blender. Pulse the blender, occasionally shaking to ensure the peppercorns are being blended evenly, until the pepper reaches the fineness of grind you're after.
You need a larger amount of peppercorns to get proper results—but a little extra pepper lying around never hurt! Blend a little more than the recipe calls for in case some peppercorns are left unground. Keep any extra ground pepper in a sealed container up to five days for freshness. Oh, and by the way, this can work with other spices, too, like coriander seeds and fennel seeds. In all of these cases you'll end up with a surplus of freshly-ground spices—may I suggest you use them the next time youblend a smoothie?
