Selecting The Right Size Mortar

Selecting The Right Size Mortar

This is going to depend on how much cooking you do, the types of foods you like to prepare, and how much you can lift! There are many small grinding jobs in day to day cooking like a bit of garlic, chills, a small handful of herbs. The small version is very good. It is lighter to deal with when you need to move and clean it.The larger sizes function well for making sauces, pesto, pastes or any mixture in larger quantities. The large size gives you some "elbow" room when working. It also gives you a good work-out moving it around. In most case you don't need to be lifting it a lot although you may need to take to the sink for cleaning.

Depending on your culinary budget, space and uses you may prefer a small (6") and a medium-large (7 - 7.5"). If you are a pro, or an aspiring pro, you will want either the 8" large or the 9" extra-large version.


General Advantages Of The Granite Mortar
Weight - These mortars are heavy, well balanced and quite suitable for a lot of pounding and grinding. The weight of the pestle assists you with your work.

Composition - The stone is very nonporous which means it won't tend to absorb flavors and odors (unlike a molcajete where the flavor absorption is an asset) and it is quite smooth inside and very easy to clean.

Mortar Sizes

This is an overview of the average sizes, weights and uses of the Thai mortar and pestle. It is not uncommon for the size to vary from shipment to shipment and certainly from one vendor to another. Just as with any other hand made product of this type, like a molcajete, anticipate some variance, your 7" may be 6.75 or 7.25! (See About Where They Come From). Color will vary slightly from very dark green to a slightly lighter green.

Size	Weight (Avg)	Capacity	Uses
6"	7lb	1 +  cup	Nuts, seeds, chills, herbs
7 - 7.5"	16	2 + cups	Curries, pastes, sauces, pestos
8	18lb	3 + cups	Curries, pastes, sauces, pestos
9"	24lb	5 - 6 + cups	Curries, pastes, sauces, pestos

Caring For Your Thai Mortar

This mortar has is very non-porous and is easy to maintain. Simple sit the mortar and pestle in the sink and rinse it with warm water. You can use detergent if you wish but make sure to use a non-perfumed version to avoid any scents being transferred to your foods.