Mortar and pestle materials pros vs cons

Carlos_92544

Dear ChefSteps, thank you so much for your amazing recipes and tutorials. I have been following your advice and trying to be a better cooker.

I am very interested to explore the world of sauces. However, I am very confused about the pros vs cons of mortar and pestle materials (ceramic, stone, etc). Could you tell us about it?

Thank you so much!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

What's your intended use? I have a granite one from Importfood.com and it's fantastic. It's imported from Thailand, so it's great for curries and SE Asian style sauces (I got it when I bought Andy Ricker's Pok Pok book) but also makes wonderful pesto and breaks down spices with ease. It's also nice for guacamole. Andy Ricker contrasts the hefty, beefy, weighty granite mortar with lighter wood or clay mortars, which are used to gently bruise ingredients (such as papaya) for Thai salads. These are used when you don't want to totally crush or pulverize ingredients, but just transform their texture slightly. I can't speak to the difference between ceramic and stone (except for knowing that ceramic can be somewhat fragile) but I can highly recommend one of the 7 or 8 inch granite ones; they're big and bad and highly regarded by everyone who has used one. The build is so solid, they will last for generations. And they're very reasonably priced. You really can't go wrong!