How to Grind Coffee Without a Grinder at Home?

Whether you’re a coffee connoisseur, aficionado or consider yourself just a coffee lover, or simply can’t get your morning started without a caffeine boost, chances are very high that you have a high-quality coffee grinder in your home.

No doubt your grinder is easily accessible at all times of the day, however, just like other mechanical devices, a coffee grinder is bound to break down, for one reason or the other. 

even when the power is out,

Or maybe your residential area may have threats from summer storms or winter blizzards. Among such threats there is the possibility of a prolonged power outage, this is the situation where hand grinding without an electric device comes in true.

Besides a technical malfunction or a power outage

you might visit a nearby coffee shop, possibly there you may not find your desired taste, then you might visit friends or family members, who only use pre-ground coffee beans, while you have every confidence in freshly ground coffee beans. 

Now, you’ve probably dreamed of grinding your coffee beans with your hand without a grinder right at home. Don’t panic in this situation! Luckily for you, here is a detailed guide.

Luckily, with the right tools, you can! Once you get the hang of it, you can experiment with the different types of beans with different methods of grinding, you find the coffee that’s perfect for you.

In this instructable, you’ll learn how to grind coffee beans. This instructable will focus on the techniques, equipment, rather than recipes.

Now let’s get forward as Tom Petty right said: “The waiting is the hardest part.”

How To Grind Coffee Without A Grinder

Here are the tools required for grinding coffee beans without a grinder at home:

• Mortar and pestle: If you follow this traditional method. You’ll get your desired size powder of coffee grounds and an even better taste.
• Blender, blade blender, or blade grinder: Your home blender can give you coarse coffee grounds quickly. Be careful! a blender’s blades do not work well with solids. The built-up heat can destroy the flavor of your coffee beans.
• Food Processor: A blender and a food processor are pretty similar. They whack away at the beans leaving you with an inconsistent grind.
• Rolling Pin: With your pretty skills you’ll be able to crush and grind beans at the same time using a rolling pin.
• Hammer: A hammer is a handy way to crush your beans pretty well, As you smash the beans, the grounds will become finer and finer.
• Meat Tenderizer: Take your meat tenderizer, and press down on your coffee beans firmly for as long as it takes to reach your desired texture.
• Hand mincers: Using the hand mincer, you can grind your beans for your morning brew. Simply put whole coffee beans through the mincer using its hand crank you can get your results.
• Knife: You can grind your coffee beans with a knife, You’ll need a large cutting board to keep the beans from running away. Use the flat side of the knife to carefully press down the beans. 

Pre-grinding instructions

Here are some important pre-grinding instructions that are necessary to follow in all the following processes.

• Use gloves sanitizer and mask during the grinding process 
• Coffee soaks up other flavors and aromas easily, so make sure anything that will touch your coffee will be clean. If your mortar and pestle, blender, or any other grinding device have leftover cumin seeds, you’ll end up with a spiced-up coffee.
• If you use a ziplock bag, cling wrap, or paper towels and they stay intact, reuse them.
• Start your grinding process with a clean hand wash.
• Clean your grinding equipment before and after grinding.
• Always measure out your coffee beans before grinding and grind as many beans as you need immediately, because an old ground may give a stale taste.
• You can often find a hand grinding tool at a mart or second-hand stores, however, be advised that many used tools may have been used for sauerkraut or pickles and could contaminate your brew.

Mortar and pestle

Whether you don’t have a proper conical burr grinder, blender, food processor, any other electric appliances, or you want to make sure you can get great coffee even when the power is out, this is the mortar and pestle for grinding coffee beans by hand. Since there’s no motor, there’s nothing to heat the coffee, so you’ll get a great morning workout from a hand grinder.

Blenders, food processors, hammers, rolling pins, meat tenderizer and all other methods of grinding

 will only carry you so far and neither of those methods will make your grounds super fine, which is where grinding beans by mortar and pestle come into play.

Since this process takes longer than the food processor and blender, so will require a bit of grit and persistence to achieve. But if you require coffee beans ground for one or two persons this method is pretty for you.

This is a traditional handy method for grinding. Both pharmacists and housewives have been using this age-old tool to grind spices, medicines, and herbs into a fine powder as far back as 6,000 years ago. Both hammering and rolling motion are combined here, which helps to produce a consistent grind texture. Plus this alternative hand grinder gives you fine control for a range of grinds from French-press coarse to Turkish-coffee fine.

You may have one of these in your kitchen for making pesto, aioli, or chimichurri, if not, you can buy a mortar and pestle in the kitchenware section of most stores.

There are many types of mortar and pestle, for example, glass, ceramic, wood, marble, granite and iron, etc. but the marble type is the best one. Whether you use any type of mortar and pestle, keep one thing in mind, that you will never use this one for any other kitchen methods. If you follow my advice, you’ll taste better.

Grinding equipment:

• Any type of mortar and pestle
• Hard floor or powerful kitchen counter
• Bowl for keeping ground
• sieve of your desired mesh size

Grinding procedure:

• Measure up your coffee beans, then pour them into your mortar. Keep in mind that a small amount of coffee allows you to achieve a consistent grind, within a few minutes.
• Don’t fill your mortar more than about ¼ full to stop any overflow and to prevent the beans from hopping out. If you have more beans to grind, you can grind a second batch.
• For better control, use your dominant hand to hold the pestle, while, use your other hand to hold the mortar in place. Hold the mortar securely, so it doesn’t slip from your hands during the heavy pounding with the pestle.
• Use the pestle to forcibly press down the coffee beans, and crush them with a twisting motion. Make sure that you grind every corner to achieve a consistent grind.
• Once crushed, roll the coffee beans around the bowl using your pestle, until you see the consistency and texture you want.
• Use a sieve to separate wanted ground from unwanted particles. You can prepare different textures of your ground by using the screens of your wanted mesh sizes.
• Hold the fine-mesh sieve over a bowl, add the ground beans to the strainer, and gently tap the side repeatedly until all of the ground has passed through the strainer. 
• Pour the remaining particles back into the mortar, you can add some quantity of beans if needed and repeat the process till you have enough coffee ground.

Best for:

• Drip coffee, Chemex coffee, French press coffee, cold brew, filter, and Turkish.
• Coarse, medium grind, extra fine grind.
• Light-roasted beans, medium roasted beans, dark roasted beans

Blender, blade blender, or blade grinder

Are you trying to figure out how to grind coffee beans without a grinder? Don’t worry! I have some alternatives for you. One of those is a blender. 

Blenders are the most familiar type for coffee grinding, for the vast majority of people may have blenders. If you are one of those, then this article is for you. Although this alternative is very obvious, it is still a bit difficult. 

Why blenders work not best when grinding?

The answer is simple, they are not manufactured for the purpose of grinding. Blenders work best when there’s liquid to help move around the solids you put in them.

If you’ve ever made a milkshake, vegetables shake, or smoothie without enough liquid, you know better how it can hang up your blender blades and overwork the motor. If you do this too often, it can even burn up your blender motor.

A blender is an acceptable coffee grinder replacement in an emergency. The blender’s blade chops the coffee in a manner that doesn’t much like a blade grinder but somewhat similar. It will never be as consistent as a conical burr coffee grinder, but it’s a hack!

One important thing is that not all blenders are created equal, so you should compulsory check the manufacturer’s specs to be sure that your particular blender can handle the task.

You can study Magic Bullet and NutriBullet operates in this regard.

Some blenders may have a “grind” setting, that is meant for use on coffee types, but if they don’t, not to worry! You can use a “pulse” setting. What means pulse setting? It means, when you press on the pulse button appearing as “pulse” or “P” on your blender, it works at the highest speed and stops immediately once you release it. By using a pulse setting you can manually blend the beans by yourself. 

However, make sure only to grind in two to three seconds short, quick bursts rather than running the blender continuously, and your whole grinding process takes about 20 seconds, perhaps 30 seconds if you need it! Because when you run the blender at high speeds its blades can heat the beans, this risks overheating the beans’ natural oils, which can deliver a harsh and bitter-tasting cup of coffee.

Using a blender, you won’t have a whole lot of control over your grind size but your on-and-off grinding technique produces the best results for a relatively coarse and possibly medium-coarse grind size.

Make sure your blender is properly clean so that it doesn’t take on the taste and smell of stale coffee. Do you want a margarita that tastes like an unwashed percolator? Definitely not! 

Grinding Equipment:

• Any type of blender
• Bowl for keeping ground
• sieve of your desired mesh size
• Table or kitchen counter for placing the blender

Grinding method:

• Ensure your blender is clean before using it to grind coffee.
• Measure out your coffee beans. Measure out only the beans you need and pour them into your blender. You can grind about a tablespoon per cup of coffee you’d like to make. 
• Make sure you keep the lid shut on the top of the blender during grinding or else you’ll face a bean tornado all around your kitchen, as the beans will tend to fly out when the blender is running. If you have not a lid shut, you can use a little hardboard, vin-board, or crockery plate for this purpose or you can temporarily close the blender with your hands. But make sure you have worn the gloves when you use your hands as a lid for the blender. 
• Make sure your amount of coffee beans into the blender is not more than ¼ cup to ½ cup of beans or else the beans can’t move easily. 
• If you’re planning to brew a whole pot of coffee, then this trick will take some time, but it can help prevent your blades from getting gunked up and stuck. On the other hand, If you throw half a bag of coffee into any old blender, you’ll have inconsistent grinds with chunks of beans throughout. Or else, you’ll face the worst news —that would be, you could burn out your blender’s motor trying to do a task it’s just not up to.
• Select the “grinder” setting, If your blender has if not, a medium-high speed can work better. Grind your beans to your preferred consistency, using a “pulse” technique, grinding in short, quick bursts in time limits of 3 to 5 seconds. You can repeat this process several 4 to 6 times for a maximum total of 20 to 30 seconds.
• For best results, you can tilt the blender slightly from side to side while grinding your beans; this practice causes the larger portions of the beans to move into the blade path, ensuring a more even grind.
• Empty your blender, add new coffee beans and repeat the process until you reach the desired amount of ground coffee beans.
• You’ll be careful with the pulse timing because the most powerful blenders are strong enough that they cause friction and can actually cook things, which is great when making a smoothie or soup, but not so preferable when grinding coffee beans. A few seconds too long and beans turn into butter. If you blend more, it’s difficult to reverse the effects of over-blending.

Pros:

• It is suitable when you are at home.
•  Available nearly everywhere and almost everyone is familiar with a blender.

Cons:

• A blender grinds the coffee beans unevenly, that you will often end up with large and tiny particles in the same grind. An uneven-sized ground of coffee beans is likely to give you an inconsistent cup of coffee.
• Not suitable when you are traveling.
• With a blender, you can hardly get the same results from the same coffee day after day.
• The blender tends to crack. 
• Needs regular and thorough washes. 
• It makes much noise while grinding 

Best for:

• Coarse grind size and medium-coarse grind size.
• Cold-brew and French press.

Blender alternates

Mostly, the connoisseurs, aficionados, and baristas do not use the blender, nor they like or recommend it for grinding coffee beans. Because this is a so-called cheap device for the general-purpose of making smoothies, and they can be very handy for this purpose. Though you certainly have one, you should relegate it to grinding coffee beans for your morning brew. So I present to you some grinders which are better alternatives for a blender. 

Pros of flat disc burr grinder:

• The flat disc burr grinder gives a very precise grind every time.

Cons of flat disc burr grinder:

• The flat disks of the grinder can heat up, as a result, it can change the taste of your brew.

Pros of conical burr coffee grinder or burr coffee grinder 

• They have a high level of control.
• Its motor operates more slowly and keeps the grinder from heating up.
• The conical burr coffee grinder grinds the coffee beans to perfection. 
• They have low noise. 
• You can get a perfect grind every time.
• You can easily get everything from a coarse grind to a Turkish ground of coffee beans with a conical burr coffee grinder.

Cons of conical burr coffee grinder or burr coffee grinder 

• They are more expensive.
• Lack of availability, most of us unaware of this device. 

Food Processor

A food processor is a larger version of the blade grinder in the way it works – you know. It is a bit different than a blender because you will have little control over grind size. Though the kind isn’t as good as a burr grinder for consistency of particle size or adjustability, it is absolutely good enough for cold brew, French press, and possibly for a filter coffee maker.

However, this is all about your survival in a circumstance, so if you’re stuck in a vacation rental with no way to make coffee grounds apart from a food processor, here’s how you maintain yourself without losing your sanity to resort to the drive-through espresso stand every morning.

A food processor will satisfy you when you’re in a pinch, but you’ll get results that are not more different than a blender. Since the circumference of the food processor is usually wider than that of a blender, so you’ll require more beans while grinding. Grind the number of coffee beans you require, as if you double the number of coffee beans it should do the trick – because, if you’re only two people, you’ll already have grounds for tomorrow! Just make sure to store the leftover grounds in an airtight plastic bag and save them in a freezer till the morning.

Grinding equipment:

• Any type of food processor
• Bowl for keeping ground
• sieve of your desired mesh size
• Table or kitchen counter for placing the food processor

Grinding method

• Measure out the coffee beans that you want to grind. Be careful and measure only the amount of coffee you need for today’s morning brew because old coffee grounds do not taste fresh for the next day.
• Pour the measured amount of coffee beans into the food processor, but make sure it would be between ½ cup to 1 cup of beans. Place the lid firmly on the top.  
• Use the “pulse” technique on your processor, because the pulse technique is the key to making a decent cup of coffee (if not a great cup of coffee). Grind the beans in short time limits, which are not more than 3 to 5 seconds. Repeat the process for a total time of up to 20 to 30 seconds, until the desired consistency is achieved. 
• Sift the ground beans by using a sieve and grind successive increments. Shake your blender in between grinds, turning on your machine in short. Your trick of quick bursts will coarsely grind up the beans closest to the blades, and then shaking will allow the larger pieces to fall closer to the bottom blade. 
• If the amount of coffee beans is more than half a cup, you can tilt the processor slightly from side to side while grinding; this causes the larger portions of the beans to move into the blades and the grounds will make roughly the same size.
• Your coffee beans ground is ready now, you can empty the food processor. If the amount of ground beans is insufficient, you can add new beans to the processor, and repeat until you reach the desired amount of ground coffee beans.

Pro Tip 1: If the coffee beans get stuck to the bottom of the processor at a point, turn the power off and give the sides and bottom a scrape with a spoon type or shake to loosen everything up.  

Pro Tip 2: Ensure your food processor is clean before grinding or else it causes your brew to stale. 

Pro Tip 3: When you finish your work, clean your processor for the next term. 

Suitable and not suitable

• Suitable: Like a blender, it is suitable when you are in your home.
• Not suitable: When you are traveling.

Pros:

• A food processor doesn’t tend to crack if well-manufactured. 

Cons:

• It is very expensive.
• Not available everywhere and most of us not familiar with the food processor
• A food processor grinds the coffee beans unevenly, that you will often end up with large and tiny particles in the same grind. An uneven-sized ground of coffee beans is likely to give you an inconsistent cup of coffee.
• With a food processor, you can hardly get the same results from the same coffee day after day.
• Needs regular and thorough washes. 
• It makes much noise while grinding 

Best for:

• Coarse grind size and medium-coarse grind size.
• Cold-brew, French press, Good for a filter coffee maker.

Rolling Pin

A rolling pin is one of the objects that most people already have in their kitchens, so you would have also. This will help you when you find nothing else for grinding your coffee beans. Rolling pins of different models available in the market. Whether you have a standard wooden model, a heavy marble one, or a shiny, stainless steel rolling pin, this kitchen staple will let you grind your coffee beans without a grinder.

You could even use some reasonable alternates of a rolling pin like a sturdy glass or wine bottle to roll your coffee beans if you don’t happen to have a real rolling pin. Sure! But just be careful! Because one of my friends broke his glass and got his hand injured during this practice. You wouldn’t be! 

So during this method, you must require a little elbow grease as well as an observant eye to ensure uniformity.

Though this trick is a bit labor-intensive, sure it will get you the results you need in a pinch. The classic rolling pin crushes and grinds the beans at the same time. This method provides you a bit more even texture and a finer grind than some other methods, so it will work best for French press coffee since the grounds are best if they are coarser than those used for drip coffee. Furthermore, you won’t have stray beans flying around your kitchen as you grind them down.

If you’ve done all the process right, you can achieve a medium-fine to fine grind this technique, which is ideal for a drip or pour-over brewing 

French press

What you’ll need?

Rolling Pin; You can also use any durable cylindrical object like a wine bottle, can of food, or wooden dowel, etc. for grinding purposes.

A normal size cutting board, a chopping tray, or counter space

Plastic ziplock bag or parchment paper

Grinding equipment:

• Any type of rolling pin or a rolling pin type object
• Plastic Ziploc bag, freezer bag, or parchment sheets
• Bowl for keeping ground
• sieve of your desired mesh size
• Table, large hardboard, or kitchen counter for running the process

Grinding method

• Measure your coffee beans, then pour them into a well-manufactured plastic freezer bag. Be sure to squish out the air so, if there is excess air present in the bag, the bag will burst as soon as you begin rolling.  
• If you don’t happen to have a real rolling pin, then place the measured amount of coffee between two sheets of parchment paper. Fold the edges of the parchment paper over to seal them, otherwise, you will scatter your ground. Don’t fill the bag too much to move the beans. When you have filled the bag, seal it closed. Lay the bag flat on the counter, hardboard, or on a chopping tray in your kitchen.
• Press down the bag and start the process by crushing the beans with the rolling pin like you would with a hammer. Roll the bag slowly, begin rolling from one side of the bag to the other. Drive the rolling pin over the coffee bag, applying pressure to the beans in the bag. Continue rolling gently but firmly.
• Don’t roll from the bottom of the bag toward the zipper, it may force your coffee beans out the zipper and make a mess. You can protect your bag by wrapping the bag in two tea towels. The extra padding could also extend your rolling time, but it also adds a little extra mess protection to your bag.
• Once you have crushed, roll the rolling pin over the beans while pressing down hard enough to crush the bean particles. Gather remnants of the beans to the middle and repeat rolling.
• Roll the pin back and forth over the bag until the ground reaches your preferred consistency. Patience is your key! Because this process is labor-intensive! Continue your practice if the grounds are still too large. Repeat the process until you end up with a grind size you’re happy with.
• PRO TIP. 1: This trick may not work so well with lightly roasted coffee beans, due to they being denser than dark roasted coffee beans.

Best for:

• Coarse grind.
• Cold-brew and french press.

Hammer

Hammer is another blunt force grinding tactic.

As you already know, this is the same tool you use to drive nails into things. But here we’ll tell you, how you can grind coffee beans with this handy tool.

It is a handy way for grinding when you have nothing else. Furthermore, It’s not a too time-consuming trick. 

Hammers of different kinds like a claw hammer, ball pein, cross, and straight pein, cross pein pin hammer, joiner’s mallet, soft-faced hammers, sledgehammer, etc. are available in the market. I don’t know what kind of hammer you have?

Although this is best done with a wider head hammer, if you don’t have a special hammer for this, try out what you have available. It doesn’t matter much which type of hammer you use, but if you use it according I am telling you, an ordinary hammer will do its job in a good manner. 

You will probably not get the best grind from using a hammer, because it doesn’t have nearly the surface area, but you’ll be able to brew some coffee. 

Grinding beans with a hammer are pretty similar to the rolling pin technique. Simply place the beans inside a bag and smash them.

Be sure to squish out the air so that the bag is less likely to pop while grinding your beans. If you leave any excess air in the bag, the bag will burst as soon as you begin rolling.  

You also need a ziplock bag along with two tea towels.

Grinding equipment:

• Any type of hammer, 
• Plastic Ziploc bag, freezer bag, or parchment sheets
• Large cutting board, or kitchen counter for running the process
• Bowl for keeping ground
• sieve of your desired mesh size

Grinding method

• To crush your coffee beans with a hammer as neatly as possible, first of all, measure your beans and put them in a high-quality plastic zipper freezer bag. Squeeze the air out and seal the bag and place the bag between two dish towels. Tea towels are not so compulsory, but using them will decrease the chance of getting holes in your bags. If you don’t have a plastic bag then place your beans between two sheets of parchment with the edges folded over.
• Start gentle and smash all the beans evenly, and first start with the whole beans. Once you have smashed the whole, work your way down to smaller and smaller pieces until you end up with the grind size you are looking for.
• Crush the beans with the hammer but do not strike the bag as you would with a nail, otherwise you’ll obliterate your coffee beans, and also crush your hand or kitchen counter, so use with caution.
• Press down on the hammer firmly and evenly, use low to medium pressure. Start crushing on one side of the bag and move gradually to the other side. Move the crushed beans to one side of the bag to ensure a fine grind, thus you can get more refined in your technique.
• Have a remarkably steady hand, so the crushed grounds will be of consistent size
• Continue the process until you may ensure the beans are crushed pretty well. Your final ground may not result in the finest cuppa joe you’ve ever made, but you can still use them and they’ll be fine
• Tip: Make sure you do this on a surface that is so strong to bear this practice.

Best for:

• Coarse grind.
• Medium grind, 
• Cold-brew, The Chemex, Drip coffee makers.

Meat Tenderizer

A meat tenderizer, meat mallet, or meat pounder is a hand-powered kitchen tool, used for softening and flattening cuts of meat. 

Although there are different types of meat tenderizers, we are talking about the most common type that resembles a hammer or mallet made of metal or wood with a short handle and dual heads. The head of the mallet has two flat faces, one face is usually flat while the other has rows of pyramid-shaped tenderizers.

The tenderizer has a pretty large surface area on its hammer-head, its turnout is rather advantageous when smashing beans.

Grinding with a meat tenderizer is so simple and easy that you can probably guess how to proceed. Let us add a little useful advice before you begin your bean smashing, so you can perform better.

Grinding equipment:

• Any type of meat tenderizer, 
• Plastic Ziploc bag, freezer bag, or parchment sheets
• Large cutting board, or kitchen counter for running the process
• Tow tea towels
• Use a surface that is so strong to bear this practice.

Grinding method

• Measure your coffee beans and pour them in a good-quality zipper freezer bag. If it not available, place the beans between two parchment papers, Fold the sides of the paper, so you may not scatter your beans.
• Press all the air out before sealing the bag closed, if there is excess air present in the bag, the bag will burst as soon as you begin rolling. Place the bag between two tea towels, so you won’t puncture it with the meat tenderizer. Use just a little bit of force to hit the beans.
• Hammer the beans as evenly as possible.

Press down the meat tenderizer on your beans firmly for as long as it takes to reach your desired texture. 

• Be careful and do not beat your beans or else you got your bag punctured, or crush your hand or kitchen counter, so use with caution.
• Start to crash the whole beans first, then work your way down to smaller and smaller pieces until you end up with the grind size you are looking for. Press down on the meat tenderizer firmly and evenly, use low to medium pressure.
• Start crushing on one side of the bag and move gradually to the other side and do not hit the bag here and there foolishly.
• Move the crushed beans to one side of the bag to ensure a fine grind, thus you can get more finely ground.
• Continue crushing until you may ensure the beans are crushed pretty well.  
• You can use a sieve for the best results. Sift your ground and repeat the process on the particles which remained in the sieve.
• Transfer your ground coffee to your coffee maker and enjoy your morning brew!

Your final ground may not result in the finest cuppa joe you’ve ever made, so it may not proceed with some bottled-up anger. Do so? If you wish to release your anger, this grinding technique can work as a free therapy session as well. Give it a try!

Best for:

• Coarse grind.
• Medium grind, 
• Cold-brew, The Chemex, Drip coffee makers.

Hand mincers

Manual hand mincers are stainless steel or plastic machines with internal blade assembly which you operate with a hand crank to chop up meat or vegetables or whatever you put in it—even coffee beans.

Manual hand mincers are simple, economical, and reliable and can be used to process your ground beans. They are more convenient and easy to use for everyone. Your hand-operated grinder will turn out fresh and tasty ground beans. It is important to be careful when using hand mincers because they have blades that can cut your fingers easily. How to use a manual hand mincer or vegetable grinder is very easy. You’ll only follow the following steps and your process will be effective.

Grinding equipment:

• Any type of hand mincer, 
• A table or kitchen counter for running the process

Grinding method

• Secure hand mincer into a stable surface in your kitchen using bolts or a built-in clamp. You have to bear the hassles of cleaning your mincer thoroughly with boiling water so that, old smell of meat or vegetables will not stale your morning brew.
• Measure out the number of beans you want to grind then pour it into the opening of the hand mincer. 
• Take a large clean bowl and place it below the exit end of your mincer to catch ground beans. Turn a hand crank on at the side of the grinder in slow and steady motion lowering your beans into the mouth of the grinder. 
• Allow the blades of the mincer to pull your beans through the mincer. Make sure you don’t push the beans down into the cavity using your fingers.
• One of the glaring issues of hand mincers is that they usually have pretty big holes, resulting in a bigger, coarser ground. You may need to repeat this process.
• You can sift your grinds with a sieve of your required mesh size and put any large particles back through the grinder a few times, if necessary.
• The moment the last of the beans is gone through your hand mincer, run the slice of the moist bread through the machine to clean out the last few bits. Pick bread pieces out of your bean bowl and then discard all of them.
• There are several hole sizes to choose from depending on how fine or coarse you would like to mince your beans. The results of your method and the grind size you end up with will depend on the specific external diameter of the grinder plates and central hole sizes on each plate.
• Grind the remaining particles of beans until they are completely ground. 
• After you have finished your grinding process, it is important to disassemble your hand mincer and clean it well with boiling water for the next use.
• The above are simple steps on how to use a manual hand mincer. These processes are simple compared to a blender, food processors. Manual hand mincers are therefore convenient, efficient, and affordable.

Pros and cons:

• Pros: Easy to use
• Cons: A lot of hassles of cleaning the machine.

Knife

Whether you’ve just disordered your grinder for coffee beans, or you are out of electricity your kitchen knife is a handy tool for this situation.

Maybe you’ve had a knife set for a while and you’re starting to wonder how the ones you never use might make your grinding process easier.

 If you realized you don’t know how to use it, then my advice is for you. 

However, understanding how to use a knife for grinding can open up a whole new world for you. 

There are different types of knife-like chef’s knife, santoku knife, carving knife, Bread knife, utility knife, boning knife, paring knife,

steak knife, tourné knife, meat cleaver, etc you daily use in your kitchen.

Your knife is one of the most critical pieces of equipment in your kitchen, and it isn’t ideal to chop coffee using a knife, because it could be a little dangerous.

The more time will you spend in this process, the easier this will be. Your extra effort lets you produce a medium to medium-fine grind.

Now grab a knife and board and let’s get grinding!

Grinding equipment:

• One of your kitchen knives.
• Wide cutting board or your kitchen counter.

Grinding method:

• Measure out your coffee and transfer it to a large cutting board, or your kitchen counter.
• The best method to grind your beans is with the flat of the blade, not the edge.
• The flat and stiffer blade helps to provide extra leverage, and excellent control to improve the process of crushing and cracking the beans.
• Place the flat side part of the blade on top of the beans, and use your hand to press down on the blade and start grinding. For better control, use your dominant hand to hold the handle, while, use your other hand to press the flatter side of your knife.
• Start your process with a few beans. Once you’ve got the beans down to a smaller size, keep adding them gradually. If you start the grinding process with a few beans you may not need to lay a paper towel or a tea towel over the beans nor they shoot out from underneath the knife causing a huge mess.
• You can employ a push and pull technique, also used by chefs in kitchens to grind spices and garlic and whatnot. Don’t be tempted to strike the blade, you aren’t crushing garlic, if you do so the beans will bounce and fly away, which not only means more cleanup, but you risk losing some of them.
• Continue your process by pressing down on the blade, pulling the blade slightly towards you to make the grind finer. The knife method will give you a coarse grind size.

Best for:

• Coarse grind.
• Cold-brew, French press.

Different types of grounds of coffee beans

Whenever we are talking about the coarseness of coffee, our main attention is towards the size of coffee beans that we have taken. Because the size of grinds is often confused with roasts when it comes to coffee.

The grind is the coarseness to which the coffee is ground, and generally, it has four types from coarse to pulverize. When choosing how to grind your coffee, you need to consider what type of coffee brewing method you’re using.

The four types of grinds you can achieve by grinding with your hand using above mention hand grinding tools are:

• Coarse grind
• Medium grind
• Fine grind
• Superfine grind (also called ‘pulverized’)

Coarse ground

When we make coffee bean ground by hand without a grinder, the first type of ground that comes to mind is of course ground. When we grind coffee beans with hands, the grinding is done very little so that there are large particles of coffee beans. The ground texture of coarse ground is, about the size of commercial bread crumbs or around the consistency of sea salt. 

You need to leave the coffee in contact with hot water longer so that it can extract the full flavor of the coffee beans. So, the coarse ground is an ideal grind for immersion styles of brewing like a French press, cold brew, and brewing coffee in percolators. 

Medium Grind

Medium grinds are one of the most popular and versatile grinds. They have a consistency of granulated sugar or sea sand.

Since they are the “middle of the road” coffee grounds, they are most common in pre-ground coffees, drip, vacuum, and pour-over methods, but it is not recommended for Espresso and Aeropress.

Medium ground coffee is added to the brewer then water is poured over the coffee bed between 2 to 4 minutes. In this method, the water flows through the dripper slow enough to extract the coffee, but fast enough so the coffee won’t end up over-extracted.

Fine grind 

The fine grind of coffee means the coffee beans are ground very well, and therefore they have a smooth powdery texture like fine beach sand. Since the grains are small the water can extract the flavor much faster than the coarse ground.

This kind of grind is perfect for espresso makers and Neapolitan flip-drips, and also it can be used in electric drip and filter brews as well.

It’s not perfect for making a French Press of coffee simply because it will leave a lot of sediment in the glass.

Extra fine grind 

This is an extremely fine grind like fine flour, which usually needs to be ground in a special grinder.

It is especially used in making Turkish coffee.

This type of coffee will be allowed for a few minutes to extract that full flavor. You need to leave the coffee in contact with hot water for a few minutes so that it can extract the flavor of the coffee beans.

However, controlling the grinding time allows you to ensure that the flavor of the brew will be to your liking; preparing a super fine grind (also called ‘pulverized’) can produce foul flavors. If you’re up for an experiment, you could make four types of grinds, one with a coarse grind and the rest with others, to find out which you like best. We’d recommend trying every grinding method once, if it does the right, you’ll stay for the taste. 

Try to choose organic coffee cherry beans 

Pick out your coffee cherry beans. Coffee beans can be ground with any type of tool, though grinder and mortar, and pestle are the most popular choices. Choose the coffee cherry beans that are picked at the peak of their flavor. It’s best to choose organic coffee cherry beans that haven’t been treated with chemicals since you don’t want these to end up in your brew. If possible, use coffee cherry beans you’ve picked yourself or buy some from a farmer’s market. Some retailers also specialize in providing coffee cherry beans to homebrewers, which is great if you were provided the right one.

Limit your hand grinding tool to just grinding coffee beans

I sincerely advise you to use any tool in your kitchen to grind coffee but limit it to just grinding coffee beans. Because if you use it for grinding things other than coffee beans, such as meat, garlic, onions, ginger, and other spices, they will spoil the taste of your drink.

Conclusion

Hopefully, these above-mentioned eight techniques helped you learn how to grind coffee beans without a grinder.

While some of these methods are not ideal, as you can see. Grinding coffee beans without a grinder can be labor-intensive, but you were able to save your morning and grind up some coffee grounds.

Confidently, they will absolutely get you out of a bind if you find yourself with no grinder and in desperate need of a coffee. Improvise a costume grind for yourself out of your daily use, make a unique brew, and have fun with it! Get creative!