Stainless Steel Mortar & Pestle (3.5 in.)

If you work with a lot of different herbs, this is the one that keeps them honest. Steel holds nothing. No oil, no scent, no color carried over, so Tuesday's mugwort stays out of Friday's rose and a pale flower comes out of the bowl exactly the shade it went in. For anyone blending their own powders, that is the difference between a clean blend and a muddy one.

At three and a half inches it is the smallest mortar we stock and by far the easiest to live with. Rinse, dry, done. No seasoning, no oiling, nothing to remember.

Details

Three and a half inches across, stainless steel, polished finish, and a pestle to match.

Ways to Use It

Leaf, flower and powder work. Grind, wipe it out, move to the next herb without a second thought. It is the right bowl for delicate botanicals and for anything you are measuring into a blend where you want each ingredient reading true.

Try It With

Try it with Bay Leaf and Calendula, both of which do their best work here. For dense root and chunk resin, reach for the 4.5 inch cast iron bowl instead.

Care

Hand wash and dry. The polished interior picks up fine scratches with use, which is the tool working. Hard round seed grinds more easily in one of the iron bowls.