75552 Brushed Stainless Steel Spice Grinder/Mortar and Pestle Set/Molcajete (1 Cup) - Quality Kitchenware for Your Home

Sturdiness: The thickness of the lip of the mortar, and presumably the rest of the mortar, is about 1.5 mm (0.058"). This thickness should be plenty to support grinding the pestle firmly against the mortar. Even pounding the pestle against the bottom of the mortar should be possible, within reason. (Grinding and crushing with twisting, rocking, and sliding motions are more controlled than pounding.)Construction and cleaning: The handle of the pestle is hollow and light, while the broad end of the pestle is heavy and apparently solid. This weight distribution allows the pestle to stand in the mortar without falling out. At the joint between the handle and the broad end of the pestle, I do not see crevices that could prevent thorough washing. Similarly, I do not see crevices between the base and bowl of the mortar, when viewed from below. However, there is a narrow, shallow crevice between the base and bowl of the mortar when viewed from the side, that would not allow a sponge or dish cloth to get in far enough to dislodge any bit of food that might get deep into the crevice. Cleaning of this crevice must rely only on water, detergent, and water motion. My solution is to keep the mortar from getting really dirty in the first place, and to finish (hand) washing the mortar with it mostly upright.Because the handle of the pestle is light, it is easy to forget that the broad end is heavy. If you want to eat the remainder of food directly off the pestle, avoid banging it against your teeth.I don't want a stone mortar because I want to wash the mortar thoroughly before every use, and I don't want to chew on any stone dust.Materials: The mortar is attracted slightly by a magnet. I assume that the mortar is made of stainless steel. The pestle is attracted very little by a magnet. The broad end of the pestle probably is made of stainless steel, although it could be made of plated zinc. After cleaning the mortar and pestle, I rubbed them hard on paper. No dark marks resulted on the paper; if my crude test is valid, the metal contains no perceptible lead. (I am not suggesting that my crude test would work for ceramics.)Crushing: The bottom of the large end of the pestle is relatively flat and smooth. (The bottom of the pestle has a larger radius than the mortar.) The inner surface of the bowl appears to have been spin-turned or abraded by a wire brush. When I rub my finger across the bottom of the bowl, I can feel the slight marks. The marks are not uniform everywhere. The marks and the relatively flat area on the bottom of the pestle may be adequate to allow crushing of really hard items, such as some pills, without making them try to fly out of the bowl.Foot and pad: The rubber foot is thinner than I expected, and putting it back on after washing the bowl takes me several seconds. Instead, I leave the rubber foot off and put the mortar on a silicone rubber pad to avoid noise and protect my counter.Conclusions: I am satisfied with this mortar and pestle. I am pleased by the apparent sturdiness of the mortar. I hope that the broad end of the pestle is solid stainless steel. The washability of the mortar is not perfect, given the crevice around the base, but the washability probably is good enough.

Bought this for my son requesting this gift. I liked the modern look of stainless steel and slip free bottom. It keeps it on the counter while grinding up spices. Also it won't break into pieces if it hits the floor!

Recently became interested in cooking, and so discovered a need (or want) for a mortar and pestle... I considered granite (too expensive), marble (acidic things can hurt it), porcelain (fear of breakage), and stainless steel (would it be hard enough?). I'm happy to say that this little model fits my needs quite well, so far. The mortar has a small rubber base-ring which provides firm stability as you hold it in place. The pestle has some weight to it and with pepper corns I give them a flattening crush first, using a bit of downward force. Then, once crushed, using a circular motion grinds the pepper as course or as fine as I wish, with not much effort or time. After use, hand washing is a breeze, or washed in a dishwasher. It looks good on my counter top, and there is something wonderful about freshly ground spices. I recommend it.

Item is exactly what I expected. Beautiful stainless steel, feels solid in the hand. Pestle has a nice heft to it. This comes with a black storage sack and is packed in a small white box. It fits so well, I'm going to keep the box for storage.I tested this by grinding up an aspirin. Worked well, but lost about 20% of the aspirin as a sticky paste stuck to the mortar and pestle.Cleanup was super easy with a little soap and hot water. As other reviewers have mentioned, it is best to remove the rubber foot before washing to keep water from getting into the ring.

works fine in the darkroom.....needs a mirror finish for crushing pills...

This has come in very handy for grinding up a lot of different spices together, or just one at a time.I have a very small kitchen so the fact that the footprint is smaller than a lot of the is great.Easy to clean, too.

My dog needs daily meds that she won't take unless they're pulverized into a powder that's mixed into food. She is picky enough that she will separate, and spit out, chunks of pills while chewing and swallowing the peanut chunks in chunky peanut butter! I previously used an inexpensive stone mortar and pestle, but the interior of the mortar was rough-textured, and as a consequence, the powder from the crushed meds tended to stick and build up on it. That hasn't been a problem with this stainless steel mortar.I respectfully differ with the reviewer who found this pestle to be too lightweight. If anything, it's slightly over-sized compared to the mortar, but it feels solid and well-crafted to me, with the long handle giving an excellent grip and leverage. I suppose it could have been designed with a heavier core, but materials denser than stainless steel -- lead? mercury? -- tend not to be safe around foods. It's not intended to be a bludgeon -- the crushing mechanism of a mortar and pestle shouldn't be from pure mass, but from rocking and leveraging the rounded tip of the pestle anyway. This is a matter of subjective opinion, and de gustibus non est disputandum, as the Romans used to say when arguing about mortars and pestles; but I for one found this product to be well-designed and well-manufactured.