Keep It Fresh: Four New Uses For Your Coffee Grinder

by BrightNest

Here at BrightNest, we like to keep it fresh. Fresh spices in our potpourri, fresh-ground vanilla in our pancakes and fresh ninja-chopped bread crumbs in our casseroles. How do we keep it all so fresh? One tool: a coffee grinder.
Important: Clean your coffee grinder before you try any alternative uses. If you don’t, the oil from the leftover coffee beans will infiltrate your spices or other ingredients and make them coffee flavored. Realizing you need to clean your grinder? Here’s how.
Here are four alternative uses for your coffee grinder:

keep it fresh four new uses for your coffee grinder, cleaning tips

Herbs & Spices.

Ya know how fresh-ground coffee is better? So are freshly-ground spices and herbs. They will be more fragrant and flavorful if you use them for scents and in food. Be sure to grind on a “pulse” setting with herbs and spices because they will lose flavor if exposed to heat.

Ground Vanilla.

Ground vanilla can be used in place of vanilla extract, and (in our opinion) is 10 times more delicious. This is because ground vanilla beans are the purest of vanilla (vanilla extract is alcohol based). Never seen vanilla beans in the store before? You can buy them here: http://amzn.to/1raeHdF

Bread Crumbs.

Do you typically use dried bread crumbs from the box? Next time, try this: Grind up some fresh bread, then combine the bread crumbs with cheese and herbs to spice up a casserole or vegetable dish. Once you taste the homemade bread crumbs, you’ll forget boxed bread crumbs were ever in your life.