# best wood for a mortar and pestle



## digazz (16 Dec 2008)

what is the best wood easy enough to find, for making a mortar and pestle, and what would you finish it off in,


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## Bodrighy (16 Dec 2008)

Ideally beech posssibly sycamore. Either finish off with food safe oil, vegetable oil or just leave well sanded and bare.

Pete


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## TEP (16 Dec 2008)

Hi *digazz*.

Traditionally kitchenware is normally made from timbers such as Sycamore, Maple, and so on, the timbers that do not leave a taste in the food. If they are to be used in anger you don't need a finish, just spray them lightly with water and re-sand. Do this a few times and you will have a nice silky finish which can be rinsed after use.

There are food safe finishes around if you want to use them, Chestnut do a food safe oil which has a good reputation. 

Some people also use liquid paraffin from the chemist, I have never used it, some even use vegetable cooking oil, the problem with these type of finishes is they need to be continually re-applied after use. Not a good idea IMO if you are giving them as gifts, or for sale.

If the mortar & pestle is just for decorative use the sky's the limit, any wood any finish, just make sure you tell anyone that gets it that it is not for use. You never know these days with the allergies going around.

Hope this helps you a bit.


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## Bodrighy (16 Dec 2008)

Just a thought. If you do use oil, make sure it iasn't walnut oil or other nut oils. As Tam said, allergies can be a problem. Personally I don't use anything just leave bare. Vegetable oil can gio rancid as well so be careful if you use that. Bare is best IMHO.

Pete


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## dickm (16 Dec 2008)

Has anyone tried hornbeam for mortars? Just thinking it's extremely hard, and so should be ideal for the punishment, but could it impart any strange tastes?


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## Bob Chapman (16 Dec 2008)

I once made one with a piece of corian set in the base of the mortar and another piece forming the end of the pestle. The idea was that these would provide hard surfaces where the crushing happened. I tried it with a few peppercorns and then sold it so I don't know how it stood up to the test of time.

Incidentally, there is a widely held but, I think, mistaken belief that the end of the pestle should be rounded and more or less hemispherical. In fact, all the scientific pestles that I used in more than 30 years as a chemistry teacher had a *flat area* on the very end of the pestle. It was like a square end but with very large rounded corners. I always assumed that the flat surface enabled the bit being crushed to be trapped under the pestle whereas a fully rounded surface would simply push the piece aside without breaking it up. Of course these were used for crushing much harder substances than would be found in the average kitchen.

Bob


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## cornucopia (16 Dec 2008)

dickm":2nauwlhw said:


> Has anyone tried hornbeam for mortars? Just thinking it's extremely hard, and so should be ideal for the punishment, but could it impart any strange tastes?



i made my sister one using hornbeam, she still uses it and is fit and well although still an annoying older sister :lol:


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## Racers (16 Dec 2008)

Hi,

Olive wood is rock hard. http://www.cooksparaphernalia.co.uk/coo ... stles.html

Pete


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## PAC (16 Dec 2008)

Racers":nat74usq said:


> Hi,
> 
> Olive wood is rock hard. http://www.cooksparaphernalia.co.uk/coo ... stles.html
> 
> Pete



I like those. They look like cross grain - I wonder if they would be tougher on the inside using an end-grain orientation? I'm going to make myself some of these this Christmas using some ripple sycamore I've acquired.


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