I want to love it so bad. First we went to our local carnicería and got a molcajete made in Mexico- that turned out to be concrete ☠️ Then we bought one that is definitely basalt however the pores are HUGE. I can not get the rice/food out- I’ve tried everything (boiling water, soaking overnight, baking soda vinegar, garlic, stiff brush, escobeta). At this rate I’d have to spend an hour+ cleaning it after each use. I tried grinding rice/salt to a powder 20 times and it hasn’t helped.
for people using a granite mortar and pestle: How is making salsa in it? Does the heat from hot veggies damage the sealant?
for people using a molcajete from Macienda: Is the maintenance for this much easier? It seems the pores are much smaller
If you made it this far I appreciate you 🙏
by thetiredbrushwagg
2 Comments
That’s what happens when you crush it as opposed to using a blender. I can only imagine that your salsa is 1000 times better than mine.
Coarse salt + oil slurry: Mix kosher salt with a few drops of neutral oil (like canola). Use it as an abrasive paste, scrubbing firmly with the tejolote (pestle). This polishes the peaks of the pores rather than just grinding dust.
Dry corn masa (nixtamalized) ground dried corn (not just rice) works better because it is tougher and fills pores differently. If you can get dried field corn from a feed store, grind batches of that instead.
Sandblasting shortcut could be a last resort. Some people literally take theirs to an auto body shop and have it lightly sandblasted to knock down the surface. You could just do that and start over.