3 Ways to Open a Disposable Spice Grinder
It is organizationally and economically advantageous for manufacturers of spice mills to produce them in a disposable version. The contents of the mill have run out and thousands of families have to buy new products. Therefore, they try to support the idea of their disposability with all sorts of constructive tricks.
Most consumers of spice mills have a slightly different, if not directly opposite, view of such products. After the contents of the mills have been consumed, they would like to refill them and use them further. And so several times, ideally many times.
So how do you open up your spice grinder and reuse it?
Folk craftsmen help them in this desire. Let's look at 3 ways to turn a disposable spice grinder into a reusable one. To do this, you will need the mill itself, peppercorns and other spices in bags, a funnel, a water container, a towel, a plastic bag and a kettle for preparing boiling water.
Pour boiling water into a container of suitable size, pack the mill in a plastic bag and lower it into boiling water for about half a minute.
Then, having removed the mill from the packaging, use a towel to remove the lid along with the spice grinding mechanism.
Using a suitable funnel, pour peppercorns and other necessary spices into the empty container of the mill. Mix the contents of the jar thoroughly by repeated and vigorous shaking.
We install the grinding mechanism together with the lid in its original place. In order to use the refilled mill, remove the lid and rotate the mill container with the contents, holding the grinding mechanism motionless in the other hand. The crushed spices end up in the right place.
Before removing, it is permissible to heat the mechanism with the lid not only in boiling water, but also with a regular hair dryer. You can also open the mill using a knife, carefully picking up the top plate and passing the tip of the knife around the entire circle.
In the latter case, the mill body remains in the jar, and only the auger itself with the lid is pulled out. Through the hole in the mill body, pour the spices into an empty container and install the auger in place. It becomes possible to reuse the mill.
All experiments were carried out on a KATA NOI mill. It is likely that spice grinders from other manufacturers and brands can also be converted from disposable to reusable using the same principle, perhaps with some variations.