Grinding Cinnamon

[vintagepaint]

Have to say that I am not wildly impressed with the grinding of cinnamon - probably 6 minutes on speed 10 and I still have flakes rather a finely ground cinnamon which I wanted

Anyone any ideas or is this just the best that the Thermomix does on such spices

[thermoheaven]

I ground cinnamon to make my curry powder and didn't have any problems. i have never ground anything for as long as 6 minutes - max 1 minute.
How much cinnamon did you try to grind? sometimes, a few smaller batches is better than one large batch. toasting/roasting the cinnamon to enhance the aroma and to dry it out also helps - when the cinnamon is really dry, the grind is finer because it is more brittle.

Good luck

[vintagepaint]

I tried a couple of sticks and they were absolutely dry - my thought was that it doesn't do small quantities well

[faffa_70]

Hi Vintagepaint, your TMX should do small quantities just fine. It will actually mill 1 teaspoon of linseed (Flaxseed) ok. I am wondering if you blades need to be reshaped? This should be done about monthly and most of us forget when we don't mill regularly. If you mill more often you will probably need to do it more often. Hope this might help you 

[thermoheaven]

faffa,
My understanding is that the blades are self sharpening. What do you mean that the have to be "reshaped"? I've never heard that before.  I really don't think we should be doing anything to the blades lest we void the warranty.
We don't have to do anything to the blades to sharpen them - it is the speed and shape of the blades which do the work. I've been told by my consultant that since I bought my tmx and now that the rubbish about sharpening the blades with ice is an urban myth and HO are trying to do as much as possible to re-educate everyone about it.

vintagepaint, i know the quills might feel "dry" but popping them into the oven will dry them out further and make them more brittle. I ground up a cinnamon quill with star anise and other spices to make curry powder and it was fine. I hope things work out for you.

[Ceejay]

Have you tried dropping the quills onto the blades as they spin?  I find I get a much better result that way. 

[zebraa]

I find that my blades do get blunt and stop milling and after I have used some ice they improve significantly.

[petit4s]

I was told the same thing as Thermoheaven was about the ice sharpening the blades being an urban myth and what HO are trying to do damage controlwise, but was also told what zebraa said - the ice makes the steel harden up again or somesuch. maybe we have an engineer in our midst to explain this? I think the speiel about the ice sharpening the blades just sounded good, but I'm glad HO is brave enough to acknowledge that it is an urban myth - these things have to stop somewhere and the sooner the better.

[judydawn]

I hadn't heard that about the ice not doing what we thought it did (or placing the blades in the freezer).  Is that an official directive from H.O. - can a consultant please give us some more information on this please. If this doesn't work, how do we sharpen our blades? If H.O. want to get this message across to TMX users, should they not send a representative onto the forum and tell us officially - where else will you hit a target of users as big as this forum. A little PR would not go astray here.

[petit4s]

Judy, the other way you can look at it is to try googling it - there's nothing to substantiate that grinding ice sharpens the blade. the ice may harden the blades, but not sharpen them. It is like what Thermoheaven said - it is the shape and speed of the blades which chops things so well. The blades are self sharpening/maintainence free so they don't need sharpening. If your consultant stays up to date, as mine is, I'm sure she will tell you this is the latest information available.
You can always contact HO and see what they say - this may be better than asking an out of date consultant.

[andiesenji]

I "sharpen" the blades in my garbage disposal by putting a liter of ice cubes through and it improves the performance greatly.
My plumber also has put a handful of glass beads through it and that also helped.  It is a commercial unit and should be good for another ten years. 

[judydawn]

Well I think my blades always appear to be sharper after the ice treatment - maybe it is mind over matter  I have no consultant petit4s, she doesn't do it anymore and I only ever heard from her once after I bought.  I would just pick the brains of one of the lovely consultants on here if I wanted to know something.

[petit4s]

That's not right, Judy, that you don't have a consultant. HO should address that - they should contact you or get the replacement consultant to contact you and let you know that you will be looked after.
If you were in Sydney, I'd recommend mine to you. The consultant who sold me mine was so slack (all she cares about is a sale - she's still active) that I contacted HO and put me onto the one I have currently, who is great. I've referred her to others who are really happy, too.
You owe it to yourself to get someone who knows what they are talking about.
Good luck.

[meganjane]

I've emailed HO to see what the go is with this. Will let you all know when I receive a response.

[zebraa]

I have too. Will be interested to find out.