How to grind large quantity of rock salt

[JD in Nashville]

Hello - I had previously obtained a 20 pound bag of very coarse Himalayan salt for a ridiculously low price. I am wanting to grind it and give some of it away as gifts. Not everyone has a salt mill so I did not want to give them the coarse salt. Any recommendations on a particular mill or way to grind such a large quantity of salt? I think using a mortar and pestle would be too labor-intensive as well as using a small salt mill.
Thanks for any feedback - JD

[cowboyardee]

I guess my preferred method, using what you're likely to have, would be a food processor, though I suspect you're gonna put some serious wear and tear on the blades doing that.

The other option I would suggest looking into is seeing how cheaply you can buy salt mills in bulk. A restaurant supply store might have a decent deal - theyre not necessarily very expensive. Then you could give the salt away in the salt mills as a rather nicely packaged present.

[jeanmarieok]

That's a great idea! Wish I had thought of it myself!

[Bada Bing]

I agree that grinding twenty pounds of rock salt is going to have you looking at replacement blades for the food processor, and possibly a scuffed work bowl, too. For a job like this, I'd consider getting a new, suitable mill and using the drill approach. That really "rocks" (ahem).

The bulk salt mills idea is also cool, but it's hard to imagine that gift-worthy mills could be that cheap. Maybe if you were only intending to give away a few gifts from your 20lb of salt?

[JD in Nashville]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will start with the food processor and see how that works before I invest in a mill. Much appreciated, JD

[cutipie721]

I have no idea how it looks.
http://www.bridgekitchenware.com/brow...

[BiscuitBoy]

do YOU have a salt mill? Chuck that rascal onto a drill/driver and grind away. I use this alton brown method often to grind large quantities of black pepper...works like a charm. Food processor would be the absolute quickest, tho you'd have to watch it closely so as not to make himalayan salt powder

[JD in Nashville]

That sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, I only have a small Kyocera grinder that does not have the means to attach a drill. Any recommendations on a particular mill?
JD

[BiscuitBoy]

ah, I see...I just saw a photo of the kyocera. For the drill trick to work, a grinder with an axial mechanism, like a firth or a peugeot would be needed. Looks like its hello food processor!

[grant.cook]

Hmmm.. coffee grinder, or could you just throw it in the food processor, a pound at a time, for a while, that should do it..

[JD in Nashville]

I thought about that - probably the best option as long as I am diligent to clean the equipment ASAP to avoid corrosion.
Thanks, JD

[escondido123]

I vote for the food processor, you should be done pretty quick. Just throw it in the dishwasher when you're done, not much chance of corrosion anyway.