The Retro Kitchen Gadget That Crushes Even The Toughest Nut

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Whether you're baking or cooking with nuts, most recipes require that they either be chopped or ground. Pre-packaged versions are readily available in supermarkets, but you may find that you prefer the flavor of freshly chopped or ground nuts in your recipes. While a large, sharp knife can slice through pecans and English walnuts after removing the shells, you need to apply a lot more pressure to get through the tougher texture of black walnuts, Brazil nuts, and macadamias. That's where the retro nut grinder can save the day.

Among the hand-cranked retro kitchen items that are cool again, the first dedicated nut chopper was invented in the 1930s by Carl A. Sundstrand. A universal food chopper was invented in the late 1800s and made in the early 1900s, but this and similar kitchenware still required too much tedious work and had inconsistent results. With his U.S. patent, Sundstrand made a rotary-bladed device that was easy to operate with a crank and could break nuts into more uniform sizes. The invention even included the ability to screw the chopper onto a hopper (glass jar) to hold the freshly broken pieces.

Eventually, Sundstrand's nut chopper became one of the classic kitchen tools grandparents swore by. It may have somewhat fallen out of style over the years, but the hand-cranked design is still available at retailers, such as the Prepworks by Progressive Nut Chopper on Amazon.

Although a mortar and pestle is the best tool for homemade peanut butter, hand-cranked nut choppers are still a go-to option for dry nut pieces and grounds. That doesn't stop people from looking for faster, more convenient ways to chop and grind nuts. Some of them mistakenly think that their blenders are a good option. However, nuts and seeds are foods you should avoid putting in a blender because they're too hard for the blades to break down easily. Even if the motor is powerful enough, the nuts can dull the blades, diminishing the blender's ability to blend other foods in the long run.

A better option is an electric grinder, such as the Mueller Living HyperGrind Precision Mill on Amazon. The stainless steel blades are durable for producing coarse, medium, and fine grinds of nuts, as well as coffee beans, herbs, grains, and spices. If you need a kitchen gadget with a bigger capacity, consider a food processor like the Hamilton Beach Electric Vegetable Chopper & Mini Food Processor on Amazon. Several customers say in their reviews that they love using it for chopping nuts, and all it takes is a few pulses to break even macadamia nuts into the right size. The blades are even strong enough to turn hard nuts into fine crumbs.