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One of the international groceries near me stopped selling smaller (~2lb / 1kg) bags of teff flour**. All that that they have now is 25lb bags. All of the other ones that I frequent are latin or asian, and just don't carry teff.

Bob's Red Mill sells teff in small (24oz) packages, which I can get in some of the 'organic' type grocery stores, but it's whole.

I know that grain mills exist, but I'd prefer not to buy a new appliance just for a 'let me play around in the kitchen with a new recipe' type situation. (in this case, injera)

As the grains are so tiny, would coffee grinders (blade or burr) even work for it? Is there some other common kitchen appliance that would work? Or would I have to spend some time with a mortar and pestle?

** as the bags were self-labeled like how they sell other bagged bulk foods, it's possible that they just had a damaged bag, and found a way to cut their losses, and it just took them a while to sell it all, as it was only a month or two from when I noticed it 'til it was gone.

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    Bob's Red Mill also sells a 24z bag of teff flour. Link: bobsredmill.com/teff-flour.html . Their site has a store locator. If you can't find it locally, perhaps you can find it online.
    – Cindy
    Mar 30, 2018 at 12:43
  • @Cindy : too late. I bought it before I realized it was whole grain, not flour. (I think I saw teff flour at one store, but when I finally bought some, it was at another store that had whole grain teff.) But that's still a better option than buying a grain mill.
    – Joe
    Mar 30, 2018 at 13:47

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I accidentally bought teff instead of teff flour and used my Nutribullet to grind it up. Worked great! Quick, as well.

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    If that's a high speed blender, be careful grinding solids. The bearing holding the blades expects liquid cooling. My NutraNinja bearing and housing got hot enough to boil water after a few minutes of dry blending. That was hot enough to melt thermoplastic, and misalign bearing with bushing. Horrible vibration! Had to buy a new blade assembly. You can do it, but short runs, with a rest in between are needed if you want your equipment to last. For small batches of seeds, I use my bladed coffee grinder. It works well, especially since I took off the, left handed, screw on blade and sharpened it.
    – Wayfaring Stranger
    Oct 15, 2019 at 23:46
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@joe If you have a blender or coffee grinder, they'll work just fine. Don't be afraid to let it run for longer periods of time, the high pitched whine lets you know its working. It'll take multiple grinding and filtering sessions, but I think its an interesting experience.

You'll need the following supplies if you want to try this at home:

  • Blender, coffee grinder, or food processor
  • Fine filter mesh
  • a basting brush or a silicone spatula (to clear the walls of your processing container)
  • Patience

I originally stumbled upon this article last year when I wanted to get rustic with a bread recipe. Just give your equipment time to cool off in between your sifting cycles and you should have incredibly fine, freshly powdered flower in no time.

https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/06/how-to-make-flour-without-a-grain-mill-giveaway/

Let us know how it turns out.

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  • Coffee grinders and food processor didn’t work so well .... I let it sit for a few days, and it was obvious the grains weren’t actually taking on water. I then ran it through the blender, and there was an obvious color change, but that might not work if people are making something other than injera
    – Joe
    May 3, 2018 at 16:47

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