subject: How to Choose the Best Molcajete Pig [print this page] How to Choose the Best Molcajete Pig How to Choose the Best Molcajete Pig
There are a wide variety of Molcajete pigs on the market. Often times it is difficult to know what the best choice is and what traits to look for when deciding. Because the Molcajete Pig is used for food preparation it is important to look for certain things:
The type of stone:
Basalt Stone has been traditionally handpicked to make the customary Molcajete pig. Basalt stone can appear to be both very hard and soft depending on where it was mined from, and whether the carvers decided to smooth it out with machine tools. When choosing a Molcajete pig mortar, the rule of thumb that should be followed is that the harder the stone, the better the molcajete will be for preparing food.
Concrete should be avoided at all costs when purchasing a Molcajete pig. You can identify a concrete Molcajete pic by the hard angle on the top edge of the bowl. The hardness is easily noticeable from the rough edges which are sharp enough to cut through your skin. This means it has been molded and not carved. Another good way to tell the difference is that Basalt stone is much darker than concrete and is nearly black in color. Some manufactures will try to give the appearance of authentic mortar by adding speckled paint to create texture. You will also see rough marks around the leg and rim that show that it was molded and not carved. It is not recommend using a concrete Molcajete pig since the chemicals used to make the concrete are unlikely to be food safe and could leach toxins into your food. In addition to this the concrete will always be grainy and spill into your food as you use it.
Other stone and composite rock:
Often the most inexpensive Molcajete pig mortars, these are the least desirable types of molcajetes. Often times these are the most sandy molcajetes mortars available and no matter what method you use to cure the mortars, it will always leak sand and grit into your food.
When choosing the Molcajete pig, understand that it is worth taking the time and investing the money into finding the authentic Basalt Stone. There are many fakes out there so steer your way through these ones to reach the authentic shine of the Basalt stone.
