How To Cure and Season a Mexican Molcajete

Step 1

First, wash molcajete under hot water with brush to remove any loose stone. If possible, let soak in water overnight. I skipped this step! Oops!

Step 2

When ready, spread out a thick towel. This will be your work surface. Place molcajete on the towel, pour in about 1/4 c of uncooked rice. Using the pestle(tejolote), grind the rice, covering as much of the surface of the molcajete, until it looks like a powder. This process will take a while. The rice will polish the surface and release any loose stones and grit.

Step 3

Repeat the rice step until you see no more loose grit and the powder looks white. Depending on the molcajete, this may take up to 3-5 times.

Step 4

When ready, pour some water in with the ground rice. Work into a paste and cover the entire surface of the molcajete. Do that for about 5 minutes. Wash under hot water, using a good brush until it's clean. Let air dry.

Step 5

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Step 6

To your molcajete, add some roughly chopped serrano pepper, cloves of garlic and coarse salt. Work into a paste, then drizzle in some oil. Continue working this into the molcajete for a few minutes. Using your hand, rubs the seasoning all over the surface and rim of the molcajete and tejolote(pestle). Carefully place seasoned molcajete on baking sheet that is on the middle rack in preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes.

Step 7

After 20 minutes, carefully remove molcajete from the oven. Let it cool completely. Rinse, wash and brush using hot water. Let air dry. Your molcajete is ready to use! keep stored covered, if possible to avoid dust and dirt. If not, just rinse it before using in the future.