Genuine Mexican Volcanic Stone Molcajete / Tejolote 8 inch with Wooden Salsa Spoon & Handbook

This has been a beautiful new addition to my kitchen. It's the real thing! This "molcajete" or Mexican style mortar and pezel, is beautifully carved from heavy volcanic stone. It has a gorgeous rustic look and is a great piece for making some delicious salsas or grinding up grains. It a really cool piece to put out at parties. I've already gotten so many compliments from party guests.This is an AMAZING authentic product and you won't be disjointed. The shipping was fast and delivered as described.NOTE:If you plan on using this for food prep, make sure you carefully read the instructions and take the proper steps to care for the product. It's made from stone and you need to do some prep work to seal the pores and clear out loose pebbles and sand before use.

Product works very well. Grinding some of the ingredients for guacamole to a paste does enhance the taste of the finished product. The bowl of the molcajete is shallower than I expected. The shallow depth actually makes grinding easier but somewhat limits total quantity when blending in the avocados. Overall a good purchase.

I can’t really review this item since mine arrived broken. I can’t blame Amazon because I sent it overseas. I bought it again. And will rated then.

My mom always wanted a molcajete to make her delicious salsas and I didn't want to skimp on a cheap store bought one! This is great quality and nice and heavy. Looks very authentic and comes with clear instructions on how to prime it and get started with it. It's awesome!

I am not a geologist by profession. I did, however, take geology in college and understand a fair share about rocks. That's my disclaimer. So, here is the real question. What type of "volcanic rock", exactly, is this molcajete made from? There happens to be a lot of different types of volcanic (igneous) rock! I personally expected this molcajete to be made from one solid piece of a particular type of basalt rock. But, I'm not so sure now that this product is in my hands. I attached a picture of the actual one I received. The ideal and arguably most authentic molcajete is typically made from VESICULAR BASALT which is usually more black in color, and very porous rock incorporating many sharp edged pits or cavities produced from escaping gas bubbles when the rock was naturally cooled. This is what gives the molcajete its "edge" and ability to cut through tough skinned peppers producing the great salsa and guacamole you expect. The molcajete I received is obviously not made from a piece of Vesicular Basalt since the unit exhibits a texture similar to a coarse grain granite which, by the way, is also considered volcanic or igneous rock. The tojolete (pestle), however, may very well be from vesicular basalt. Its texture is much more coarse and porous than the "bowl". There are different types of basalt available to the artisan; an extremely fine grained, dense, very black color all the way to super lightweight pumice. It is important that the correct type of basalt is used to make a molcajete or the results will not be as expected, not to mention the extra grinding you will have to endure to get those results. Some sellers will do there very best to market a pestle and mortar authentically made in Mexico but not with the right type of volcanic rock, or comprised of volcanic rock bits mixed with cement. Not good! So, again, what version of "authentic" are they actually selling here? If the seller is honest and really knows the product they are marketing, they should be able to answer these questions in truthful detail and not in a round a bout way. I am personally disappointed with the "authenticity" and therefore cost of this product. Take a look at my photos. You will see a true molcajete by Herna'n, of which I highly recommend. You will see in another photo, a grey "patch" area on the Altura Mexico molcajete. Concrete patch? I think it is. Look how dense the material is when compared to the porosity of the Herna'n product. There is no comparison in my opinion! Save your money here and buy a Hernan.

i want to give it five stars, because it was exactly what i ordered and intact. but in an attempt to be thorough.... upon receipt, i initially sprayed it down with water, with some resulting gray matter, and then i grounded it down (dry) and there was more residual powder. that's ok. i threw in a tablespoon of rice and ground it down. lots of residue, as would be expected. now, i'm going to use, as to it's purpose, and see the results. i'm starting to salivate at the possible results. i' ll try to follow up.edit: updated my rating to 5 stars. this thing is exactly what i expected, performed as expected, and i cannot think of a complaint... other than the work to make a homemade salsa. bonus; my wife likes the way it looks in the kitchen.

Beautiful - but the seasoning process is not easy

Initially I was happy with this purchase, until the day i went to mexico and purchased a real lava rock molcajete, the difference is clear. A real molcajete will ring when you tap it with the tejolote, this product is either cast-molded concrete or made from more porous rock than the one I purchased in mexico. the real lava molcajete takes weeks or months of seasoning to wear down the high spots, the one i purchased here took hours and was done with 5 or 6 passes using rice. A real lava rock molcajete seasoning creates sharp fine chips and smaller black powder while being seasoned. this 'genuine' rock sounds and feels soft (like decomposing granite) and even after seasoning and being smooth ground it still makes clear water go cloudy with normal grinding action. due to this and the side by side comparison i've done i'm 90% sure this is either inferior soft rock or it's been molded like a concrete. either way, this is not the quality product i was hoping for and i'm glad I got the real deal in Tecate Mexico. real lava rock is the way to go here.