60316 Porcelain Ceramic Chemical and Heat Resistant Mortar with Pouring Lip, 145mL Capacity

Purchasing and supporting Made in America companies is a priority for me. Especially when I need to be confident the product I purchase is not counterfeit and/or is free of certain chemicals. This includes lead paints used on my kids toys, contaminants in laboratory equipment, material handling, and reagents, and UL certified electrical components. Hell, everything I own for any duration that isn't disposable I want purchased from an American (or European) company. CoorsTek is an American company that make products in America, and that sums it up.I am disappointed in the mortar's ad. It does show a pestle, but does not include one. When we're talking a purchase price that's an order of magnitude great than the cheapest option which does include a pestle, I find the ad deceptive.

The photo of the product is of both mortar and pestle. It turns out it is only the mortar and the pestle has to be purchased separately

This is my first ever product review. If you find it helpful, please check helpful, so I have feedback.FIRST, notice Coorstek made-in-USA dishwasher-safe mortars and pestles are SOLD SEPARATELY!Mortar 60310 goes with Pestle 60311 (50 ml, or about 3 Tbsp)Mortar 60313 goes with Pestle 60314 (65 ml, or a little more than ¼ cup)Mortar 60316 goes with Pestle 60317 (145 ml, or a little more than ½ cup + 1 Tbsp)Mortar 60319 goes with Pestle 60320 (275 ml, or a little more than 1 cup + 2 Tbsp)Mortar 60322 goes with Pestle 60323 (400 ml, or a little more than 1 ½ cup + 3 Tbsp)I ordered, SEPARATELY, Mortar 60322, and Pestle 60323.I had the chance to order from [plain sold-by-Amazon], or from [Amazon with Thomas Scientific listed as the seller]. I noticed that the plain-Amazon pictures look different from the Thomas Scientific sold-on-Amazon pictures. (Does anyone know why plain-Amazon's Coorstek mortars and pestles look slightly different? I chose Thomas Scientific sold-on-Amazon, but am still curious as to why the pictures look different?)There are 2 reasons I wanted to order a mortar and pestle. (1) to grind dried rosemary into powder for breadsticks, and (2) to grind up the bits of anise seeds the food processor can't get for my Christmas pfeffernüsse.First, I looked at the genuine lava molcajetes, and the stone mortars. Unfortunately, stone molcajetes and mortars tend to develop flavors over time—this is NOT a FLAW, it is deliberate and considered an ASSET. However, I do NOT want breadsticks that taste of anise and pfeffernüsse that taste of rosemary. So stone was out.Next, I looked at stainless steel. I concluded I wished to sidestep the entire rust issue entirely.Wood is out—washability AND long-term wear-and-tear reasons.I finally looked at ceramic mortars and pestles, and discovered some of them can be washed in the dishwasher. This is what I want. I chose Coorstek because I decided I didn't want to deal with (1) cracking in low-budget mortars and pestles, and (2) wear-and-tear on wooden handles in fancy European ceramic mortars and pestles.There was a little consternation when the first package only contained the pestle, but on examination, it was because the mortar was back-ordered. I now have them both. Thomas Scientific delivered in them in extra-large boxes with lots of air-pack "balloons", so I am not surprised they made it in one piece. Thank you!Whether of not you can see from the illustrations online, the outside of the mortar and "stem" of the pestle are shiny, but the inside of the mortar and grinding end of the pestle are matte.If you are going to get any mortars and pestles or molcajete, you do need to know how to grind. They—all of them—are capable of breaking if you pound them up and down like an off-the-grid person grinding wheat into flour. Mortar and pestle grinding is meant to done by abrasion and time, NOT by harsh force applied. When you read the reviews, look to see if the low-star reviews might be for misunderstanding of how to use them properly.As a last note, Coorstek is manufactured in the USA.