A food ingredient grinder (30) having a grinding chamber (158) with an electrically powered grinding mechanism (130, 150, 154) has an ingredient hopper has a pivotally mounted cover (57) that is automatically moved between open and closed positions and a controller (202, 204, 208) responsive to a cover position sensor (81,82) failing to sense the cover in a closed position disables a start switch (212) from starting a grinding operation. The grinding chamber (156) is toolessly mounted to the top of a frame member (96) of the grinder to facilitate removal of the chamber for cleaning or replacement.