The cryogenic grinding (cryo-grinding) technique is widely used to obtain the best quality of spice powders. Discrete Element Method (DEM) is one of the advanced numerical methods used to study the mechanical behavior of granular food in complex food processes. In this investigation, DEM simulation was utilized to study the flow characteristics of black pepper seeds in a cryo-grinding system: a precooler and a grinder such as a hammer mill. The calibration test was used to select the complete set of DEM input parameters. Moreover, some of the parameters were measured experimentally. The validity of calibrated set of input parameters was further examined in the cryo-grinding system. The observed qualitative and quantitative results of numerical and experimental approaches were in good agreement. It can be concluded that the calibrated DEM input parameters can be adequately used in the study of complex particle mechanics in the cryo-grinding system. Moreover, the flow behavior and flow pattern in the geometries were visualized with a better insight; those are difficult to understand and visualize by other available techniques. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.