Pepper please - suggestions for a pepper mill that is

[shellylh]

I would like to get a new pepper mill for Christmas, a good one, since all three of mine all suck.  

 

Any suggestions?

 

Things I want:

 

Lasts forever

Can change grind from coarse to fine

Holds a lot of pepper

Easy to refill (the peppercorns always fall all over the floor when I fill mine since the opening is too small)

Not "made in China"  (you know what I mean)

I don't like the ones with little handles on top (would prefer a standard turn the top type)

Will not stop working with large peppercorns

Edited December 17, 2012 by shellylh

[Absorbine_Sr]

We've gone from an expensive Peugeot to a hand made mill bought from Etsy. But in the end we bought one of these and find that it gives us the best performance, choice of grind etc. And it's cheap.

 

Kuhn Rikon Ratchet Mills

[shellylh]

Hmm, I'm not so fond of plastic... 

[Dusty Chalk]

I like the dildo-looking ones.

 

Also, wasn't there a pepper site that someone posted...I can't seem to find it now...I think the proprietor even followed the links back to us at one point...

[shellylh]

Do you like a particular dildo looking one? 

 

Those Vic Firth ones look pretty good.  They get great reviews. 

Edited December 17, 2012 by shellylh

[Augsburger]

Not a serious recommendation but this is what happens when a need for a peppermll meets Steve........

http://pepper-passion.com/pepper-mills/ltd-edition-mills

[shellylh]

Wow, those are awesome!  

[bhjazz]

Do you want a matching salt grinder?  If you just want pepper, you might be able to move over to a king sized mill.  I have no idea how one would fill this mill...

 

(and BTW, there's nothing more dildo-like than this.  Well, except for the handle.  Good lord.)

[shellylh]

No, I have a nice looking pepper and salt mill for the table.  This will be mainly for kitchen duty (I use Kosher salt for cooking so no salt mill needed in the kitchen).  

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, the Vic Firth ones -- the one in the upper right is the one I think my ex-housemate had that I used all the time.  I need to get myself my own, right now I only have the disposable kind pre-filled with peppercorns.

 

And those woodwork ones are gorgeous -- do love the grain on those -- is that, grain, or inlays?  Either way, dayum.

 

And yes, that last one is particularly phallic.  It could almost double as a ritualistic fertility object.  I know this is weird, but:  want.

 

Was pepper-passion.com the site?  If not, it's its competitor.

 

EDIT:  Found it was, indeed, pepper-passion.com.

[shellylh]

Here is the thread that you were referring to started by Jacob. 

 

 

The site was pepper-passion.com, which is what Greg posted above. 

 

I think I need that pocket peppermill for the office!

 

http://pepper-passion.com/pocket-peppermill

Edited December 17, 2012 by shellylh

[Dusty Chalk]

Jinx.

[dsavitsk]

Best pepper mill I've ever used. http://www.unicornmills.com/Peppergun-0/

[shellylh]

Those Unicorn pepper mills also seem to have great reviews.  

[Augsburger]

A lot of people rave over the Unicorn pepper mills, I see their posts everywhere when shopping for a new peppermill. I just wish I could find out how much they can vary their grind,  I need a good peppermill for my Himalayan rock salt grinding.

[dbmorgan]

This is a little late in the season if you want something under the tree but I thought I would chime in.  I have personally made and sold over 2,000 handcrafted pepper mills at

Pepper-Passion and have learned a few things about pepper mills.  Here goes:

 

1.  The Unicorn Magnum is a great mill if capacity and output are your top priorities.  It also handles large peppercorns better than most due to its huge mechanism.  However, it is ugly and take a lot more effort to turn than others.

 

2.   If you are unhappy with your existing mills, try cleaning it.  The easy way is to replace the peppercorns (discard if soft or damp) and replace it with uncooked white rice.  Grind away until you no longer see black specks coming out the bottom and then replace the rice with peppercorns.  Assuming the mill was a decent one in the first place, it should be like new.  There are plenty of junk mills out there so be prepared to be disappointed.  Better peppercorns (larger and/or with more essential oils) tend to plug a mill much more quickly.  Some mills tolerate this better than others, but consider it a cost of being able to grind the good stuff.

 

3. If you can afford it, I suggested buying quality. I meet people all the time who still have a mill they received as a gift or purchased, 20, 30 or even 40+ years ago. There are likely to be very few things that you will keep and use as long as a good mill.

 

4.  If you think "crushing" peppercorns is in any way better, then you probably think PT Barnum never told a lie in his life.  In any case, milling almost by definition involves crushing and grinding.  This is not a feature, it is sleazy marketing.

 

5.  Ceramic mechanisms are not necessarily better.  It simply allows mfrs to use a single mechanism for both salt and pepper.  Product specific grinding mechanisms are almost always better.

 

6.  Peugeot invented the pepper mill and still makes one of the better ones.  The downside its that it does not grind as coarse as some other mills.  This may be because Europeans generally prefer white pepper and prefer it ground fine.  I suspect other European mills may share this limitation.  I would guess that 75% of the people i talk to prefer coarse (or cracked) black pepper, so this is worth checking.

 

7.  Avoid acrylic.  It is expensive and brittle and does not retain its shiny good looks very long.  You will drive yourself nuts if you try to keep them "like new" clean,

 

8.  Never buy a mill already loaded with pepper, or its cousin, the pepper container with a built in grinder.  "Throwaway" does not even begin to describe these products.  You deserve better.

 

9.  If you are spending more than about $40-50, you are either paying for extreme size or nicer aesthetics.  Neither one is bad, but good mass produced mills are available for very reasonable prices.  Some even offer a lifetime warranty.  It is also not hard to to find one made in the USA.

 

10.  Size matters.  If you want cheap and ugly go small so they take up less space and are less visible.  If you want a classy commercial or handcrafted mill, 10" is a good size.  It is big enough to do some interesting things design-wise, and it is still small enough to use comfortably while seated at the table.  For custom builders like myself this is the most popular size by far.  If you are a server or simply want something larger, 14" is also a nice size.  Anything much larger will lack proportion and style, and the largest ones are simply ridiculous looking, heavy and hard to use.

 

11.  On the subject of style, everyone has different tastes, but do you really want a mill with as many colors as a jockey's silk jersey?  Or do you really want a pepper mill that looks like a baseball bat or a wine bottle?  Why do people do this?  Do you see wine bottle makers trying to mold glass to look like a pepper mill?  A handcrafted exotic wood mill can be "jewelry for your dining table".  Consider shopping accordingly.

 

12.  Electric Mills have become more common.  I own them, I use them and I sell them, but they are my backups that I use when one hand is holding a plate.  I hate having more things that require batteries and all of the electrics are made in China, if that is something that matters to you.  I suggest not making an electric your first or only choice.

 

13.  So if acrylic is out, what material should you buy?  There is stainless steel; it is economical, easy to clean, will keep its looks, and is easy to clean.  There are stained and lacquered woods.  These are nice but wear from use will eventually show and it may bother you.  A light or natural color wood finish can make this less noticeable.  There are also some painted woods mills that are colorful and whimsical in design.  Not my cup of tea, but many people love them and you might even get an original design signed by the artist.  I like wood.  No, I take that back, I LOVE wood.  I like figured, colorful exotic woods.  With the natural grain and color showing, nothing is more beautiful.  It is warm to the touch, silky smooth, and a luxury to use.  Even domestic hardwoods can be affordable and every city or crafts fair will have an artisan with nice products to choose from.

 

Looking over this list i should call it, "A bakers dozen list of commandments for purchasing a pepper mill".

 

Bruce Morgan

 

PS.  To the gentleman who is considering putting salt in the Magnum mill, don't do it.  It will not work very well, it will corrode the mechanism, and there are lots of other choices that will work better.

 

PPS.  If you want to visit Pepper-Passion, we re-built the web site and it launched 2 months ago.  The coupon code "malabar" still works, but now it is case sensitive and must be all lower case.  We also will be having a sale of mills next month.  Time to clear some wood inventory and make them into mills as we streamline our range of woods offered.

[Pars]

Informative, thanks!

 

We have what I presume is a Vic Firth mill that we bought a number of years ago from Williams Sonoma. I've been happy with it, though it doesn't handle really large Tellicherry peppercorns well. We mainly use malabar though. Buy most of our spices from Penzeys.

[Emooze]

I've got a 9" Peugeot and my only issue with it is the knob holding to top loosens when I grind. I've yet to fully investigate why this happens but it doesn't affect me using it. Like Bruce said, it tends to lean towards a finer grind.

Has anyone used one of the brass mills from Pepper Mill Imports?

[Dusty Chalk]

Wouldn't a finer grind release more flavor when putting a final garnish on a meal?  As opposed to cooking with it.  I think I would want both -- a coarser grind for cooking, a finer grind for flavor as a last minute garnish.

 

Oh, and agreed -- thanks for posting, very helpful.

[jvlgato]

Thanks! I use a Peugeot and am happy with it.

I bought the sample pack from Pepper Passion and am still working my way through them. Good stuff!

[shellylh]

Very nice Jacob!

I got a 9" Darth Vader Mill (aka Unicorn Magnus Plus) for Christmas. It is pretty damn awesome... lots of pepper per turn and easy to change it from coarse to fine.

Edited January 6, 2013 by shellylh

[Dusty Chalk]

I want multiple pepper mills with handles, as I've become a bit of a black pepper and related snob connoisseur -- I have a thing of Phu Quoc black, Phu Quoc white, Phu Quoc red, pink peppercorns (which are really berries, so gum up the burrs 'n' stuff), regular black (mostly tellicherry, but some are undesignated), timut...or should I go electric?  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[swt61]

This is the winner of America's Test Kitchen peppermill comparison.

https://a.co/d/iCQBYgl

Edited December 5, 2022 by swt61

[Dusty Chalk]

Oh, nice, thank you.  Even comes in different materials so I can colour-code them.

Perfect!