Pepper and Salt Mills/Grinders

[Octaveman]

I'm with Rachel on this one. Upon seeing the pudding (proof, is in the) pics, I bought it and still going strong. I even got another one for a pepper mix to complement the black pepper only mill. Four months and still going strong.

Edited July 21, 2006 by Octaveman (log)

[robyn]

Started a thread about salt. Here's one about pepper - specifically pepper mills. I like pepper - I like contemporary design - and I like pepper mills that don't leave pepper residue all over my cabinets and table. Have bought many pepper mills over the years in the quest for the perfect one. And I have found a new favorite. Here it is. This will be a hard one to top.

What's your favorite? Robyn

[Peter the eater]

What's your favorite? Robyn

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[Jack Fisher]

I have used the Unicorn Magnum rated the best by Cooks Illustrated for years. It's has a wide range of grind. Side loading for ease when filling and a large capacity and has an oversize milling mechanism.

[Marlene]

I have both the PepperMill supreme and the Unicron magnum. By far my favourite is the Magnum and the regular size comes with a "dust" catcher so no residue gets on my counters.

[dockhl]

I LOVE fresh ground pepper, and I LOATHE peppermills, for so many reasons !

This :

"Mill is easy to fill with a built-in funnel and accommodates extra-large peppercorns and all-spice"

right off the bat makes me wanna take a look.

Thanks !

[Taboni]

Unicorn Magnum. I have tried alot of them and this one still shines above all.

[CharityCase]

Unicorn Magnum. I have tried alot of them and this one still shines above all.

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Wouldn't you know I read this thread in its entirety two weeks ago, and then warped my Mr.Dudley on the stovetop yesterday.

There's a Unicorn Magnum on its way and I'll report back once I've had a chance to use it.

[Fat Guy]

I started this topic in 2002, and in the intervening half a decade I never actually managed to buy a new peppermill. Finally, a friend put me out of my misery. He was cooking at my house, became disgusted with my pathetic excuse for a peppermill, and soon after sent me a Unicorn Magnum as a gift.

This thing is amazing. I can't even understand how it operates within the laws of physics, because it takes so little twisting effort to produce an avalanche of beautifully ground pepper. And the loading mechanism, it just makes so much sense -- because you load from the side, you don't have to mess up your grind setting every time you load (though you do need a bit of dexterity).

One note on the little plastic tray that comes with the Magnum: yes, it's very nice, and it's sort of crazy that every peppermill doesn't come with a dust catcher tray. But the lack of a dust catcher has never been one of my problems. You just have to find an old mustard, jelly or other jar lid with a slightly greater diameter than the base of your peppermill and you have a dust catcher for the life of your peppermill.

Also, a trick I've picked up watching several professional cooks: twist the body of the peppermill and the top in opposite directions. Never release your grip on the top part. Rather, twist the body and the top in opposite directions, loosen the hand that's holding the body, turn the top hand back and repeat. Once you establish that rhythm you can grind with great efficiency. I realize that was a confusing description. Maybe someone else can do better.

[Joe Blowe]

...and soon after sent me a Unicorn Magnum as a gift.  ...This thing is amazing.

Congratulations! Welcome to the club!

I've had my Magnum for a year now, and I'm still in awe of everytime I use it...

[Marlene]

I love my Magnum. I've just ordered one for the RV and a mini mill to take travelling with me. Their salt mill however, sucks. And boy are they ugly. But this is definately the best peppermill on the market.

[Kerry Beal]

I love my Magnum.  I've just ordered one for the RV and a mini mill to take travelling with me.  Their salt mill however, sucks.  And boy are they ugly.  But this is definately the best peppermill on the market.

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Marlene,

Did you get your Magnum from the US? I've ordered them from the company online and bought several at Sur la Table over the years, but I've never seen a Canadian supplier.

[JAZ]

A note about the mini-magnum mill: it works fine, once you get it filled. Filling it, however, is about the most frustrating thing I've ever done. You have to take the top off to fill it, but the top is what holds the grinding mechanism in place. Thus, you have to hold the shaft of the grinder in place while you're filling the (very small) body with pepper. I can't believe that they couldn't have come up with a better design.

[Marlene]

I love my Magnum.  I've just ordered one for the RV and a mini mill to take travelling with me.  Their salt mill however, sucks.  And boy are they ugly.  But this is definately the best peppermill on the market.

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Marlene,

Did you get your Magnum from the US? I've ordered them from the company online and bought several at Sur la Table over the years, but I've never seen a Canadian supplier.

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I ordered it direct from the company. You can get the magnum plus from CityChef.ca

But that's the only one I've ever seen in Canada.

[brucedelta]

I had been getting tired of my old pepper ball and thinking about a new pepper mill for some time now. I walk by the electric units and always wondered if they really work, so I never pulled the trigger.

I also like the look of the magnum, but having a huge Puegot, a nondecript acrylic unit, and anothe plain jane unit in addition to my mainstay pepper ball has made justifying a new manual mill difficult. Then I encountered this thread and left caution to the wind, immediatly ordering a PepperMills Supreme 2000. Well after 2 weeks of use, I must thank those who sung it's praise. I like the grind selection, the speed, and the one handed operation. It is a fun new toy, and I must say if anyone is giving thought to enlarging their pepper mill collection, then go for it, there are much worse ways to blow $40.

So a thank you to Rachel, whose photo of the different grinds gave me the impetus to go and order it.

And other posts have made me decide to redeploy all these other pepper mills instead of leaving them in the closet. Now if anyone knows how to clean out the very bottom of a pepper ball then that would be cool. I can not seem to get years worth of built up grinds out of there, but I think it would be great for white pepper if I could clean it out.

[David Ross]

I've been using the copper Turkish coffee mill for about 7 years now and it works great. You can control the texture of the grind, from fine to coarse. The copper and the shape of the mill looks kind of funky on the counter, but it's also a conversation piece. I think I bought it at Sur La Table in Seattle for about $20. I'm sure they are readily available at online kitchen stores.

[Stuckey]

Here's another thumbs up for the Magnum pepper grinder! I recently received mine, along with a container of Malabar peppercorns. Just like everyone else who's used one, I'm amazed with the output of this thing. It literally outputs around five or six times as much ground pepper as my old pepper grinder! I think the thing looks pretty sexy as well - shiny and sleek. The little pepper-catching tray that comes with it is a great idea too!

Not only is the pepper grinder fantastic, the customer service is excellent as well! It was ridiculously easy ordering one from the website to send internationally (to Australia), and shipping was NOT a rip off, as it sometimes can be to have stuff shipped from overseas! Ann is super friendly and very helpful!

I know I'm gushing a bit, but I really believe in acknowledging when a company delivers an excellent customer service experience, and I have much respect for companies that are so committed to the quality of their products!

Another happy Magnum owner right here!

[Toliver]

Another happy Magnum owner right here! 

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Welcome to the cult...er... I mean, club.

[melonpan]

Bought an inexpensive Peugeot last year and have been very pleased. (Occasionally it seems to dislike certain peppercorns and not grind properly, just spinning in place. Is this the size of peppercorn or what?)

this is the case with a peugeot that i have. it is wooden and pretty, but it just spins and spins. looks fine, but maybe it is broken. wish it worked.

no pepper. i am so unhappy. so grumpy.

am i exposing my shallow self?

at the end of the day, however, i want my pepper and to hell with looks.

dont really like the magnum, but i think im going to go for it...

[melonpan]

bought the smaller magnum.

fills more easily than the peugeot.

works very well.

my only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that the finest grind isnt so small. but its good enough for what i need. if this continues to work, im very pleased. after a year ill see if ill be able to recommend it to others. but right out of the box, its very nice!

[Octaveman]

I have two Peppermills one for black and the other for mixed and the first one is about 1.5 yrs old and the other about a year old. While the original charges lasted a good 6 months, I'll be lucky to get a month out of them now. That and the cool little light on the bottom died on one of them. No biggie really but it was cool to have. The owner of Peppermills said the bulb can't be replaced but it's out of warranty so that's the end of that. I'll just wait until these die off and try the Magnum everyone's raving about.

[eskay]

I do love me some pepper Spent forever in may trying to find a small pepper mill with metal insides, even at the kitchen stores I went to, for some reason none of them had what I wanted. Ended up with a small peugeot that I've been very happy with. Except now I'm going through pepper like never before

I've never seen the point of salt mills though, it's not like the salt is going to lose any of it's saltiness over time or anything....am I missing something?

[emsny]

On the grinder "spinning in place", some peppercorns are larger than others. If I remember correctly, some of the fancier grades of Tellicherry peppercorns are too big to get into the grinding mechanism of some mills. I believe the Penzey catalog, viewable on line, mentions this.

[melonpan]

thank you for this suggestion, emsny. i hadnt thought that it might be the peppercorns and not my mill. the peppers i used _were_ large tellicherry peppercorns.

so my mill may not be broken! im still quite attached to it you see.

hurray! thank you for this tip. ill see shortly when next i buy peppercorns if it was the size that was the problem.

[melonpan]

On the grinder "spinning in place", some peppercorns are larger than others. If I remember correctly, some of the fancier grades of Tellicherry peppercorns are too big to get into the grinding mechanism of some mills. I believe the Penzey catalog, viewable on line, mentions this.

all along i have been using the magnum and have been VERY pleased with the results.

today i got some smaller white peppercorns and put it in my peugeot. it ground it like it used to! it really was the size of the peppercorns that made the difference.

i dont know why the magnum is able to handle the larger peppercorns, but it does.

anyway. i will now be able to use both mills.

thank you emsny!