Pepper and Salt Mills/Grinders

[Margaret Pilgrim]

In case I've sold anyone on (Jacques Pepin's favorite) Peppermate mill, my 45 year old one recently deconstructed and I immediately ordered a new one.   The standard price seems to be $39.99 but I snagged this one at substantial discount.   Ordered and received white.   It came 72 hours after I placed the order.   I am delighted.

[SLB]

The Cannon is available at a 15% discount through Valentine's Day:  ROSESAREDEAD.

 

Just FYI.  

[Smithy]

On 2/5/2023 at 4:54 PM, SLB said:

The Cannon is available at a 15% discount through Valentine's Day:  ROSESAREDEAD.

 

Just FYI.  

 

Lovely code! 😄

[lindag]

On 1/7/2023 at 2:24 PM, Margaret Pilgrim said:

In case I've sold anyone on (Jacques Pepin's favorite) Peppermate mill, my 45 year old one recently deconstructed and I immediately ordered a new one.   The standard price seems to be $39.99 but I snagged this one at substantial discount.   Ordered and received white.   It came 72 hours after I placed the order.   I am delighted.

Why is it described as 'electric'?

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Sloppy editing.

[paulraphael]

On 9/11/2022 at 5:28 PM, btbyrd said:

If I had infinity billion dollars, I'd get a Pepper Cannon or Weber Moulin grinder. And I must confess that while I see no purpose in having a salt grinder, I would probably get the matching Weber one if I had infinity billion dollars. 

 

How annoying of you to make me aware of these things.

 

Until this minute I was perfectly happy with the Unicorn mill. Luckily my pepper mill budget is about $infinity billion short.

[SLB]

52 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

How annoying of you to make me aware of these things.

 

IKNOWRIGHT???

[SLB]

I've been fixated, longingly, on the Weber since I first read that post.  And then the "Standard Pepper Mill", its competitor (according to someone on the knife-fiend forum, those two products reflect a founders split from what was once a single company; I gather the mills mechanisms are very similar).  The latter one is a hundred dollars less; but still.  I just couldn't justify the price (against my personal tolerance, not "worth").

 

The Cannon, however, with the discount was not that much more than my Atlas -- which, conveniently, seems to have some defect in the grind-adjustment knob, it's like it can't get tight, let alone stay tight.  And the Cannon it promises to produce way more pepper per turn.  Hopefully that means I won't be too aggravated by the twist-style.  

 

And it just arrived:  

 

The instructions include a warning that the interior should "only be cleaned with a brush". 

 

I, um, did not know that the inside of the pepper mill got cleaned.  Literally could never have imagined such a thing.

 

This other one, which I also learned about on that knife forum, was actually my first choice.  But the owner still does not know when any of the interesting colors will be back in stock.  https://iron-mills.com/collections/salt-and-pepper-mills

[paulraphael]

The Cannon looks intriguing. Interested in your impressions after using it a while.

 

I'd enjoy fawning over the Weber, but I'm not tempted. I'm familiar with the brand from reading reviews of their hand-hewn solid unobtanium espresso grinders. But I just don't need my pepper mill to be most finely crafted thing in the whole house. 

[haresfur]

I bought salt and pepper grinders not too long ago and the salt was clogging up with fine dust. I was cleaning it out when I discovered that the grind could be adjusted. So I guess there is a reason to pay for the fancier grinder. The cheap one I bought for white pepper doesn't adjust as far as I can figure out.

[btbyrd]

22 hours ago, paulraphael said:

 

How annoying of you to make me aware of these things.

 

Until this minute I was perfectly happy with the Unicorn mill. Luckily my pepper mill budget is about $infinity billion short.

 

21 hours ago, SLB said:

IKNOWRIGHT???

 

So sorry to annoy you both! I also fixated on these high end grinders when I first became aware of them. I was especially fond of their high output (and high build quality). But my wife remarked "I don't think I'd ever want to grind pepper faster than the Unicorn does it. It puts out plenty for me." And it turns out, that's true. If I was making bulk pastrami on the regular, maybe I'd want to up my output. But as a normal (well, kind of abnormal) home cook, I don't need that kind of power. And if I did, I'd probably end up buying an electric burr spice grinder.

 

The real advantage in these seems to be in the well machined adjustable burrs that deliver not just high output, but a full spectrum of particle sizes. Upon reflection, I really only use two sizes of ground pepper in my cooking: moderately coarse and fine-ish. I just permanently have my Unicorn set to medium coarse and my Atlas set to fine-ish and between the two of them, all my needs are taken care of. The dual grinder solution is space-hogging and somewhat pricey, but I got my Unicorn on blowout for like $16, so I count my blessings. I still curse its plastic body and less-than-great grind adjustment, but I can't argue with the excellent coarse grinding and high-enough output.

[SLB]

Everything you say makes sense.  

[SLB]

So, this is my early feedback on the Cannon.  It certainly does produce an ENORMOUS amount of pepper per turn; and has more grind settings than seem relatable.  Also, it is very heavy and solid-feeling, in a lovely, two-hundred-dollar way.

 

But that smooth body, with no grooves or indents, no angling or nothing?  Well.  More than once I thought it was going to slip to ruin in some rolling boil of liquid. 

 

This seems like a distinct disadvantage as compared with the Weber and the Craig Lyn, which are designed with (what looks like) some grip-effect.  You definitely want to be thoughtful about greasy hands with the Cannon.    

 

Second, if you're holding the thing at a tilt, then the high volume pours out in a stream, and lands in a pile.  Not a problem in soup, or if you're measuring out some pepper.  But not what you want when you're dealing with a piece of meat, or eggs.  It scatters brilliantly if you are holding the thing vertical.  

 

Not a big deal -- the point was to be able to achieve volume.  

 

I'm not mad.  I'm just sayin'.  The slip thing feels more significant to me, a clumsy person, and I wish I'd considered this in advance. 

 

There is a very simple solution:  a good ole' rubber band. 

 

But, you know.  

Edited February 24, 2023 by SLB (log)