Pepper Mill Suggestions

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I've been using an inexpensive coffee mill that a girlfriend gifted me in college. It has been my go-to grinder for large quantities of coarse ground pepper for 50+ years. The handle is about 4" long, so plenty of leverage. At the top of the axis of the cylindrical mill is the adjustment, a threaded wheel with a U-shaped lock which fits over the wheel holding it in place with a securing acorn nut. It adjusts the space between the lower burrs. There is a metal cup that fits over the base. It is made of wood turned on a lathe. Have several Peugeots (major carpal tunnel), and some electric designs (still not enough pepper). A 20+lb green granite mortar and pestle works pretty well, but it seems to crush rather than shear the peppercorns. The ceramic burr Peugeot works pretty well on damp, grey sea salt. Have a Unicorn coming on Monday. The pepper cannon looks great, but is a little $$$. Kinu M47?
 
WildBoar said:
That is dedicated collecting in a nutshell -- always be ready to strike when something exceptional comes up, and don't hem and haw over the price because: a) you will lose the opportunity, and b) a little ways down the road it will seem like a tremendous bargain.
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Im still upset I talked myself out of a Collector's Choice 42
 
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we use it, with traditional methods...
 
Has anyone got any good recommendations for a UK based lad? The Atlas and Magnum are not that easy to get/much more expensive over here.

Would like both a pepper and salt mill, preferably under £50 each but as always with this forum I could be swayed by the right suggestion.
 
Migraine said:
Has anyone got any good recommendations for a UK based lad? The Atlas and Magnum are not that easy to get/much more expensive over here.

Would like both a pepper and salt mill, preferably under £50 each but as always with this forum I could be swayed by the right suggestion.
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Oliver Hemmings Spice Boy should be available for about £35. I believe the mechanism is ceramic so you could use it for both salt and pepper. It comes in various colors including black or white.
 
Thanks. Not sure I'll get that one past the missus as I imagine she'll think it's fugly as hell but we'll see :D
 
Personally I love those from WMF at home, since they stand with the mill head facing upwards - less mess during storage. They have ceramic grind heads and come in a variety of materials. The plastic and glass ones used to go for 14.50 CHF (set of two) back in Switzerland during sales. Or 29 CHF regular pricing.

Have replaced most of my mills (different pepper corns...) with them.
 
DHunter86 said:
Personally I love those from WMF at home, since they stand with the mill head facing upwards - less mess during storage. They have ceramic grind heads and come in a variety of materials. The plastic and glass ones used to go for 14.50 CHF (set of two) back in Switzerland during sales. Or 29 CHF regular pricing.

Have replaced most of my mills (different pepper corns...) with them.
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https://www.wmf.com/en/pepper-mill-0655136040-EN.html
They have quite a few different ones. This one?
 
Migraine said:
Has anyone got any good recommendations for a UK based lad? The Atlas and Magnum are not that easy to get/much more expensive over here.

Would like both a pepper and salt mill, preferably under £50 each but as always with this forum I could be swayed by the right suggestion.
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Puegot is a European brand, no? You're not going to win any grinding race but I think the quality of the ground pepper is quite high.
 
Migraine said:
Has anyone got any good recommendations for a UK based lad? The Atlas and Magnum are not that easy to get/much more expensive over here.

Would like both a pepper and salt mill, preferably under £50 each but as always with this forum I could be swayed by the right suggestion.
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The Peugeot 'U Select' Paris mills have worked very well for me, as their finest settings are finer than anything I can get from a Magnum. They're relatively slow going, sure, but the grinding mechanisms are smooth and won't clog unless you're using absolutely enormous peppercorns (>6 mm). Even then, a quick shake usually sets things right again.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peugeot-Natural-Select-Pepper-Mill/dp/B000RAC7T0/
 
tcmx3 said:
Puegot is a European brand, no? You're not going to win any grinding race but I think the quality of the ground pepper is quite high.
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This is true, the reviews in this thread for them just seemed slightly hit and miss.

I think I'm just going to go for those millstone ones. I'll let you all know if they're any good.
 
Migraine said:
Are ceramic mechanisms the way to go? These look quite nice but they are steel mechanisms.

https://millstonemills.com/
(The classic ones, the chess piece ones look a bit daft IMO)
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IMHO not much volume output from ceramic burrs. I have one in a Peugeot grey salt mill. Unavoidable because of the corrosion issue re. salt vs metal. I have to clean it out often, as the salt crystallizes in the burr. Love the grey sea salt though.
For mass production of ground pepper, re-purposed coffee grinders are the way to go. I prefer just slightly cracked for my steaks. I have an ancient one that uses steel burrs (non-stainless). Wanted to try out the Unicorn Magnum+, but read a review that it craps out after a year or so. Considering the Kinu M47, but the price is a bit brutal. They offer a drip coffee hardened steel burr.
I like the ones with the crank rather than a knob. Carpal tunnel, arthritis, old age, and all of that :-(
 
Honerabi said:
I have to clean it out often, as the salt crystallizes in the burr. Love the grey sea salt though.
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They say on the website for those millstone mills I linked that this is caused by damp salt. Try drying the salt out before putting it in and see if it helps? I guess low temp in the over for a while or something, idk?
 
Migraine said:
They say on the website for those millstone mills I linked that this is caused by damp salt. Try drying the salt out before putting it in and see if it helps? I guess low temp in the over for a while or something, idk?
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I just deal with the damp grey sea salt. I like the flavor as is. Have to find out whether heating it to drive out the moisture changes the flavour. I have various types of fleur d'sel, the brut seems to be the best, but doesn't have the flavour of the grey. The red salt from Jodhpur, IN is good. It has ground brine shrimp mixed in. Am into the Maldon smoked salt now. They provide a plastic grinder. Not much into the pink Himalayan salt other than for lamps.
 
I have the same problem with grey salt clogging up even ceramic mills. I thought it was just because I was using el-cheapo Ikea mills, but your explanation makes more sense. But I don't want to give up the grey salt; taste is just better.
I'm actually kind of surprised grey salt isn't mentioned more in the realm of foodies or even on this forum. It's a pain to grind it (still looking for a cheap source of fine grey salt; can only find coarse), but I prefer it taste wise over any of the fancy salts I've tried.
 
I have grey salt too. I will try drying it in the oven before putting it in the mill (once it arrives) and report back here how it goes.
 
@Jovidah San Francisco Salt Company offers fine (and coarse) grey sea salt and fleur de suel. to me 18 dollars for 5lbs is a good deal, it's actually cheaper than Maldon at that price and near as makes no difference the same as Diamond Crystal

yes I agree grey is amazing. not sure I prefer to Maldon though.

I would never spend Kinu money on a pepper grinder, btw. there are things like 1zpresso that are good enough for pepper, IMO, especially if you're going to cook the pepper after grinding (something I do less and less these days, where possible). for coffee, well I mean I have a comandante and a forte BG so yeah sure but prolly not for pepper.
 
Never tried grey salt. My salt mill has Himalayan pink salt in it and it is pretty good.

My Peugeot pepper mill that I've had for about 5 years is grinding well but the beech ring at the bottom for the U-select ring is starting to crack
 
@tcmx3 Thanks for the suggestion... but I'm in the EU. :(
If I order salt from the US it's probably gonna cost its weight in silver by the time it gets here...

I use the simple plain bags of La Baleine grey salt. For some curious reason they simply don't offer a fine version. I'm half considering starting an email campaign to pressure them into selling it. It's really a lost opportunity too, I'm sure that if they could get people to actually try it it would really sell but the requirement of grinding it (due to the super coarse way they sell it) would put off most potential customers.

To me I can understand the appeal of Maldon from a texture perspective, but flavor wise I really prefer grey.
 
Try salting your food with salt grains several mm's in size. It just doesn't work. Though I admit I only grind it because I haven't ever been able to find the salt I like (taste-wise) in fine form for an acceptable price.
 
@Michi I am impressed. I guess it is worth the $320 price tag?

I have had a unicorn magnum for years and it does a good job other than the fact that pepper goes everywhere in the cabinet. I am also in line for the Kickstarter Pepper Cannon but was recently thinking about going a different direction and trying out a cast iron spice grinder. Food52 had one that looked good but it is currently out of stock. Anyone have experience with one?

https://food52.com/shop/products/4837-cast-iron-spice-grinder
 
Migraine said:
https://iron-mills.co.uk/
Just stumbled across this. Can't decide what I think.
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They look interesting. Not sure what I think about them either. The edges are so sharp they look like they were conceived in CAD. A little bit more chamfering would be nice. Also don't love the branding at the bottom. I do like the anthracite grey and oyster white colors.
 
Campbell said:
I guess it is worth the $320 price tag?
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There can only be a subjective answer… Does it work five or ten times better than an ordinary mill? No. But it does work two or three times better that any mill I have ever used.
In terms of ergonomics and aesthetics, the mill is great, too. And refilled in five seconds flat.
To me, it was worth it. But I admit that it is an extremely extravagant purchase.
 
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