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We need a new pepper grinder. We’ve had many that have not lasted. I’ve been asked to identify a lifetime pepper grinder by Mrs Big Spud.
Singletrack, you are my only hope....
Has to be a Peugeot surely...like the campag bottle opener.... The company is famous quality pepper mill......but not alot else.
That said.....unsure if new ones you can buy today are made by same company or under license as they seem significantly cheaper than they used to be.....
Interested!
I had a superb electric one, from Lidl of all places. Had it for about 2 years until my girlfriend dropped it 😢
Got another cheapo but it isn’t very good.
Harold Perfex Classic. Saw one in a local cafe, looks indestructible.
Cole & Mason capstan.
Peugeot. end of.
Actually, those glass ones Drac posted, you can get them in Iceland for, i think, 99p. They work well, and you can refill them but they don’t last long and are a bit wasteful.
Maybe this one?
https://uk.buymeonce.com/products/skeppshult-cast-iron-beech-pepper-grinder
Saw it the other day and wondered who pays £60 for a pepper grinder...
I’ve been asked to identify a lifetime pepper
Ie.....not disposable.
65p in Aldi yes obviously disposable it grinds pepper but doesn’t look fancy on your table for all your friends to admire.
What Drac said.
I’ve been refilling one for about ten years. It still grinds pepper.
In contrast I’ve had a succession of over priced junk bought me over the years that failed within months.
I've had a couple with spice mixes in those My experiance is anywhere near steam(such as over a pot on simmer)and the blades get rusty and jam up, when that happens and you force them....the plastic top then disintegrates.
Pepper mill lives next to the cooker for cooking with not for the table. It may well make it to the table if someone requests extra pepper/salt but largely it lives next to the cooker to be used at source.
I have a Chris king salt shaker I was given as a gift. It looks great ...its terrible at being a salt shaker. It lives on the table though as it was a gift... I wouldn't try to use it though....you'll find it's empty
I’ve had a couple with spice mixes in those
There’s no metal in them.
Hey! Go for something fancy, we all buy items that are more expensive than an equally function one. If you like something and can afford it why not.
Peugeot is the obvious choice although I don’t really like their designs much. I ended up buying a set of Zassenhaus Grinders about 10 years ago when I went through the same thought process. More of a modern design and really nice wood - mine are in Zebrano Wood. Still working great after 10 years anyway...
Well I don't have a pepper one The chilli grinder I have has metal blades. The good news is they break before the chilli has a chance to become tasteless 🙂
T&G CrushGrind
Thats what my Lidl one was a copy of. Exactly the same shape. Checks price...
hmm, not too bad.. wrong one!! £53. FIFTYTHREE POUNDS! for a bloody pepper grinder! I wonder how long 53 of Drac’s ones would last 😂 Link that works - https://www.tg-woodware.com/mills/mills-range/crushgrind-mills
We've had a wooden ikea one for the last 20 years....still going strong and nice & big so you can load it up without refilling for ages
Are one is paler & more rounded but I guess this is their current version... https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/intressant-spice-mill-acacia-50301897/
Le cruset. 3 years on from our wedding, it's still going strong.
It was a present, so no idea on cost
Always been happy with the Bart grinder and I have never found an aftermarket one I prefer.
I have a Peugeot Mahé. It is ace.
We have a set of OXO good grips salt and pepper grinders. Solid and functional but uninspiring. We also have a Robert Welch one that I like much better - I use it when cooking as we don;t have the matching salt grinder to use with it on the table.
we don;t have the matching salt grinder to use with it on the table.
😂 made me laugh more than anything I've read on here in ages! Brilliant.
Glad to be of service! Reading it back it does feel like peak STW...
I get a bit antsy about stuff like that though, and can be a bit of a design snob at times. Sad though it is, mismatched grinders would properly do my head in.
Peugeot. the best for table use. A separate coarseness adjuster not just depending on how slack the top nut is
for cooking one of these
doesn’t look fancy on your table for all your friends to admire.
So cute, bless.
This is more me
I’m seriously outta my league on here. 🤪
Another vote for Zassenhaus, we have a set that's been going for 15 years and is still grinding perfectly.
T&G crush grind are like the Boa of the grinder world - in the unlikely event something goes wrong, just contact them and they'll send you the replacement gubbins.
I think Love Honey do something similar to that one Colournoise.
I’ve spent a fair amount on fancy pepper and salt mills, which have ultimately given up the ghost, so now I buy whatever container has what I want in with a grinder on the top, pepper ones get refilled up until they wear out the go into the plastic recycling and a new cheap one bought.
Same with the salt, I buy great big Himalayan pink salt mills for about a quid, which last absolutely ages, work perfectly, then go into the recycling and replaced with another.
I occasionally look at fancy grinders, think about the cost, think ‘nah’, and carry on buying cheap easily replaced ones.
Especially as we never sit at a table anyway, and don’t have friends around who’d s****.
Have had these for ages. Grind well, easy to clean, very obvious when you need to put more salt or pepper in. Hard to go wrong for a fiver.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/ikea-365-ihaerdig-spice-mill-black-10152875/
Ha i thought I was on my own with this....asked for the biggest pepper grinder she could find last year so got a red one and it’s about 12” tall and wooden, manual and I love it! Always wanted one after seeing waiters/resses asking if you want pepper!
Same as Simon G for me. I've got one at home for pepper, one for salt and one in the camper van for pepper.
The pepper one at home is at least 17 yrs old if not more and is used every day. They grind really really well, the grind can be adjusted and you know when they're getting low.
They're not expensive or flash but are a decent designed functional no frills product. They're a bit of a design classic I reckon. Amazing value for money for a fiver. You'd pay £20 more if they were OXO and they wouldn't work as well but people would be all over them!
Always wanted one after seeing waiters/resses asking if you want pepper!
I hate those bastards, you'd think the pepper was gold- and coming out of their own pocket. Two twists then look at you, 'more please' gets you another twist at a time till you both get bored of it and he buggers off.
Thats when I get out my GSI camping pepper grinder which actually works very well, fits neatly in a pocket and has a cap to stop you getting pepper in your pocket.
Also good for camping.
We have these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bottle-Grinder-Pepper-Cendre-Carbone/dp/B076N6DLG6
cos they look nice on the table and impress our friends. At least up to the point when they pick it up and find that the rubber coating has gone all sticky.
So cute, bless.
You actually think I was being serious?
That aldi one was actually pretty good. But it has recently been replaced by a new design. The new one is rubbish.
Peugeot, or you are doing it wrong.
Words I never thought I would type.
FIFTYTHREE POUNDS! for a bloody pepper grinder!
I actually have the big brother of the one Northwind linked to which comes in at £72 inc p&p! I was given it as a thank you gift for presenting a talk in Stockholm. It is a thing of beauty, and I am sure will outlive me and my children. Consistent fine grind but not too fine, just wish I could justify buying the matching salt seller.
https://www.souschef.co.uk/products/skeppshult-beech-wood-and-cast-iron-pepper-mill
Could also be used as a suitable tool if you need to move beyond wee-ing in shoes but don't have a set of bombers handy.
If anyone has suggestions on how to get the cast iron finish without a foundry I am all ears - my dad a lathe so replicating the shape would be feasible.
I asked the same Q a while back.
Drac has nailed it.
T&G here too, the salt grinder has ceramic burrs so it'll not corrode (apparently). Adjustable grind level on both mills, lovely looking matching pair, only minor thing is the wood is splitting slightly on the salt grinder, I keep meaning to speak to my neighbour who's a wooderist (has a lathe and loves a turn on it) I'm sure we can work out a repair.
About 7/8 years into use and not had any problems yet. Linky to the pepper mill
Another vote for T&G and I particularly like the wide hole for refilling. Anyone still using the ones where you undo the nut then attempt to navigate the peppercorns into the grinder without them bouncing off the central pole and onto the floor?
About 7/8 years into use and not had any problems yet.
Except from the wood splitting?
Except from the wood splitting?
So while that is a flaw, it's still perfectly functional, it just probably got dropped at some point, I'm a clumsy bugger 🙂 Your point is valid though.
Peugeot, or you are doing it wrong.
I bought a pair of expensive Peugeot grinders (are you seeing a pattern developing?) and the salt one no longer works for some reason
Linky to the pepper mill
That does look nice. Is there an associated salt mill? If the answer is "just buy 2", how do you tell them apart?
If you want a proper last a 'life time' mill one of my neighbors makes/distributes these.
Expensive but lifetime guarantee, replaceable parts etc.
I like that they actually specify the mechanism. Definitely the important bit 🙂
https://millstonemills.com/the-mechanism/
They are also completely fixable apparently. Sends them all over the world, restaurants etc.
Also a specific rock salt mechanism.....
Personally the chess set ones are a bit meh, but the classic ones are great.
We have a 10" pepper mill that I bought from TkMaxx at least 15 years ago. Is the only one we've ever owned. I can't remember the price but I'd be very surprised if I paid more than £15 for it back then. It still works as well as it's always done, didn't realise there was much to tell between one mill and another. It's marked trudeau on the base.
Okay, so I have a perfectly serviceable pepper grinder so I don't need one of those but I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE!!!!
https://uk.buymeonce.com/products/skeppshult-traditional-cast-iron-wok-30cm
Who the frak needs an electric pepper grinder? Unless you only have one hand?
"I'm sorry, you can't have any pepper because I forgot to charge my grinder". Said the biggest **** in the world ever.
Lyn Webber Moulin Pepper Mill, made by the same company which makes ultra high precision coffee grinders which are even more pricey!
Uses a miniaturised grind adjustment mechanism based on their fancy coffee ones.
Should last for a lifetime, but you would hope so for $300 😂
https://weberworkshops.com/products/moulin
I'm clearly in the wrong line of work.
New business - contact me for a pepper grinder.
@eyestwice - You should see what people would pay for high end coffee grinders, it is astronomical. A home single dose grinder for 4K makes a 300 pepper mill appear quite reasonable...
@kimura54321 I'd love to believe that you're taking the piss.
But it's a sad state of affairs when I don't. Even if I were an overpaid footballer I'd struggle to justify that.
@eyestwice - Agree with you on the prices being a bit crazy if you aren’t into a hobby to that extent.
The rule of diminishing returns applies to coffee as well as bikes, you would be hard pressed to explain to a non-hobbyist why the custom tuned suspension unit, n+1 bikes, cranks imperceptibly stiffer to the average user justified all the costs.
Back on topic, I was looking for a “Deore” level pepper mill last week and stumped for a wooden Mason and Cole precision one with steel burrs. Hopefully I won’t be in a rush to buy another in the near future and had pretty good reviews. 🤞
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075NXRWCM/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_btf_awdo_MTLCFbAFKK4F1
Another vote for T&G and I particularly like the wide hole for refilling.
Cheap version:
https://www.hartsofstur.com/crushgrind-spice-mill.html
Hahaha the pepper people in the restaurant (when I last went to one many moons ago) weren’t as busy as the parmesan people.... when they ask if you want parmesan, it’s always yes and yes a bit more, just a bit more....go to eat your food and realise all you can taste is cheeeese!
We have several pepper and salt grinders that all seem to work OK. None of them expensive and one which is a little bit worn so if you slacken it off a bit will produce a big pile of crushed peppercorns perfect for pressing into a proper pepper steak.
But for all that, I can never be without a tub of Saxa white pepper (pre-ground) for use on scrambled egg, fried tomatoes and bread sauce for the roast chicken. It's perfect and irreplaceable.
Okay, so I have a perfectly serviceable pepper grinder so I don’t need one of those but I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE!!!!
We’re drifting off topic here. However, the point of a wok is fast heat transfer and adjustment you’re not going to get with a cast iron one.
I've got the T&G crush grind. Amazing. Going strong for over 10+ years and no sign of any lessening in performance.
So easy to fill! So good at grinding! 😆
Think I paid £25-30 for each one back then.
I was looking for a “Deore” level pepper mill
We need a thread where people just recommend Deore level equivalents of everything. It would save all these threads where someone needs recommendations for something and half of STW weigh in to re-mortgage your house and buy one of the thing hand-forged by chamois goats in a hut on the north face of the Matterhorn, and the other half insist you only ever need the one that comes free with a Happy Meal and theirs has lasted them 20 years of daily use.
I bought the Mrs a pair of Le Creuset S&P grinders for her birthday recently. they were about £30 each iirc... they look the business and really are a pleasure to use after years of crappy supermarket alternatives.
Thread resurrection.
Anyone still interested in expensive table decorations Lakeland has Cole & Mason for half price.
Useful thread, my Cole & Mason one just shat itself so I need something fancy to replace it.
Well that didn’t last long.... literally, I remember replying saying ours was great. Broke the other day but can’t figure out how to get it working again!!
A pair of le creuset here (I know - living the dream) but I find that both salt and pepper are ground far too finely - dunno if the my can be fettled for optimum performance?