# We need a good quality pepper mill/grinder and quality pepper corns



## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

The title says it all. We are tired of the junk you buy that doesn't grind anything after about six months. There is nothing in the stores around here (I live very rural). We also need an online source for quality pepper corns. When we lived in a large city about ten years ago, we bought some special pepper corns from an upscale type grocery store. We were knocked out by the flavor.

Please give your suggestions for either or both of these and online sources. My wife has been bugging me for days to post this question. She loves pepper. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif

Thanks!


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Penzeys (online) has some very good pepper.

I like Atlas mills.  They're expensive but they have a good range of extra coarse to fairly fine, efficient, and they're metal.  Metal means they won't get terminally ***** in six months from being used by hands with food stuck to them.  They also look great.  The mills, not the food covered hands.

Most mills, if they're not too cheap, have pretty good movements.  It's more likely  yours are getting clogged than actually wearing down.  Atlas mills have larger movements which don't clog as easily as say Peugeots, another advantage.

You can get Atlas mills online at Amazon and a number of other places as well.  There's a lot of price variation, so it pays to shop.

BDL


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## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

Excellent.  Thanks so much.  I found a great deal on one of Amazon's wearhouse preopened things for the 10".  Ordered up a pound bag of Tellicherry from Penzeys.  Can't wait!


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

The Magic Eight Ball says "Zut Alors! Muy Bueno!"

Go easy when you first try the "Tellicherry," it's probably hotter than what you're used to.


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## specialmagic (Oct 1, 2009)

I would suggest two pepper mills.

I have both of these:

(1) Oliver Hemming Spice Boy (the taller one)

(2) Unicorn Magnum Plus

I personally like the Oliver Hemming better, but most foodies love the Unicorn. Again, I have them both and they are both very very good. If you are buying it for your wife, I think she would like the Oliver Hemming better. It comes in a lot of colors and makes less mess with grind 'drippings'. Also, the ceramic mechanism can be used on salt and other spices. The Unicorn is faster but I think the grind setting 'slips' more and is harder to fill than the Hemming.

The Oliver Hemming is pretty hard to find, but you can get it out of the UK or look on eBay where I found mine for $15. Below is one site that offers it. I am not affiliated with that site at all. I just love this grinder.

http://www.dreamicons.com/spice-boy-by-oliver-hemming-salt-pepper-spice-mill-p-297.html

The Unicorn is sold on many sites in the US, including cooking.com.

Good luck.

Here is a review I did of both if you are interested.

http://specialmagickitchen.com/archives/2840

Good luck and happy grinding.

k.


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## indianwells (Jan 2, 2007)

+1 for the Unicorn Magnum Plus. My favourite piece of equipment!


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## bhtoad (Jul 14, 2010)

I love my Vic Firth's. Great mechanisms with a wide range of grinds. Not prone to losing your grind settings when you reload, either. If you're a percussionist, Vic also makes some nice drumsticks.


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## buckeye_hunter (Nov 2, 2009)

I stumbled across a nice deal on a Perfex.  The reviews I read were all great and so would be mine if I were to write one...

I buy my equipment a piece at a time and only when I find a great deal!


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Ummm...

It ain't very glamorous, but our best luck has been the disposable mills from Costco.

I have at least five sets of mills, including one or two Peugeots, and none of them work as well as the recently-introduced disposable plastic ones fron Costco.  . They both grind like crazy, and are adjustible. The pepper mill has 6.3 ounces of Tellicherry  pepper, and the salt contains 13 ounces of Mediterranean sea salt, according to the labels. Each is a little under four bucks.

I'm going to stay with them for the forseeable future unless I get one of the Greek jobs with a crank like the Froogle Google had.

Mike


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Mike,

You said,


> It ain't very glamorous, but our best luck has been the disposable mills from Costco.... I'm going to stay with them for the forseeable future unless I get one of the Greek jobs with a crank like the Froogle Google had.


Those "Greek jobs" are the very same Atlas mills I recommended to JWK (the OP), one of which he bought. Available at Amazon and lot of places. Not cheap, but well worth it. Lily, my daughter, gave me mine for my fortieth birthday twenty years ago, and it's still going strong.

BDL


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## martiniman (Jun 1, 2006)

I agree with the "Greek Job".  Lots of production, good capacity and not slippery at all when your hands are not as dry as they shoule be.  I like the Unicorn, but the twisting, and twisting of the cap finally made me bite the  bullet and go Atlas.  Highly recommend.  Both great units, they just come at it from different angles.


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## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

Yes, I got the Atlas and I'm very happy.  Easy to handle, easy to clean, nice and big for the hands (I find that larger kitchen tools like these are more ergonomic - YMMV) and very easy to adust both the grind size and the amount coming out.  I am not wanting anything else.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I'm resuscitating this thread because I want to ask for a pepper grinder for xmas but I want one that is going to be affordable (Atlas were about 50 euros), preferably european (no import tax) and that can grind coarsely. If it;s adjustable all the better.

I'm not really attracted to the one with the little handle thingy on top (the atlas seems to all be like that) because it's tiny and seems harder to use.

I currently use what i still have left of the disposable ones, the only brand worth buying being Durcos, which is McCormack in italy, but durcos seems to have gone out of business. I can't find them even on line. They cracked the pepper very coarsely, and worked really easily. They also had a mixed pepper one with pink, white, black and green peppercorns and coriander seeds, a combination that is particularly appetising to me. I don't care for the white pepper or the green, but the pink, the black and the coriander are special - on meat i don't need anything else.

So can anyone recommend me a cheaper, preferably european pepper grinder that will* easily and effectively grind pepper coarsely*. I can't ask for a 50 euro pepper grinder, but maybe a 20- maybe 25 euro one.

thanks


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

> Originally Posted by *siduri*
> 
> I currently use what i still have left of the disposable ones, the only brand worth buying being Durcos, which is McCormack in italy, but durcos seems to have gone out of business. I can't find them even on line.


It's Ducros, not Durcos: http://www.ducros.fr/nos-produits/index.html


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Siduri

I have 3 Peugeot mills. The best! (and it pains me to recommend a French product!)/img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Ishbel, I agree on the Peugeots. Probably the best around, but also a little pricey.

Always check the grinding mechanism. It has to be all metal. Plastic is junk.

I have a Stoha too, a large glass one, German made, much cheaper and also quite good.

http://www.stoha.de/index.php?lang=D&mid=22

Siduri, any peppermill can grind coarsely by just loosening the screw on top of it. The tighter you screw it, the finer the it grinds.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

French Fries said:


> > Originally Posted by *siduri*
> >
> > I currently use what i still have left of the disposable ones, the only brand worth buying being Durcos, which is McCormack in italy, but durcos seems to have gone out of business. I can't find them even on line.
> 
> ...


Oops, but do you also know where to find them in rome????


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

ChrisBelgium said:


> Ishbel, I agree on the Peugeots. Probably the best around, but also a little pricey.
> 
> Always check the grinding mechanism. It has to be all metal. Plastic is junk.
> 
> ...


Ah, there's the rub, Chris. I've had various pepper grinders and not one of them REALLY worked with the tightening or loosening of the screw. If you loosened it, which is what i wanted, to get a coarse grind, it would tighten up as i ground it. I'd like one that has a way of actually setting it to different grinds.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Ishbel said:


> Siduri
> 
> I have 3 Peugeot mills. The best! (and it pains me to recommend a French product!)/img/vbsmilies/smilies/licklips.gif


Ishbel, thanks. Can they be adjusted to grind coarsely? and stay that way as you grind?

as for the french product ... I remember reading at the time the euro was introduced, that there was one of those april fool's day newspaper headlines in a british paper that announced "France will go with the Pound!"


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

siduri said:


> Oops, but do you also know where to find them in rome????


I have no idea. I've never been south of Torino. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/frown.gif


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Siduri

My peugeot mills - one for 'posh', one for everday and one for cooking - allow me to grind exactly the size I want - and are consistent.  I have only one complaint...  I bought a painted black set with a top like castle battlements - both salt and pepper cost be about 70 GPB....   and I dropped one on the kitchen floor (slate) and it was pretty bashed - I expected it to be a little more robust.

ChrisBelgium

Yes,mine are all metal grinders.  I learned the hard way....    We have a couple of British companies who make reasonable grinders, but nowadays, their mechanisms use plastic grinding plates.  They have been a real disappointment to me!

Interestingly, most Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK where I've eaten have ALL had Peugeot on the table!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

ok, that sounds good Ishbel


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## andre park (Jul 24, 2013)

Try TeakMills. They are made from reclaimed teak and fitted with a ceramic grinding mechanism that carries a 25 year guarantee. Teak wood means they are not going to slip in your hands when they are oily, and like good wine, teak gets better with time.

They also supply gourmet pepper, including kampot black, white and red pepper. And the biggest plus is they sell online and ship worldwide!


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Peugeot grinders like *this one* are what I've always used for four decades with no degradation in the cutting edges.


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