shop-n-surf: the perfect pepper grinder?
Not long ago, Maxwell over at Apartment Therapy reminded us of his favorite peppermill. Then, a couple of weeks later, ours, which was cheap and plastic and kinda looked like a rabbit, unceremoniously broke. Before committing to the Perfex cast aluminum pepper mill, $75 at William Sonoma, I wanted to shop around a bit and make sure that was indeed in the best (not that I would ever doubt a recommendation from Mr. Ryan, but some other ones are more aesthetically pleasing. Here are a few I’m also considering. What do you think? Got an opinion? Please share! — Angela M.
Left: This clear one is the Peugeot U-Select Adjustable System, $80. six levels of grinding from fine to course, and comes with a lifetime guarantee.
Center: I know this one is a bit gimmicky, but I like it. It’s Bodum Ball Boy grinder. Bodum makes great products, but for only $25, I worry about the quality of this.
Right: And finaly, I love the shape and color of this Dark Pepper Vic Firth Orange Mill, which also comes with lifetime guarantee. It’s only $44.
i have to weigh in on this one
when i met my husband…..well when we moved in together
we had to mix and match all our various kitchen tools
one of our arguments was over whose pepper grinder we would use
i was in love with my fancy expensive tall wooden elegant grinder
and he had the cheap not particularly attractive ikea one
i have to say that he eventually won the battle
becasue the ikea one is actually designed really well:
http://www.ikea.com.sg/products/product_display.asp?id=278
because the grinder part is on the top
you have to turn it upside down to grind your pepper
and as a result you don’t leave little pepper bits wherever you set the grinder down
it is a perfect example of function over form
it might not be pretty but it works perfectly
i am a convert
Cook’s illustrated recently tested peppermills & rated Unicorn magnum & magnum plus as the best. There is also a minimill that rated will for half the price of the others. I haven’t purchased a pepper mill yet but when I have bought other items recommended by cook’s I haven’t been disappointed.
-Rachel
My mom just bought the Unicorn Rachel refers to and really likes it, but when my boyfriend and I went to purchase a new peppermill (ours had ceased to, um, grind), he got weirdly picky and decided the Unicorn did not meet his needs. Me, I just wanted something un-heinous. We ended up compromising on a Peugot in a shiny burgundy finish. So far, so good. (I think we got it at Bed Bath & Beyond and used one of the chain’s ubiquitous 20% off coupons so it wasn’t over $50, iirc.)
Of the ones you list here, I like the orange one. It looks properly European, has a nice mid-range price, and comes guaranteed. The Peugeot seems like overkill (best for professional chefs in very fancy restaurants – does anyone else really *need* six different levels of grinding?). The Bodum doesn’t seem to have a guarantee? If it did it wouldn’t matter if it’s cheapy.
I don’t always agree with Mr Ryan’s recommendations, but the Wms-Son. one looks nice too. I would also choose that before the Peugeot… for style points, if nothing else. I guess it depends on what’s important to you, since the price point is the same. Maybe you could try out one or two.
Also, anything named “unicorn” automatically gets my vote. (Shallow? Nah. “Pick the pretty orange one! Or the one named after unicorns!”)
However, I absolutely loathe pepper, so you should probably take this with a grain of… haha. Salt. Let us know which one you bought! :D
On Cook’s recommendation, I recently bought the six-inch Unicorn Magnum directly from the manufacturer, Tom David, for $31 plus $4 shipping. It arrived quickly. I love it. It’s extremely ease to load (I used a piece of parchment as a funnel for the peppercorns); it’s sleek; and grinding is fast. It’s easy to adjust the grind. Pepper tastes much fresher than it did when I used my decade-old brass grinder.
The editors at Cook’s (and Fine Cooking, and Gourmet) are spot on. You just don’t need to spend $75 to get a good peppermill. I am even thinking of buying the Minimill for trips. The Minimill would be fine for home use, but it’s only 3″ high, so you’d have to fill it more often.
–Molly