Favorite Pepper Mill/Salt Mill

[jjcokc]

My SIL has said she would like a really good pepper mill and salt mill for Xmas. Any recommendations? I am planning to include one of Penzey's pepper gift packs. Does anyone who takes Cooks Illustrated know if they rated pepper mills? I have a feeling that will be easier to find rather than to find a set including a salt mill. I'm not really sure why she wants that.

[claire797]

Cook's Illustrated DID rate Peppermills and the winner was the Good Grips (by Oxo) peppermill. I have been looking all over for one and can't find one. I don't have the issue anymore and can't remember how the others ranked, but I'll be somebody else does.

[Nirak]

I love my Penzy's mill, so you could do the whole gift set from there.

[heatherfeather]

If you are looking for really good performance, I have a fantastic peppermill - it is a clear round ball with two handles sticking out the top. Using one hand, you give the handles a squeeze and presto - ground pepper. It is the best, most easy to use and fill pepper mill I've ever had. I highly recommend it - I think it is by OXO. I know that you can get the kind I have on Amazon.com - just type in pepper mill in their search window.

[sushibones]

The pepper mill that I had been using for years somehow got torqued and now no longer works, so I was also on a quest for a new peppermill.

The top 4 recommended by Cooks Illustrated are:

Unicorn Magnum Plus Restaurant Use Peppermill ($45)

East Hampton Industries (EHI) Peppermate Pepper Mill Model 623 ($40)

Oxo Good Grips Grind It Pepper Mill, Model 41202 ($20)

Zyliss Large Pepper (and Salt) Mill ($27.50).

I found the Oxo Grind It at a local gourmet store, although it was called an herb/spice mill (they had the mill with nothing in it, but a lot of jars that would attach filled with herbs or whole spices for sale separately). I bought it, and it seems to work fine. It has a glass container that holds about 1/2 cup and a plastic enclosed grinder mechanism that snaps on top. The grinder is ceramic. The whole thing turns upside down to grind, which you do by holding the grinder and twisting the glass jar back and forth. CI mentioned that the grind settings were difficult to determine, but there is a grey dial on top of the grinder with 5 circles of increasing size. When you turn the dial there do not appear five definite stops, but I could turn the dial and get either fine or coarse which was more than I could do on my old peppermill. I also chose this one because it was compact and fit on my revolving rack. It is about 5" tall by 2" wide. There is also a rubber cap that snaps over the top of the grinder mechanism with circular rings marked for 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 tsp, but you can't store the mill with the grinder side down because neither the cap or the grinder mechanism is flat (the dial adjustment sticks up just slightly past the rim of the grinder housing).

If you are interested in the next 4 rated "Recommended with Reservations," I can post those as well. I might mention that in the second batch there is another Oxo Good Grips model (32180) which is designed differently and appears to have a turning handle on top.

If you want more details or specific ratings on any of these, let me know and I can give more info. The review was in the July/Aug 2001 issue, but is not available on the CI online site unless you are a online subscriber.