My next peppermill...any suggestions

My trusty Peugeot peppermill, which has served served me meritoriously from Texas to Arizona, and in it's most recent assignment here in Chicago, is retiring today with full honors.

Any suggestions for a replacement which a) has an adjustable grind and b) is able to easily crank out good sized quantities of pepper without causing temporary wrist and arm cramps? (I'm not looking for a coffee/spice grinder)

The Magnum or Magnum Plus peppermills from Tom David/Unicorn.

Very wide grind range, good capacity, very efficient grinding mechanism. I can't recommend it enough.

Magnum Plus

It's also available at Amazon, etc.

Evil,

My pepper mill of choice is Perfex. Aluminum body, steel mechanism, fully adjustable. Mildly expensive, I paid $50 10-12 years ago, maybe longer, but it still works perfectly.

Perfex Pepper Mill


Enjoy,
Gary

i have a Peugeot brand one. I got it at a restaurant supply store who said that they are a top quality brand. Actually, I just looked them up online and apparently they invented the pepper grinder.
One store said this:

Peugeot of France created the pepper grinder in 1842. The patented design of the grinding mechanism created by a company engineer for the first Peugeot pepper mills is still in use today, virtually unchanged. Often copied, but never equaled, the mechanism made of case hardened steel is designed to crack the peppercorns before the actual fine grinding process. The grooves on a Peugeot mechanism are individually cut into the metal, and then case hardened, making them virtually indestructible. The same unyielding commitment that goes into every Peugeot pepper mill mechanism is also evident in the stainless steel salt mechanism. Peugeot grinding mechanisms are the choice of food professionals and discerning cooks around the world.

Mine is about 5" and cost $12. It turns very smoothly- very easily. It's also adjustable. I would go to a wholesaler restaurant supply type place, where they'd be cheaper. Most retail places have them for between 20 and 50 bucks. I saw a bunch at Fox and Obel today. You can also find them easily all over the internet.

oh yeah and it grinds realllly finely on the finest setting.

Just a reminder, there was also this peppermill thread with some good info in it.

and oh yeah again i just saw that peugeot is the brand you had in the first place. oops, sorry

I have a trudeau. Got it at Sewer la table, about $45. Solid feel, contemporary styling, grinds about a lb of pepper per twist. The ceramic mechanism is really a lot nicer than the metal grinders i have used. The lifetime warrentee is nice too.

Erik.

G Wiv wrote:My pepper mill of choice is Perfex. Aluminum body, steel mechanism, fully adjustable. Mildly expensive, I paid $50 10-12 years ago, maybe longer, but it still works perfectly.

Perfex Pepper Mill

I concur. I received my Perfex as a wedding present, 21 years ago last month, and it's been used for nearly every meal I've cooked since. I own probably half a dozen peppermills, which I use for different blends, but this one's the kitchen workhorse for black pepper. It's easy to fill, easy to adjust, durable and compact.

However, if I were buying another peppermill just for fun, I'd get the [url=http://tinyurl.com/fewx9]Trudeau Graviti:

[/url].
I got to play with one at this year's Housewares Show and it was a hoot. You just flip it over and it starts grinding by itself. I don't imagine you'd get decades of use out of it, but it's relatively cheap.

Perfex here, twenty years now. Man, a body can put out an infinite amount of pepper grindings in a finite amount of time. And it's built like an M1A1.

Geo

I remember going to the late, unlamented restaurant Enigma in Dallas. It was fun to see the 5' tall waitress try to maneuver their 5' tall pepper mill. It certainly made a statement. I imagine that with a decent machine shop and a lathe, a similar version could be made, although you'd have to deal with the obvious comments.

nr706--

heh-heh, you could always get a 36" Louisville Slugger, drill it out, and mount a Peugeot mechanism in it. Give it to the waitress and tell her to 'hit it out of the park' with the pepper.

Geo

I don't know why it took so long to actually innovate the pepper grinder but at least the Swiss finally did:

http://www.kuhnrikon.com/products/tools ... hp3?id=197

This one's not bad too:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... U=10755832

I recall Cook's Illustrated hated the pepper ball.

Their favorite choices, which I have in my cell phone's notes since I'm in the market, were Unicorn Magnum Plus, East Hampton Industries (EHI) Peppermate 623, Oxo Good Grips 41202, and Zyliss Large.

I have the pepper ball and actually like it a lot but it's all a matter of preference. For $15, it's not a big risk compared to spending $50 and up for the solid metal ones. I also think it makes life a bit easier. You can grind pepper with just one hand as opposed to having to engage both hands to mill pepper exclusively. Of course, it's all plastic so it doesn't like as chic as a metal one. I used to work for Williams-Sonoma and like their all metal grinder but that thing cost $125.

Warning: The Peugeot electric grinders always broke and the plastic components would always break or wear down.

G Wiv wrote:Evil,

My pepper mill of choice is Perfex.

I too have a Perfex. I didn't buy it, the SO inherited it... I've had a few pepper mills, and this is by far the best i've found. it feels nice and solid, and grinds really smoothly.. is EASILY refillable, adjustable, etc.

When shopping around in France, everyone seemed to have Peugeot. So they must be decent .. and some places had Perfex.

i have no doubt that the functionality of the peugeot is great... and it probably lasts a long time. but they're A) not as easily refillable B) not as easily adjustable... maybe its not true with every model they make, but for many you'll have to unscrew this or that to refill/adjust it. the same is true for the majority fo pepper mills out there.. i think perfex is in the minority with regards to how easy it is to refill and adjust.

I have a peppermate that I have had for over 20 years. Recently I had an accident and melted the outside plastic slightly but this has not altered the mill.

It is easy to fill as the top comes off and has a large opening. Also easy to change the grind it too is on top. The base cover is nice when you want to measure out pepper or to put pepper into and not cover the whole mill with dirty hands. The base cover also keeps counter etc clean and free of pepper.
Paulette

I'll second the Magnum. They have both a tall and short version. I bought the short. The tall will make you feel very virile. (Like a Unicorn isn't phallic enough they go and call their product a Magnum.)

Very smooth action and the best feature is the easy loading side dealy-bobber. Really just about a perfect design. I tried out many before I purchased.

I'll third the Magnum. I own a large, and yes, its long, smooth, thick barrel makes me feel... quite... um... manly.

*blinks*

Its output is also quite impressive; I've found that the business end of the Magnum mates quite nicely with a small silicone prep bowl (at cooking.com) as long as I hold them together with one hand and grind with the other; filling the prep bowl with pepper seldom takes more than a minute and provides me with enough cracked Tellicherry for most endeavours.

Cheers,
-sherman

I forget the manufacturer, but a relative gifted me a set of electric S&P mills for Christmas. I think they came from Costco, but I'm not sure. I really like the ajustability of both of the mills and the amount they dispense for the effort (pushing a button ) The pepper mill has a steel grinder, while the salt mill's grinding mechanism is ceramic. Since, I almost always use salt in greater quanties that I generally am willing to wait for this mill to produce. I mostly use the pepper mill. I have strongly considered emptying the salt and using the ceramic grinder for pepper.

Either way they're actually very nice and I've been more than satisfied.

Flip