Buying Salt and Pepper Mills

The conscientious home chef will tell you that fresh ground salt and pepper really do make a difference in cooking. Pepper in particular tends to lose it flavor after being pre-ground (especially if it’s in a warm, bright area of the kitchen). But like a lot of kitchen add-ons, the culinary industry gives us a lot of choices.

Step one is to consider if you want functionality or fashion. To be honest, most salt and pepper mills really do look nice without having to look for designer lines. However, there are some (including hand crafted mills) that are truly works of art… art with a hefty price tag. Not all families are comfortable using something every day that costs as much as the microwave (yes, I’m serious!). So instead let’s consider more “ordinary” mills from which you can choose for daily use.

Salt and Pepper mills can cost between 40 and 100 dollars

By far the most traditional of mills is a wooden one whose top turns to dispense the salt and pepper. These are well suited to casual and country kitchens. For slightly more formal settings a glass or stylized acrylic mill with a crank might look nice, or perhaps a metal finish is more to your liking (stainless and/or copper are readily available – note, however, that copper is hard to keep clean especially for the salt grinder). And there’s even electric mills, but truth be told it’s not really worth the money to buy these unless you’re cooking a lot of food all the time.

Beyond the overall appearance of the grinder – how does it feel in your hands? Is it comfortable to use? Is it huge and hefty or small enough to pack? This is important. It’s silly to have a gadget that just sits and never gets used. Also look to see if the mill offers more than one grind setting - having minimally a coarse and fine setting is really nice for different dishes.

As far as cost factors, a decent mill will run about $40 if you want more than one grind setting. You can buy them for less, but always check consumer reviews before making a final decision.

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