All five of the pepper mills you see pictured above are mine. That might be more pepper mills than the average household requires, but I like my kitchen gadgets and I like having a spice option for every necessity. That includes having coarse or fine grind pepper whenever I want it without futzing with adjustments on a single grinder. The two in the middle came my way when my great-aunt Flora downsized her kitchen several years back (that's also how I acquired my very functional 25-year-old Cuisinart). The tarnished silver one is an ancient Peugeot, that after some thorough cleaning (although I don't think I've polished it in years), has the most amazingly smooth action.
Because of my experience with that particular pepper grinder, I was really surprised yesterday when a friend asked me to recommend a new pepper mill for him. He said that he had a 30-year-old Peugeot that wasn't working well anymore and he wanted to try treat himself to a new grinder. I told him that if he really wanted a new grinder that he should head over to Fante's, which has all of their mills loaded with pepper and available to be handled before purchase (your local kitchen supply store may do the same thing). However, I also suggested he give that old Peugeot a cleaning before giving up on it. While he may still indulge in a new grinder, he sent me an email tonight saying that his old one is working so much better. Success!
photo by Marisa McClellan
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