Some required dismantling the body and removing the head to fill the shaft; some had pop-out chutes that could be refilled from the side without having to unscrew the top; some could be filled from the bottom under a screwed-on lid. To find out what we should be looking for in a great pepper mill, we talked to experts including James-Beard-award-winning cookbook author Diane Morgan; James-Beard-award-winning chef Jennifer Jasinski; Culinary Director for Sur La Table Stephi Coyle; spice merchant and co-owner of The Spice House Patty Erd; and Pepper: The spice that changed the world author Christine McFadden. We had high hopes for the Cole & Mason Pepper Mill, but it lacks a plastic guard that keeps the center spindle in place. Like the Peugeot, the Trudeau has a rounded knob for easy turning. Wirecutter is reader-supported. 4.0 Stars / 4 Reviews. The Peugeot pepper mill has been reinventing itself for over 160 years. Peugeot Paris u'Select Pepper Mill From one generation to the next, for over 200 years Classic and timeless, this Peugeot pepper mill has been used by countless chefs and culinary enthusiasts for many years. $43.55 - $71.14 #4. One of our readers who owns the Peugeot commented that the wooden dial used to adjust the grind setting cracked on their model. Pepper grinders can cost anywhere between $8 and $200, but we we eliminated models over $60 because they didn’t seem to offer anything better than models that cost considerably less. COLE & MASON Derwent Pepper Grinder - Copper Mill Includes Gourmet Precision Mechanism and Premium Peppercorns 4.7 out of 5 stars 4,456. Paris U'Select Chocolate 8.75 in. COLE & MASON Derwent Salt Grinder - Copper Mill Includes Gourmet Precision Mechanism and Premium Sea Salt 4.7 out of 5 stars 4,108. We still think it's a solid runner-up pick. The most appreciated gifts aren’t the trendiest ones—they’re ones that last forever. Due to its elongated turning knob, our testers found it was the easiest pepper mill to operate with greasy hands. It uses a stainless steel grind mechanism and its grinds were inconsistent across all levels. Here you will find all the flavour of freshly-ground pepper provided by the Paris u’Select natural pepper mill. In our tests in 2016, the Peugeot took an average 40 half-turns to produce about one teaspoon of finely-ground pepper, making it one of the fastest models we tested. $48.00. When filled, the peppercorns pushed the spindle out of position and made it impossible to attach the top of the pepper mill. We also found in testing that a wider grinding mechanism diameter doesn’t necessarily mean faster output. Peugeot U-Select Salt and Pepper Mills. We tried a few of each and gravitated towards the traditional twist-top style, which was easy on the hands and aesthetically pleasing. However, it was one of the slowest manual pepper grinders we tested. The crank-style pepper mills we tested last year, such as the OXO Good Grips Pepper Mill, required too much back-and-forth motion and caused pepper to spray all over the place. A genuine piece of art, symbol of the entire world of Peugeot's savoir-faire and aesthetics with the utmost refinement, the Peugeot Paris pepper mill is an archetypal mill. The order subtotal is less than the minimum allowed value (CDN$10.00) The Eparé also comes with a cap to prevent pepper dust from dirtying your kitchen counter. If the Peugeot is unavailable, the Fletchers' Mill model offers a similar performance with a solid build, though it lacks preset coarseness settings. It’s gimmicky, and it doesn’t help as much as turning on an overhead light would. The grind mechanism on the Fletchers’ Mill also comes with a limited lifetime guarantee (as long as the mill is used properly). These are our picks for buy-it-for-life gifts. This Eparé isn’t as easy to fill as most manual pepper mills: you have to twist apart the base from the top stainless steel cover and then pull apart the base from the battery pack to access the refill opening. We took note of the effort required to crank out large amounts of pepper (one teaspoon) from each grinder and whether the grind was concentrated or sprayed. In this video, Martha Stewart says the Peugeot is “still the only pepper mill I use; it’s amazing.” Chef Michael Symon calls it “the BMW of grinders.” In the Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual, Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli say, “Peugeot grinders finely crush the peppercorns rather than mash them like other cheaper mills made with plastic gears will do.” Remodelista named the Peugeot Pepper Mill one of their “100 Most Beautiful, Useful Household Objects,” and say, “Its strong-jawed interior was the inspiration for the Peugeot lion.” Food historian Bee Wilson says, “No mill, in my experience, produces a more consistent grind. Peugeot Paris U Select Salt & Pepper Mills, Chocolate $ 39.95 – $ 129.95; Peugeot Paris Salt & Pepper Mills, Matte Navy $ 54.95 – $ 109.95; Peugeot Paris U Select Salt & Pepper Mills, White Lacquer $ 64.95 – $ 129.95; Peugeot Paris Icone U Select Salt & Pepper Mills, Cherry Wood Sugg. The Eparé Battery Operated Pepper Mill requires 4 AA batteries, but it finely grinds pepper and was the quietest electric model we tested. Those prepackaged pepper grinders from the supermarket generally have inferior grind mechanisms made of acrylic, which is not as strong or sharp as the steel and ceramic used in higher-quality pepper mills. Gravity feeds the peppercorns into a grind mechanism, and cranking the grinder cracks and crushes the spice into a fine dust, releasing aromatic oils that enhance food.