Wow, these are beautiful. My dad used to make these as a sort of hobby (he liked any excuse to hop on the lathe, and they made great gifts; you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one). He'll love to see this.
It didn't occur to me that there'd be such an extensive collection of something seemingly so obscure, yet here we are. It seems like this exists for everything out there.
It's very nostalgic in a way. Though my dad's were different, the dark, solid wood and geometric shapes bring me back to my childhood.
> you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one
Every time I find myself stocking another kitchen I'm reminded how 99% of what's sold in American stores now is trash, esp. when it comes to the can opener and pepper mill. Just finding a mill that doesn't litter microplastics on everything is an endless treasure hunt, before even considering aesthetics and capacity.
These are handsome, but my real question is: how's the mechanism? Of the half dozen or so pepper mills I've owned, half of them kind of sucked from the get-go (the current one grinds ok, but doesn't feed fresh peppercorns without a regular shake), and the other half broke in a couple years (the last one the adjustment mechanism jammed up). I don't feel like I'm an unreasonably aggressive pepper grinder, nor do I think I use an abnormally large amount of pepper. Hell, I'd only call myself a halfway decent home cook.
In related news: does anyone want to recommend a decent commercial, easily available option? Not looking to spend a fortune, but would be willing to spend enough to have one that'll last another 40-50 years.
Peugeot is the gold standard. The traditional hourglass shape is around $40-50 for the normal-sized version, and they have a lot of other modern designs. A lot of competing brands buy the internal mechanism from Peugeot.
(If you're curious about the name: Yes, it was originally the same company as the Peugeot car/motorcycle company. It was spun out into a separate company at some point, but still owned by the descendants of the original Peugeot family.)
I have the metal ones, just looked and I bought them in March 2018 and they’re fantastic - definitely not enshittified. I particularly like the adjustable grind size!
They are decent but not incredible. The adjustment mechanism is mostly plastic so it's fragile and easily broken in a drop. The grinding mechanism is solid metal but also basic and doesn't produce a very even grind at any setting.
> and doesn't produce a very even grind at any setting.
Moving from an oxo pepper grinder to a Peugeot was night and day. The Peugeot is very consistent, and even the “coarse” setting is more uniform than any other grinder I’ve used. I don’t have this issue at all, very much the opposite.
Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon. I absolutely adore this device and have bought a few as friends for discerning cooks and mechanical gadget lovers. Build quality is utterly fantastic and the quality of the grind is excellent. Most importantly the ability for it to grind copious amounts of pepper with minimal input is unmatched. I tried just about all the other ones recommended on various forums but none match up, not even close. Yeah it's $200 but oh man is it nice.
It's a buy once cry once situation for me. Very happy with my Pepper Cannon and I no longer have to give myself RSI grinding enough pepper for cooking large meals.
I have two of "The Original Greek Pepper Mill" - it's an 8" tall copper thing. It's been amazing. Why do I have two of them, you ask? I kept my mom's after she passed; it was probably 30 years old already.
If you want to grind a ton of pepper with fine grind control, you could also use one of the modern generations of manual coffee grinders, like the MHW-3Bomber Blade R3 or the cheaper TIMEMORE knockoff. They have excellent and fast and precise grind mechanisms. I'm not sure about the MHW but the timemore will stand alone with the bottom of so you can use it like you'd use a coffee grinder, or attach the grinds cup if you want to crank out a lot.
(I'm using an older, cheaper manual coffee grinder as my sichuan peppercorn grinder and it's solid for that but I do prefer the greek mill from an aesthetic perspective -- and it's so dang solid.)
No idea if it'll last 40-50 years, but I've used this probably about 10(?), and it's been great. You do need a small funnel to fill it though.
It's not the standard size or functionality, but I've discovered I actually prefer this ratchet style. (It's fun!)
does anyone want to recommend a decent commercial, easily available option?
I've a Vic Firth (yes, that Vic Firth) one that I've had for a couple decades. They're now sold under the Fletcher's Mill brand. They use their own stainless steel mechanism.
I went looking for a mill for white pepper recently. I've a 50 year old Danish mill I'd love to repair, but that's a project for another day. Serious Eats seems to like the Kuhn Rikon ones but none of the long term reviews on the KR site are positive. Peugeot naysayers seem to be popping up more frequently, and for that price I'd expect better. Each seems to attract a few specific types of complaints which to me seems to lend a bit of credibility.
In any case, my new Fletcher's Mill grinder just showed up today and superficially it looks like they've only made small changes. The adjustment mechanism is the same and similar to the classic Peugeot mechanism. I've not taken it apart, but I believe the grinding mechanism is the same two stage unit as my old one.
Seems to be pretty similar to the other one posted, but about half the price ($129 for just the pepper grinder, $200 for the pair - they go on sale down to ~$85 on amazon every now and then as well).
Having the built in cap is actually pretty damn useful, too - you can just grind into the cap and measure tsp out of it directly without needing another container.
Easily the best grinders I have ever used, going strong 2 years in now. I use them just about daily.
I have been happy with my pepper mill with a Crushgrind mechanism.
(The mill happens to be from Normann Copenhagen but Crushgrind supplies mechanisms to a number of pepper mill manufacturers as well as selling their own.)
I've got an OXO that has worked great since I bought it in 2014. It's an ugly piece of white plastic, but it's efficient, unfussy, ergonomic, and adjustable.
I've got this OXO version and it has worked great too. The singular down-side being that its rubbery bottom tends to grip too tightly to surfaces so it falls over instead of sliding.
This makes sense due to that end being the gripped side during use.
We recently bought the "Trudeau Seville Pepper Mill, 6-Inch". It was quire inexpensive, has an all metal mechanism, and does a coarse grind that my wife likes. We've used it daily for a couple years now and it's been flawless.
Peugeots are good and if you want something handsome too, there are Alessi Twergi mills designed by Ettore Sottsass with good mechanism too. We only got it a few years ago but I think it will last.
I've been using a Peugeot 23461 for 5 years of near daily cooking with no issues. Jut finished making a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with some aggressive peppering with it.
It seems to list the mechanism on each model. A bunch of them seem to use Peugeot for the mechanism and I have a such branded grinder that seems to hold up really well..
My Zassenhaus pepper mill works great. It produces a lot of ground pepper with little force required. The only complaint is that it's difficult to fill without spilling, well like most pepper mills.
I'm not using it heavily, so I can't really vouch for its longevity. It feels very solid, though.
These peppermills, otherwise known as “table seasoners”, evoke tiny household sculptures, powerful individually, but most compelling when grouped and viewed in sets.
Is that some kind of direct translation from Danish, the "table seasoners" part? I'm certainly not a native speaker of English, but that was a term I've never heard before ... I tried googling it but didn't find much, which is why I ask.
"Seasoning" (you're doubtless aware) refers to salt and pepper, and the act of adding them to food. But I've never heard the word "seasoner" to refer to a salt or pepper dispenser.
The "table" part is fairly commonly used as in "table salt" i.e. salt in a dispenser on the dining table. It's also occasionally used in phrases like "water for the table" when asking a waiter to bring enough water for everyone at the table.
But "table seasoners" is a bit over-laboured for me.
There is a word like that in swedish (bordskrydda) and danish (bordkrydderi) meaning spices/seasoners that are on the table (and added as each person prefers during the meal). Direct translation would be "table seasoners" or "table spice".
The pepper grinders at the gift shoppe at Seattle's Space Needle are terrible.
Someone like this designer needs to make a GOOD Space Needle pepper grinder with a good (Peugeot) mechanism!
(I recall a sombrero-roofed observation tower at the I-95 South of the Border rest stop/tourist trap in South Carolina called the Spice Needle)
It was sort of a thing for southern California machinists to start peppermill companies, or at least two. I have a vintage William Bounds one marked "made on the third planet from the sun" and I used to have an Olde Thompson I think.
I clicked on the article on a lark, and I was stunned? certainly excited to see the "Acorn" model there: my father's had one of those for... well, as long as I can remember. Maybe near 50 years now?
As an avid fan of Star Control, I can't help but love the Druuge model, "His reference for this mill’s shape comes from similarly shaped alien ships in a video game called Star Control."
Wow, these are beautiful. My dad used to make these as a sort of hobby (he liked any excuse to hop on the lathe, and they made great gifts; you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one). He'll love to see this.
It didn't occur to me that there'd be such an extensive collection of something seemingly so obscure, yet here we are. It seems like this exists for everything out there.
It's very nostalgic in a way. Though my dad's were different, the dark, solid wood and geometric shapes bring me back to my childhood.
> you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one
Every time I find myself stocking another kitchen I'm reminded how 99% of what's sold in American stores now is trash, esp. when it comes to the can opener and pepper mill. Just finding a mill that doesn't litter microplastics on everything is an endless treasure hunt, before even considering aesthetics and capacity.
Amen to the can opener. Our very old one is is vastly better than anything in the stores.
https://web.archive.org/web/20241228230216/http://quistgaard...
Site wouldn't load for me, here's an archive version
Hmm. It loads on my dino iPhone SE 2020.
I was looking for someone else here who appreciated the design and quality of the content. Lots of sites of this type are not as nice as this.
Blocked on enterprise firewall for me, "weapons".
These are handsome, but my real question is: how's the mechanism? Of the half dozen or so pepper mills I've owned, half of them kind of sucked from the get-go (the current one grinds ok, but doesn't feed fresh peppercorns without a regular shake), and the other half broke in a couple years (the last one the adjustment mechanism jammed up). I don't feel like I'm an unreasonably aggressive pepper grinder, nor do I think I use an abnormally large amount of pepper. Hell, I'd only call myself a halfway decent home cook.
In related news: does anyone want to recommend a decent commercial, easily available option? Not looking to spend a fortune, but would be willing to spend enough to have one that'll last another 40-50 years.
I have gone through several mills and heard about the Mankitchen on HN a while back. It's expensive but it's the best pepper mill I have ever used.
https://mannkitchen.eu/products/the-original-pepper-cannon-p...
I also heard about this mill on HN and can also say it’s by far the best peppermill I’ve ever used. It is rock solid. I also bought the salt mill.
The price is insane, on par with the most expensive espresso hand grinders.
I have considered just getting a mid-range burr coffee grinder for my pepper more than once...
having this in mind? https://weberworkshops.com/products/moulin-grinders
Peugeot is the gold standard. The traditional hourglass shape is around $40-50 for the normal-sized version, and they have a lot of other modern designs. A lot of competing brands buy the internal mechanism from Peugeot.
(If you're curious about the name: Yes, it was originally the same company as the Peugeot car/motorcycle company. It was spun out into a separate company at some point, but still owned by the descendants of the original Peugeot family.)
Didn’t have great experiences with peugeot grinders.
Interesting! My Peugeots have lasted 20 years and are still going strong. Maybe they've been enshittified since then.
I have the metal ones, just looked and I bought them in March 2018 and they’re fantastic - definitely not enshittified. I particularly like the adjustable grind size!
They are decent but not incredible. The adjustment mechanism is mostly plastic so it's fragile and easily broken in a drop. The grinding mechanism is solid metal but also basic and doesn't produce a very even grind at any setting.
> and doesn't produce a very even grind at any setting.
Moving from an oxo pepper grinder to a Peugeot was night and day. The Peugeot is very consistent, and even the “coarse” setting is more uniform than any other grinder I’ve used. I don’t have this issue at all, very much the opposite.
I'd never heard of them until a few days ago, then this article mentioned them: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42737510
Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon. I absolutely adore this device and have bought a few as friends for discerning cooks and mechanical gadget lovers. Build quality is utterly fantastic and the quality of the grind is excellent. Most importantly the ability for it to grind copious amounts of pepper with minimal input is unmatched. I tried just about all the other ones recommended on various forums but none match up, not even close. Yeah it's $200 but oh man is it nice.
It's a buy once cry once situation for me. Very happy with my Pepper Cannon and I no longer have to give myself RSI grinding enough pepper for cooking large meals.
I have two of "The Original Greek Pepper Mill" - it's an 8" tall copper thing. It's been amazing. Why do I have two of them, you ask? I kept my mom's after she passed; it was probably 30 years old already.
If you want to grind a ton of pepper with fine grind control, you could also use one of the modern generations of manual coffee grinders, like the MHW-3Bomber Blade R3 or the cheaper TIMEMORE knockoff. They have excellent and fast and precise grind mechanisms. I'm not sure about the MHW but the timemore will stand alone with the bottom of so you can use it like you'd use a coffee grinder, or attach the grinds cup if you want to crank out a lot.
(I'm using an older, cheaper manual coffee grinder as my sichuan peppercorn grinder and it's solid for that but I do prefer the greek mill from an aesthetic perspective -- and it's so dang solid.)
No idea if it'll last 40-50 years, but I've used this probably about 10(?), and it's been great. You do need a small funnel to fill it though. It's not the standard size or functionality, but I've discovered I actually prefer this ratchet style. (It's fun!)
https://www.surlatable.com/product/sur-la-table-ratchet-mill...
i have cooked for years with ratchet mill.
I went looking for a mill for white pepper recently. I've a 50 year old Danish mill I'd love to repair, but that's a project for another day. Serious Eats seems to like the Kuhn Rikon ones but none of the long term reviews on the KR site are positive. Peugeot naysayers seem to be popping up more frequently, and for that price I'd expect better. Each seems to attract a few specific types of complaints which to me seems to lend a bit of credibility.
In any case, my new Fletcher's Mill grinder just showed up today and superficially it looks like they've only made small changes. The adjustment mechanism is the same and similar to the classic Peugeot mechanism. I've not taken it apart, but I believe the grinding mechanism is the same two stage unit as my old one.
The Fletcher's Mill grinders are _excellent_. Highly recommend these.
These are well regarded, and I don’t have any complaints about mine (other than the style is basic black): https://www.unicornmills.org/
Mechanism is solid. More aggressive than your typical grinder, but maybe not as to the same degree as a Pepper Cannon.
I would just call them to order though.
I have owned a Unicorn mill for nearly 20 years, and it is still going strong.
Not a fan of all the hexclad stuff, but I have to admit their pepper & salt grinders are excellent.
I was given the large set: https://hexclad.com/products/hexmill-salt-and-pepper-grinder...
Seems to be pretty similar to the other one posted, but about half the price ($129 for just the pepper grinder, $200 for the pair - they go on sale down to ~$85 on amazon every now and then as well).
Having the built in cap is actually pretty damn useful, too - you can just grind into the cap and measure tsp out of it directly without needing another container.
Easily the best grinders I have ever used, going strong 2 years in now. I use them just about daily.
I bought the cheapest coffee grinder I could find at the grocery store. Does a fantastic job. I usually grind up about a half cup at a time.
I have been happy with my pepper mill with a Crushgrind mechanism.
(The mill happens to be from Normann Copenhagen but Crushgrind supplies mechanisms to a number of pepper mill manufacturers as well as selling their own.)
I've got an OXO that has worked great since I bought it in 2014. It's an ugly piece of white plastic, but it's efficient, unfussy, ergonomic, and adjustable.
https://a.co/d/609d3IX
I've got this OXO version and it has worked great too. The singular down-side being that its rubbery bottom tends to grip too tightly to surfaces so it falls over instead of sliding.
This makes sense due to that end being the gripped side during use.
https://amzn.com/dp/B08DL86ZCQ
I also own the aforementioned Unicorn. I use it for "bulk black pepper" grinding and use this model for finer grinds of white and green pepper.
I had this until I lost it in a move. Decided to upgrade to a Peugeot. The Peugeot is way better.
We recently bought the "Trudeau Seville Pepper Mill, 6-Inch". It was quire inexpensive, has an all metal mechanism, and does a coarse grind that my wife likes. We've used it daily for a couple years now and it's been flawless.
Peugeots are good and if you want something handsome too, there are Alessi Twergi mills designed by Ettore Sottsass with good mechanism too. We only got it a few years ago but I think it will last.
I've been using a Peugeot 23461 for 5 years of near daily cooking with no issues. Jut finished making a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with some aggressive peppering with it.
It seems to list the mechanism on each model. A bunch of them seem to use Peugeot for the mechanism and I have a such branded grinder that seems to hold up really well..
Peugeot used to be the best but apparently have degraded quality over the years.
Zassenhaus and Zwilling are both German options of the same quality or better.
My Zassenhaus pepper mill works great. It produces a lot of ground pepper with little force required. The only complaint is that it's difficult to fill without spilling, well like most pepper mills.
I'm not using it heavily, so I can't really vouch for its longevity. It feels very solid, though.
I use a coffee grinder with a hand crank.
But can they sing? https://teenage.engineering/products/choir
When the article said:
These peppermills, otherwise known as “table seasoners”, evoke tiny household sculptures, powerful individually, but most compelling when grouped and viewed in sets.
Is that some kind of direct translation from Danish, the "table seasoners" part? I'm certainly not a native speaker of English, but that was a term I've never heard before ... I tried googling it but didn't find much, which is why I ask.
It's not a phrase I've ever heard before.
Breaking it down, in case you're curious:
"Seasoning" (you're doubtless aware) refers to salt and pepper, and the act of adding them to food. But I've never heard the word "seasoner" to refer to a salt or pepper dispenser.
The "table" part is fairly commonly used as in "table salt" i.e. salt in a dispenser on the dining table. It's also occasionally used in phrases like "water for the table" when asking a waiter to bring enough water for everyone at the table.
But "table seasoners" is a bit over-laboured for me.
There is a word like that in swedish (bordskrydda) and danish (bordkrydderi) meaning spices/seasoners that are on the table (and added as each person prefers during the meal). Direct translation would be "table seasoners" or "table spice".
In modern Danish it is "saltkværn" (salt mill) and "peberkværn" (peber mill).
I've never heard that term before (native english speaker)
Seems like its only used online by Dansk Designs. So its a US marketing term.
table salt, but not table pepper or table seasoners
> otherwise known as “table seasoners”
...to the author, who is now trying to make "table seasoner" happen by implying that everyone who is anyone is saying it.
The pepper grinders at the gift shoppe at Seattle's Space Needle are terrible. Someone like this designer needs to make a GOOD Space Needle pepper grinder with a good (Peugeot) mechanism!
(I recall a sombrero-roofed observation tower at the I-95 South of the Border rest stop/tourist trap in South Carolina called the Spice Needle)
It was sort of a thing for southern California machinists to start peppermill companies, or at least two. I have a vintage William Bounds one marked "made on the third planet from the sun" and I used to have an Olde Thompson I think.
I clicked on the article on a lark, and I was stunned? certainly excited to see the "Acorn" model there: my father's had one of those for... well, as long as I can remember. Maybe near 50 years now?
Still beautiful in teak.
As an avid fan of Star Control, I can't help but love the Druuge model, "His reference for this mill’s shape comes from similarly shaped alien ships in a video game called Star Control."
Gorgeous pepper mills. The website breaks the back button, however.
Not for me.
WOW. This is amazing. Big peppermill fan and ex-chef. I hope I find one of these gems one day.
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