Knives & Salt/Pepper Mill recommendations please

Lord_Lardington

I too have never found a salt/pepper mill that worked reliably for any period of time. I use a lot of pepper so now, every few days, I grind a small batch in the coffee grinder attachment of my blender. That way you get the texture you want and the pepper is alwys good and fresh as long as you don't make enough for more than a few days at once.

Stephen_Leak

I cannot recommend any salt & pepper grinders, as I now find myself actually not using any additional salt or pepper, and not missing it either. I certainly don't miss the intimate side effect of using additional salt. I now rely on the fact that most prepared foods are laden with the stuff for my 6g per day RDA.

If I ever get a pepper grinder, I would probably get one of T&G Woodware's high-tech' ceramic mechanism "Crush/Grind" ones. Not only are they a local Bristol company, but also their grinders come with a lifetime guarantee.

WeirdoMagnet

We've got Cole & Mason mills, but have found with time they've got better. Like it grinds more pepper now, than when we first had it! Does that make sense?!

samcat_2

mathsus wrote: »

go for these Victorinox ones. The long, serrated tomato knife is fantastic & really versatile.. even works as a bread knife.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?SiteType=cat&productCode=S710

If this hadn't been posted already, I would have. I've given the Victorinox tomato knife as a present too. It is reduced on Nisbets for (£2.19 + vat) £2.57 at the moment.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/ProductList.asp?TopGroupCode=C2&ParentGroupCode=S189&GroupCode=121&page=5&ppc=

samcat_2

vanoonoo wrote: »

you can get the five knife sets in a block for between £50 and £100 from the likes of argos, debenhams, john lewis.

I am passionate about cooking and having the right knife. A decent set of knives cost hundreds, so instead of a whole set I bought one knife which I use for all veg and chopping, and got the best.

I did alot of research into knives. It was a toss up between a Global chefs knife or a Mac. I got the Mac Pro Chefs knife 8". which you can see on this homepage here. http://www.chefs.net/ It is not exactly moneysaving at nearly £54, but it is less than some sets and would slice right through a whole set of knives costing £100. I use it daily, several times, so £'cost per use' for me it is worth the money.

If on a budget Victorinox are brilliant.

The rest of my knives are Victorionix. The boning knife (recommended by my butcher) and tomato knife are both brilliant . And they are very good value imo... and you can stick them in the diswasher.

competitionscafe

That Mac Pro knife has gone up a lot in less than a year - from £54 to £84! :eek:

I am also looking for a decent pepper grinder - have tried loads and they have all been a waste of money. Not sure if I can afford a Peugot. At the moment I am using one of those 'disposable' plastic Tesco own brand ones (which are refillable) and surprisingly it works better than the ones I have with steel grinders! However it's still not great as it turns some of the peppercorns to dust. I sometimes crush peppercorns on a chopping board with the back of a spoon but it's not very effective - the bits are either too big or if you overdo it you get pepper dust.

Swan_2

ah, two of my pet subjects, knives & mills the knives are pretty well covered, so ...

I've gone through dozens of pepper mills, & most of them (even well-known branded ones) have driven me mad because they simply don't work, you spend ages twisting away for a tiny bit of pepper

until that is, I discovered William Bounds mills, I've had 2 of their pepper mills now & the only reason I needed a new one was because someone destroyed my first one after I'd had it for 20 years :mad: the salt mill is still going strong

they're not cheap, but will last a lifetime, are adjustable for 3 levels fine/medium/coarse & produce loads of salt or pepper with minimal effort

here's the one I have now CLICKY I know it's expensive (there are smaller less dear models too, scroll down the page) but you won't waste money having to buy new ones to replace the last one that didn't do the job

Pink.

I use a lot of black pepper and like swan I had gone through numerous pepper grinders that soon failed until I bought a Zassenhaus 12'' CeraPlus mill. It cost about £15 in a local kitchen shop and the reason why I bought it was that it came with a 25 year guarantee so I thought I'd have nothing to lose if turned out to be useless like the other cheaper ones I'd bought.

Eighteen years later it's working just as well as the day I bought it and it has more than paid for itself.

It has a ceramic grinding mechanism that apparently is harder than carbon steel. There is an adjustment mechanism at the base of the mill numbered one to six so you can set it to grind the pepper uniformly, as finely or coarsely as you need to. One being very fine and six being very course.

As I said, I bought mine in a local shop and I've looked online but can't see it for sale in the Uk but it is available in the US or directly from the manufacturer in Germany (see link above).

I have no hesitation recommending this mill and if mine does ever die I will definitely replace it with the same one.

Pink

Swan_2

& I thought it was just me who got driven mad by useless pepper mills!

that one looks the business Pink ... the specs seem quite similar to the Bounds ones, I wonder if the companies are related?

I'm so pleased with my new one I even wrote a review on Amazon about it, sad aren't I?

Pitlanepiglet

Probably not much help if you're asking for prezzies but TK Maxx in Bristol had Sabitier knife blocks for £39 (set of 5) and some nice looking salt and pepper mills. Well worth a look