The Best Pepper Mill

Senior staff writer Michael Sullivan, who contributed to our 2016 and 2021 updates, has reviewed all kinds of cookware, tabletop items, and small appliances for Wirecutter. Aside from using pepper mills professionally, he’s spent dozens of hours researching, testing, and cranking them for this guide. Wirecutter’s Ganda Suthivarakom wrote our 2014 update. And Jennifer Fields, a freelance writer, wrote our original guide.

To find out what makes a great pepper mill, we talked with experts including James Beard Award–winning cookbook author Diane Morgan; James Beard Award–winning chef Jennifer Jasinski; Stephanie Coyle, former culinary director for Sur La Table; Patty Erd, former spice merchant and co-owner of The Spice House; and Christine McFadden, author of Pepper: The Spice That Changed the World. We also consulted a number of editorial reviews, including from The Wall Street Journal and The Kitchn.

If you’ve been using pre-ground pepper from a can (no judgement), switching to freshly ground pepper can make a huge difference. As Harold McGee writes in On Food and Cooking, grinding the spice “frees their aromatics to evaporate, so the most and freshest flavor comes from whole peppercorns ground directly into the preparation.”

Those overpriced pre-filled pepper grinders from the supermarket are fine to use for camping or rentals, but they have inferior grind mechanisms made of acrylic. A standalone mill with sharp steel or ceramic grind mechanisms will be easier to crank and give you a much finer grind. Being able to refill your mill is another plus since you can control what kind of pepper you use, and this will also save you money in the long run.

If you already own a pepper mill, but it clogs easily, grinds inconsistently, or sprays pepper everywhere, it’s probably time to upgrade.

Some people with dexterity limitations or chronic hand pain may find push-button electric pepper grinders easier to use than hand-crank models. That said, disassembling and refilling electric models can often be overly complicated; for some this may defeat the purpose of having a push-button grinder in the first place. We think a blade grinder, such as the Krups Electric Spice and Coffee Grinder, would be a good alternative solution. It won’t grind as evenly as a pepper mill, but it may be easier to use since you don’t have to disassemble it to refill, and you can still operate it using one hand. Grinding a few tablespoons of peppercorns at a time this way will still give you fresher flavor than you’d get from canned, pre-ground pepper.

Pepper mills are available in a number of styles: knob twist, cranks, ratchets, or electric. However, their basic construction hasn’t changed much since they were first introduced by Peugeot (the same company that later made cars) in the mid-1800s.

The most common type of pepper mill has a knob at the top that attaches to a spindle, which spans the length of the shaft. Gravity guides the peppercorns down the shaft into a set of burrs (the grind mechanism) located at the base. (The burrs, which look like a grooved cone set inside a grooved ring, are similar to the conical burrs of some coffee grinders.) The burrs act kind of like a drill bit with several rows of teeth—first the peppercorns get cracked in half by large teeth; then they are crushed again between smaller rows of teeth into finer pepper, as they travel down between the inner and outer burr. A small adjustable screw at the top or bottom of the mill tightens or loosens the spring that brings the conical burr nearer to or farther from the outer ring of teeth, changing the coarseness of the pepper.

Here’s what we looked for when choosing models to test:

Sharp and durable grind mechanisms: The best grinders have mechanisms made from ceramic, or high-carbon or case-hardened steel. They’re more expensive but worth the extra cost since they’ll likely provide you with a lifetime of use. We’d avoid acrylic mechanisms, as mentioned above, since they’re not as strong and could potentially flake off into your food.

Easily adjustable coarseness settings with a consistent grind: With many mills, you adjust the coarseness of your grind by tightening or loosening a screw at the top of the mill. It’s common for these mills to have a hard time keeping a consistent grind, because the movement required to turn the knob often loosens the screw at the top, widening the space between the burrs and causing the mill to grind more coarsely. In our testing we looked for models with tight-fitting screws that held their positions well. However, even if the screw stays in place, this style has some drawbacks. It can be hard to gauge how much you have to turn the screw in order to get the exact-size grind you want. And the top nut is easy to lose—if it falls and rolls under your stove, you’ll probably be very unhappy.

Our favorite designs (like our top pick, the Peugeot U’Select Pepper Mill) instead allow you to adjust the coarseness of your pepper by twisting a band on the body, which has markings denoting various levels of fineness. Models with this feature are very precise and take the guesswork out of finding the desired coarseness setting. However, these are less common, so we tested grinders with both styles of adjustment.

Easy-to-fill chambers: Most pepper mills have relatively narrow openings for filling the grinder; this can make refilling a pain (though we have tips for making this process easier). Some models have pop-out chutes that can be refilled from the side, without needing to unscrew the top. Other models can be filled from the bottom under a screwed-on lid. But after testing these styles, we think traditional mills that allow you to remove the head to fill the shaft are the easiest to fill.

We also prefer mills with plastic braces that secure the spindle in place because this makes filling the shaft easier. If the spindle is off-kilter while you’re filling the mill with peppercorns, the rod won’t align properly with the head.

Some mills have see-through bodies made of acrylic or glass, which can be helpful for determining whether you’re running low on peppercorns. However, with these you trade convenience for spice deterioration. According to McGee in On Food and Cooking, “Pepper is best stored tightly sealed in the cold and dark. If exposed to light during storage, it loses its pungency because the light energy rearranges piperine to form a nearly tasteless molecule (isochavicine).” But we found this feature hard to avoid in electric pepper mills, including the Eparé Battery Operated Pepper Mill we recommend.

A comfortable shape with decent capacity: We limited our testing to pepper mills measuring between 5 and 10 inches in height, since this size will fit in most cabinets. The advantage of using a 10-inch mill is that it can hold several tablespoons of peppercorns, so you don’t have to refill it constantly. If you go much larger than that, however, your peppercorns will just go stale as they wait to be ground. Super-tall pepper mills (like those you might see at a restaurant) make a dramatic show, but they’re precarious and too easy to accidentally knock off your counter.

We also took into account the diameter of each mill we considered for testing. If a pepper mill is too wide, it can be difficult to grip, especially if your hands are greasy. Besides, we’ve found that wider grinding mechanisms don’t necessarily translate to faster output.

Since not everyone can use a traditional hand-crank pepper mill, we also looked at electric models. But the experts we spoke with were lukewarm about them. The chief complaints: They have slow output, are more prone to breaking, require batteries (up to six), and make considerably more noise during use. That said, some people with hand-strength issues or chronic hand pain may find an electric push-button pepper mill easier to operate. Electric mills can also be used with one hand, which can be beneficial for those with certain injuries or disabilities.

A reasonable price: Pepper mills can cost anywhere between $8 and $200, but we tested only models under $60. Eventually, more expensive models reached a point of diminishing returns, offering nothing better than models costing considerably less. We think the sweet spot is between $30 and $50.

A generous warranty: Most pepper mills offer very long or even lifetime warranties on the grinding mechanism. However, if this particular tool is used properly, longevity and breakage don’t seem to be big issues.

We tested pepper mills by adjusting their coarseness settings to various positions to see how consistently and evenly they could grind. We also gave our wrists a workout by seeing how long it took each grinder to crank out a teaspoon of pepper and whether the grind was concentrated or sprayed. Additionally, we checked to see the amount of peppercorns each model could hold. Using wet and oily hands, we gauged how difficult it would be to use the grinders in messy cooking situations.

For electric models, we took note of how noisy the motors were while grinding. Since pepper mills get equal play in the kitchen and on the table, we also took aesthetics into account. Ideally, we wanted pepper mills that weren’t an eyesore and that were nice enough to place on the table for a dinner party.

Top pick

Peugeot Paris u’Select Pepper Mill

The best pepper mill

The Peugeot has been a favorite since it was introduced more than a century ago, and it’s still the best due to its ease of use, even grind, and classic look.

Buying Options

$39 from Amazon

The Peugeot Paris u’Select Pepper Mill is a modern descendant of the original French pepper mill that started it all. Its case-hardened steel grinding mechanism produced a consistent grind at every level in our tests, and this model ground pepper faster than most of the competition. Instead of fiddling with a hard-to-predict screw at the top, you can twist a discreet dial on the bottom of the body to lock in one of six precise fineness settings. The Peugeot’s sleek and ergonomic shape is comfortable to hold, and this mill is beautiful enough to present at the table. The Peugeot is also available in a number of sizes and finishes.

It took the Peugeot an average of 40 half-turns to produce about one teaspoon of finely ground pepper, making this mill one of the fastest models we tested. The grinding mechanism crushes peppercorns in two steps: It first cracks and then grinds, to ensure that the maximum flavor and aroma are released. The grind is very consistent, with almost no peppercorn chunks on the finer settings and only a little dust on the coarser settings. The setting progressions are more subtle than with other models, but the dial locks them in place so no amount of knob twisting will change the setting.

The knob at the top is easy to twist, and the hourglass shape is comfortable to hold with your anchoring hand. Since it turns smoothly, the Peugeot doesn’t wobble in your hands while grinding, making it easy to aim the pepper where you want it. In comparison, crank-style pepper mills we’ve tested, such as the OXO Good Grips Radial Pepper Grinder, required too much back-and-forth motion and caused pepper to spray wildly.

The burr itself is made of steel that is case-hardened, which means it’s tempered and treated with a high-carbon material to make it extra-hard and sharp. The burr mechanism comes with a lifetime warranty, and the mill body has a two-year warranty (the body will likely wear out first). Wirecutter senior writer Lesley Stockton has owned an earlier version of the Peugeot for over a decade. “It’s sustained some damage after repeatedly being batted off the table by my cat, but still works very well,” she said.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

If you like your pepper super-chunky, crack-between-your-teeth coarse, this is not the right model for you. The Peugeot’s coarsest setting was equal to about a medium coarseness on other models. But we think the settings are versatile enough for most cooks and most dishes. The finest position is noticeably harder to twist, but most people won’t have any difficulty twisting the knob on settings two through six. So this is only a problem if you’re routinely looking for a fine dusting of pepper.

Some of the Peugeot buyers on Amazon complain that larger peppercorns can jam the mill. However, we tested store-bought black peppercorns, as well as a mix of large, multi-colored peppercorns, and neither of these gave us any trouble.

How the Peugeot Paris u’Select has held up

We’ve been long-term testing a Peugeot mill in the Wirecutter test kitchen, and after the mill was repeatedly left on a wet countertop, the finish started peeling off the base. Although it still grinds as well as the day we bought it, we’d recommend that you keep wooden pepper mills somewhere dry (and not next to the sink as we did). Peugeot does sell a stainless steel version of our pick, which could be a solution to that problem, but there are a couple of caveats. Although the internal grinding mechanisms are the same as on the wood models, the shaft lacks a plastic brace to keep the spindle in place. The stainless version also has a plastic bottom, and though it isn’t susceptible to water damage, it could crack if the mill tumbled off your counter. That said, we tested the stainless steel version in 2021, and it grinds just as well as the wood version we’ve been recommending since 2014.

Runner-up

Fletchers’ Mill Border Grill Pepper Mill

Speedy, but no preset dial

If the Peugeot is unavailable, or you prefer a more-streamlined look, the Fletchers’ Mill model offers a similar performance with a solid build. But it lacks preset coarseness settings.

Buying Options

$55 from Amazon

If our top pick is sold out, or you prefer a more modern look, we think the Fletchers’ Mill Border Grill Pepper Mill is a solid runner-up. The main reason the Fletchers’ Mill isn’t our top pick is that it lacks a preset dial, so you have to learn how far to screw the top nut to produce your desired coarseness. However, little indentations in the nut help lock coarseness settings in place. The Fletchers’ Mill model grinds consistently, but it isn’t as speedy at producing a teaspoon of finely ground pepper as the Peugeot. It also leaves more pepper dust behind on the counter than our top pick (but you can contain the dust by placing the mill on an inverted jar lid, so we consider this to be only a minor flaw).

The American-made Fletchers’ Mill grinder uses a stainless steel grinding mechanism that (like the Peugeot’s) cracks pepper in two steps to release maximum aromatics. The steel isn’t case-hardened like the Peugeot’s grinding mechanism, but it’s sharp and grinds consistently. The grind mechanism on the Fletchers’ Mill model also comes with a limited lifetime guarantee (as long as the mill is used properly).

The sustainable wood body comes in various colors, including a few that show off the beautiful cherry wood grain. This mill is comfortable to hold and produces a great amount of pepper with little effort. Due to this model’s elongated turning knob, our testers found it to be the easiest mill to operate (though using it with greasy hands can be a bit more challenging).

How the Fletcher's Mill Border Grill Pepper Mill has held up

Budget pick

Trudeau 6-Inch Seville Pepper Mill

No frills, but consistent

This mill is on the smaller side, but the Trudeau Seville grinds consistently (though not quite as finely as the Peugeot and Fletchers’ Mill models).

Buying Options

Buy from Amazon

The Trudeau 6-Inch Seville Pepper Mill is a durable, inexpensive option in a space-saving size that’s ideal for people who have smaller kitchens. Its carbon steel grind mechanism produces a consistent grind—though not quite as fine as those of the Peugeot and Fletchers’ Mill grinders. Some of our testers found the Trudeau mill to be a little too small, especially for those with larger hands. Also, like the Fletchers’ Mill model, the Trudeau uses a nut to adjust coarseness settings, so there’s more guesswork in determining the grind size.

We were surprised to find that the Trudeau mill’s grinding capabilities performed almost as well as those of mills that were twice the price. Like the Peugeot, the Trudeau has a rounded knob for easy turning. Though it’s the shortest pepper mill we tested, it’s still a comfortable height and weight, and it remains stable on the table.

The Trudeau Seville feels secure while turning, and it produces a teaspoon of finely ground pepper in about 50 half-turns (the Peugeot took about 40 half-turns). Though we prefer a taller size (which will hold more pepper), this mill still looks handsome on the table.

The Trudeau comes with a lifetime guarantee. And it is also available in a 10-inch size, which is more expensive (but still more affordable than our other picks).

Also great

Eparé Battery Operated Pepper Mill

If you prefer electric pepper mills

The Eparé Battery Operated Pepper Mill requires four AA batteries, but it finely grinds pepper and was the quietest electric model we tested.

Buying Options

$20 from Amazon

If you have hand-strength issues or chronic hand pain, or you want to be able to operate a pepper mill with one hand, we recommend getting the Eparé Battery Operated Pepper Mill. This mill is extremely simple to use: Once you add four AA batteries (not included), you press the button at the top of the mill and pepper falls (slowly) from the ceramic grinder. Though the knob for adjusting grind size doesn’t have predefined settings, a helpful arrow indicates which direction to turn for fine or coarse grinding. The Eparé ground more consistently than all the other electric models we tested.

We found the simple stainless steel cover to be attractive enough for table use, but it was a bit slippery when we were working with messy hands in the kitchen. The slim, long body would be easy for small hands to grip, though this model (like all electric models we tested) is slightly top-heavy. The Eparé also comes with a cap to prevent pepper dust from dirtying your kitchen counter.

Nearly every electric model we found comes with a built-in tiny light bulb, ostensibly so you can see how much pepper you’ve put on your food. The Eparé’s LED light automatically illuminates while grinding; though we didn’t find it to be as effective as an overhead light, it was the brightest of those on other models we tested. If the light burns out, a customer service representative at Eparé said the company will replace it. Unlike most electric models, the Eparé is also covered with a limited lifetime warranty.

That said, we’re not huge fans of electric pepper mills. They’re loud, they’re slow, and they’re top-heavy. And the internal parts are often made with cheap plastic that can break easily if dropped.

The Eparé is no exception. It is agonizingly slow—it took almost two minutes to grind one teaspoon of finely ground pepper. Most electric models do grind faster on coarser settings. But turning out a lot of pepper still means you need to firmly press and hold a button for a long time, which may be burdensome. You might be better off using pre-ground pepper for recipes that call for larger quantities. However, the Eparé was the only electric model we tested that was capable of producing a consistently fine grind, and it wasn’t as loud as other electric grinders.

The Eparé also isn’t as easy to fill as most manual pepper mills: You have to twist the base off of the top stainless steel cover, and then pull the base apart from the battery pack to access the refill opening. We recommend reviewing the instruction manual (PDF) prior to filling, since this process is a little complicated. If you have dexterity limitations or chronic hand pain, you may need someone else to refill the grinder for you. Alternatively, we’d recommend getting a spice grinder, like the Krups Electric Spice and Coffee Grinder, as mentioned above; it doesn’t need to be disassembled to refill and can still be used one-handed. If you grind a batch of pepper using the Krups and keep it in a container for a couple of weeks, you will still have fresher pepper than if you buy the pre-ground stuff from the store.

Don’t grind salt or other spices in your pepper mill. Salt corrodes untreated metal. There are special salt mills, which often use ceramic or treated stainless steel burrs. (Also keep in mind that you probably don’t need a grinder for salt. Pepper benefits from being crushed in order to release aromatics trapped inside, but salt tastes the same whether it’s factory-crushed or mill-ground.) Other spices and herbs are better suited to different-shaped burrs; you have a better chance of keeping your mill clog-free if you stick to pepper.

If you’re using red, pink, or green peppercorns, Peugeot suggests mixing them with black peppercorns to keep the mill running well. Colored peppercorns can gum up the grinder because they have been treated and may have a higher moisture content than black peppercorns. This seems like sound advice for all pepper mills.

If you’re having a hard time turning the knob on your mill, loosen the screw at the top of the grinder (if there is one) and gradually retighten it as you grind out the peppercorns—that should help any peppercorns stuck in the mechanism to pass through.

In general, to clean the outside of a pepper mill, you just need to wipe most models with a damp cloth. With a few of the models we tested, we added some natural, all-purpose cleaner or a tiny bit of dish soap when we thought we needed an extra boost to get the oily residue off. Always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions before cleaning the inside of a mill. Never put a mill in the dishwasher.

If you’re having trouble getting peppercorns into your mill, use a piece of folded paper as a funnel. You can easily tuck the piece of paper away in a cupboard so it’s always on hand. This makes it a cinch to neatly direct squirrelly peppercorns into a pepper mill.

If you’d prefer a metal pepper mill: Peugeot offers a stainless steel version of our top pick, but it comes with a couple of caveats. According to Peugeot, the internal grinding mechanisms are the same as on the wood model (which we confirmed in our tests). But the shaft lacks a plastic brace to keep the spindle in place. The spindle seemed well secured at the base and didn’t move much when wiggled, but we still think it’s a small difference you should be aware of before buying. Also, unlike the wood versions of our pick, the stainless model has a plastic ring around the base. This makes it less susceptible to water damage, but the plastic could crack if the mill tumbles off your counter and onto the floor.

If you want a pepper mill that’s gentle on your wrists: We tested an older version of the Kuhn Rikon Adjustable Ratchet Grinder, but we dismissed this mill because it ground pepper loudly, and its coarsest setting was still quite fine. We also found its long handle to be top-heavy and prone to falling over with the slightest nudge. However, we liked that it could grind a lot of pepper at once. The newer model appears to have a shorter handle. And though we haven’t tested it yet, we think some people with chronic hand pain may find it easier to operate than knob-twist models.

Manual pepper mills

We had high hopes for the Cole & Mason Forest Capstan Pepper Mill, but it lacks a plastic guard to keep the center spindle in place. When it was filled, the peppercorns pushed the spindle out of position and made attaching the top of the pepper mill impossible.

The Cole & Mason Derwent Pepper Mill ground pepper unevenly. Its output was also a little slower than that of our main picks.

We had a difficult time adjusting the grind settings on the Zassenhaus Berlin Pepper Grinder. The plastic twist knob used to adjust the grind settings easily clogged with pepper dust and made grinding inconsistent.

The Zassenhaus Speyer Pepper Mill has garnered good reviews on Amazon. But in previous tests we found that hand-crank models tended to spray pepper everywhere, so we ruled it out.

The IKEA Ihärdig struggles to transition from coarse back to fine, and the grind isn’t very even. Also, the bottle is glass and doesn’t come with a warranty.

Though the Unicorn Magnum Plus has gotten a lot of positive press from many trusted editorial sources, we found metal shavings in our ground pepper after grinding. These shards were probably left over from the manufacturing process, but regardless, we didn’t love the Magnum Plus’s performance.

The Olde Thompson Senator pepper mill has a classic look at a great price. But when we loosened the nut at the top for coarser grinds, the top felt like it might fall off the body. This model was also a challenge to use with slippery hands due to its flatter top knob.

The OXO Good Grips Radial Pepper Grinder has a thin plastic housing that didn’t feel very durable. We also had trouble turning the top handle with greasy hands, and the crank action sprayed pepper over a too-wide area.

The OXO Good Grips Pepper Grinder has five grinding positions, but regardless of the setting, this model grinds pepper that is about the same coarseness. During our tests, some pepper dust got caught in the threading of the opening and jammed it shut (the only way to open it was with a pair of needle-nose pliers).

The easy-to-fill OXO Good Grips Sleek Pepper Mill grinds from the top and fills from the bottom, leaving no circles of dust on the counter. If you’re bothered by rings of pepper dust, you may like this model. That said, it was one of the slowest manual pepper grinders we tested, and its see-through body will expose peppercorns to the light. It is also currently only available in a salt and pepper set.

The Atlas Brass Pepper Mill was the other model that had metal shavings show up in the initial grind (we chalked this up to getting another manufacturer lemon). Shards aside, this mill’s refill system is a bit fussy.

The Chef Specialties 10-Inch Imperial Walnut Pepper Mill looks a lot like the Peugeot, but it’s not in the same league. The Chef Specialties mill uses a stainless steel grind mechanism, and its grinds were inconsistent across all levels.

The William Bounds Key Mill is quite small, at 4 inches, and it comes with only three coarseness settings. Also, its clear body exposes peppercorns to the light.

The PepperMate Traditional Pepper Mill 723 has a ceramic grinder, but the mill’s body is made of plastic and isn’t very durable. We also didn’t think it was nice enough for table use.

Electric pepper mills

We were very disappointed with the Trudeau Graviti Plus, our previous top pick for an electric grinder. It has five grinding positions, but each produced coarsely ground pepper. This mill is not capable of producing a fine grind.

The Eukein Automatic Electric Pepper Grinder looks similar to the Eparé, but the Eukein doesn’t compare in performance. This was also the loudest model we tested, and it had a very weak light.

The Cuisinart SP-2 Stainless Steel Rechargeable Pepper Mill is sold only as a set, with a salt mill, and it didn’t grind as consistently as our current electric pick.

The Ozeri Graviti Pro Electric Pepper Mill and Grinder grinds automatically when inverted, a feature we disliked on the Trudeau Graviti.

This article was edited by Marguerite Preston and Marilyn Ong.