Pepper Mill Imports Chef's Mate Pepper Mill, Brass, 5"

 (2 customer reviews)

Pros: Larger volume of ground pepper per turn compared to tabletop varieties. Small size make storage easy.
Cons: Hopper is difficult to open by hand, may be easier to open as usage increases and the parts wear in.

This is a great small pepper mill. I have the Peugeot Fidji 8-1/4-Inch Pepper Mill and for cooking it's a little tiring turning the top for a tablespoon of ground pepper. A friend of mine has the Pepper Mill Imports, Atlas 8" Brass Pepper mill, and I like that mill better than the Chef's Mate because it's handle is about twice as long, it produces more ground pepper per turn and it is about $8.00 less expensive.

If you don't have room for an eight-inch mill the Chef's Mate will fit just about anywhere.

I've had this mill for a good period of time now, so here are my thoughts for anyone thinking about getting one.

Firstly, its a really good, solid pepper mill with a nice heavy feel in the hand. I'm not the tidiest person, but mine has not tarnished after 5 or 6 years use. The mechanism is all metal and I've had no perceptible wear issues with it. Its a good size, not too small and not too large (I feel like Goldilocks!) for a general cooking tool (mine sits immediately to the right of the stove top and serves precisely that function), and the fineness of the grind is easy to adjust. The only issue I have with this grinder is precisely the same one mentioned by the previous reviewer -- the difficulty with the opening hinge on the little flap. Mine never did loosen over time; but its pretty much reflex for me to use a butter knife to open it nowadays, so I guess I've developed a habitual way of dealing with it so that it no longer annoys me any.

Overall, a really...Read more