Pepper Mill Imports Atlas Pepper Mill, Brass, 8"

Far Exceeded My Expectations
My wife and I have always struggled with poor quality pepper mills because we couldn't come to grips with spending this much money on something so simple. I finally decided enough was enough and started browsing Amazon for a worthy candidate. After reading the reviews, I decided to give this one a spin (oops - sorry about that).

Mind you, I had very high expectations after reading the reviews and viewing the picture. So when it arrived, it had to impress - and it did. In fact, it far exceeded my lofty expectations. One of the reviewers said it was built like a tank. That's no exaggeration. Cockroaches and these grinders will be the only things left if there's nuclear war. The grinding mechanism feels sure and solid when you turn it, and the quality and quantity of the grind is superb. I doubt that I could be happier with my purchase.

Update 2-15-11: After about a year of use, the grind quantity became inconsistent. I discovered one of the brass screws on the...

Fine and Super Fine.
This is a beautiful pepper grinder that is built solidly. It is simple to operate, to disassemble, and to clean. It also produces a large quantity of pepper with minimal effort.

The only complaint I can muster, granted it is a substantial one, is that the range of coarseness or fineness is very small. Indeed, if one were to ask me to discern the difference between the product of the coarsest setting and the finest setting I would be hard pressed to provide and answer; they are both very fine. I liken the difference to that of powdered sugar and baking soda. I even went through lengths to ensure my grinder was not faulty, and indeed nothing was wrong with it.

The pepper mill is excellent for fine pepper; however its extreme lack of versatility especially coupled with the price makes this product worthy of only 3 stars.

We Own Two
We were given our first brass pepper mill (the 8" open bottom version) as a wedding present twenty years ago - they were a bit more exotic back then and harder to find. It has been in continuous service on our dinner table since them. It is indestructible. The oils from the peppercorns keep it lubricated. It is adjustable.

My only complaint is that it is slightly (only slightly) awkward grinding pepper into a small bowl for cooking. The rotation of the handle rotates the bottom slightly so you have to hold it tightly in place if you are grinding several tablespoons of pepper into a small bowl.

Our solution was to pick up the larger (11") version with the bottom cup to catch the pepper. The second one stays in the kitchen.

We have been giving these pepper grinders as wedding presents ourselves - it is I gift I'm certain they'll use for many, many years!

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