Pepper - making me crazy! *****


 

Steve Abrams

TVWBB Pro
Ok, Ok, I know I'm nuts for watching the FoodNetwork a lot but even on this board the phrase cracked pepper is driving me nuts.

Why do Chefs & Cooks on the FoodNetwork say, "add cracked pepper", then reach for a peppermill and give it a few twists. Even on this board some people say add cracked pepper when they mean ground pepper.

I know there are recipes that use cracked pepper and give an example of cracking pepper corns. Yep, it don't involve grinding.
 
A good peppermill--one with a good variable mechanism--can indeed crack peppercorns rather than grind them. (In fact, many lousy mills only crack, i.e., they chip/split/crunch the corns into 2,3 or 4 pieces and that's it, they don't grind. Some only grind.)
 
You're not the only one with a peppermill graveyard!
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A few of the cheaper ones I've gotten over the years (there was a while there that it seemed every other person gave me a peppermill at Christmas) crack pepper perfectly. Adjusting them tighter might give me a very coarse grind (if I'm lucky) but that's it. I keep all set wide (I have one each for black, white and green) as I often need cracked pepper. I have a few cheapies and higher end ones that pretty much only do med-med/coarse and those hang out on the porch, along with their friends the cheap salt mills--if they tumble off the railing, oh well. The best ones--the ones with great variable-grind mechanisms that actually work--are on the kitchen island, the dining table and my mise en place next to the stove. All the rest I finally uncermoniously buried a while back.

I don't watch TFN (the 'personalities' are what drive me crazy!) but you're right that there seems to have been a move toward calling non-whole pepper 'cracked'--I've seen this is numerous books/mags of late--when clearly what is being used is ground, judging from the accompanying pics.
 
Kevin,
Can you recommend a grinder that has the ability to grind very fine all the way up to cracked that would be worth taking a look at?

The idea about having a grinder for each type of pepper is fantastic. I keep swapping out the different types of pepper to get what I wanted. I have a couple discarded mills that weren't that bad I could recommission. Thanks.
 
I had that image in my head, Jim, but couldn't remember where I'd seen it--Penzey's!

Jerry-- I am a big fan of the Magnum and Magnum Plus from Unicorn. A bit spendy--but you'll never look back.
 
BTW - I am not too proud to admit that I have large bags of Penzey's cracked and coarse ground black pepper in my pantry. It may not be as robust tasting as fresh ground, but if I need a 1/2 cup for a BBQ rub, it certainly beats trying to grind that much.

Jim
 
Here's something that may amuse you. When we do butts, we usually just salt and pepper them, but we don't want to use regular "shaker" black pepper. We take our old throw-away pepper grinder, take the top off, crank the little screw down on the bottom of it to give it a medium grind, and attach the rod that runs through it to the cordless drill. Then we drill on high torque until we get about 1/2 cup. It's a very amusing sight, but we probably have the only cordless powered pepper grinder in the neighborhood!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Luke and Bethany:
Here's something that may amuse you. When we do butts, we usually just salt and pepper them, but we don't want to use regular "shaker" black pepper. We take our old throw-away pepper grinder, take the top off, crank the little screw down on the bottom of it to give it a medium grind, and attach the rod that runs through it to the cordless drill. Then we drill on high torque until we get about 1/2 cup. It's a very amusing sight, but we probably have the only cordless powered pepper grinder in the neighborhood! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pics, I can't imagine how you did this.

adrian
 
I was in Penzey's this morning and tried out their new Penzey's-brand pepper mills. I thought that they very attractive and was able to grind a wide variety of pepper, from very fine to coarsely cracked. They work as advertised and are reasonably priced - $25 for the 6" and $34 for the 8".

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Thankfully they're wood. As much as I love Unicorn's grinding capabilities I dislike ABS. My concern with Penzey's mills is the adjustment: most mills I have or have tried that have the adjustment screw on top don't hold the grind setting well. I'd be interested to see if that's the case here.
 
Kevin - I didn't play with them long enough to find out how well the setting is held.

I was surprised to see the Penzey's name stamped into the steel on the bottom of the mechanism. I should have asked if it is their own design or if some other mill company is building these for Penzey's.

Jim
 
This brings up a question about my Unicorn mills. I have the Magnum for Tellicherry black peppercorns and the shorter model for white peppercorns. I have some miscellaneous brands for my Asian pepper mix and green peppercorns.

Almost every time I grind pepper, I notice that the grind gradually increases in size and I have to give the nut at the bottom of the mill a turn or two. Is this common?

Rita
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
My concern with Penzey's mills is the adjustment: most mills I have or have tried that have the adjustment screw on top don't hold the grind setting well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yepper, they can be a PITA. That is why I love my William Bounds pepper mills. Here's a link and look at the wood mills. Alot of them have a ring for the grind selection, coarse, medium, and fine. I just love these mills. Also their salt mills use ceramic for the grinding mechanism.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by K Kruger:
Thankfully they're wood. As much as I love Unicorn's grinding capabilities I dislike ABS. My concern with Penzey's mills is the adjustment: most mills I have or have tried that have the adjustment screw on top don't hold the grind setting well. I'd be interested to see if that's the case here. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Have the problem with the Peugeot I've had for years. Nice quality, but won't keep a setting and hard to hit it right using the top screw.
 

 

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