Price Points: Salt & pepper grinders

Salt & pepper grinders

There’s probably not a home in the world that doesn’t have salt & pepper in the kitchen or on the dining table; they’re the most necessary of condiments.

Given their culinary superpowers, these seasonings should be treated with due respect. That includes housing them in beautiful salt & pepper grinders.

The cheapest examples are like oversized chess pieces; painted in a lovely, shiny, on-trend grey colour. They’re the most traditional of the three options that we’ve short-listed.

The mid-range seasoning mill is a 2-in-one job, which I like – it takes up half the room in a tiny kitchen. However, even though the machine is rechargeable and doesn’t need batteries, I quite like the action of manually grinding my peppercorns and salt crystals.

The top-end Tom Dixon set is stunning in its timeless, space age design. Much as I love it – and it would be used every day – £150.00 is a pretty steep price tag and way out of our budget.

Which salt & pepper grinders would you choose?

  1. MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey: £15.99, Very
  2. Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill: £60.00, Selfridges
  3. Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set: £150.00, Tom Dixon

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
£150.00
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
£60.00
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
£15.99
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
£150.00
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
£60.00
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
£15.99
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
£150.00
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
£60.00
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
£15.99
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
£150.00
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
£60.00
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
£15.99
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
Tom Dixon ‘The Mill Grinder’ set
£150.00
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
Cuisinart rechargeable seasoning mill
£60.00
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
MasterClass salt and pepper mill set – grey
£15.99

S is for… Salt

'S is for... Salt' blog post banner

Collection of vintage salt & pepper shakers | H is for Home

Essential for seasoning… salt and pepper need storing, sprinkling, pinching, grinding and shaking. There are endless possibilities to enable all these things.

Starting with the traditional matching salt & pepper pots… they’re made from pottery, glass, metal, plastic and wood.

Pair of Hornsea 'Rainbow' salt & pepper pots | H is for Home Vintage Hornsea 'Saffron' salt & pepper pots | H is for Home

Pair of vintage Staffordshire pottery salt & pepper pots | H is for Home Pair of two tone brown vintage pottery salt & pepper shakers | H is for Home

Pair of vintage stainless steel salt & pepper shakers H is for Home Pair of vintage teak and stainless steel salt & pepper pots | H is for Home

As these pots are often left on permanent display, it’s a great opportunity for showing off a bit of good design, striking pattern or flash of colour. These gorgeous Cathrineholm ‘Lotus’ examples (manufactured by Lyngby) manage to combine all three…

Vintage orange & white Cathrineholm Lotus salt and pepper pots | H is for Home

We also like pinch pots; they’re great for salt crystals or flakes – and coarse, ground pepper.

Pair of vintage John Clappison designed bird dishes being used as salt & pepper pinch pots | H is for Home

We keep these John Clappison-designed Hornsea pinch pots in our kitchen table. They were originally intended as ashtrays, but are the perfect size & shape for this alternative use.

Vintage John Clappison designed bird dishes being used as salt pinch pots | H is for Home

Larger pinch pots & salt pigs are great for keeping beside the stove for everyday cooking use.

Antique wooden cheese moulds being used as stove-side salt & pepper pinch pots | H is for Home

Antique wooden cheese moulds being used as stove-side salt & pepper pinch pots | H is for Home

These wooden pinch pots are actually antique cheese moulds – again they’re ideal for their new function.

A salt pig is one of the best containers to keep by the cooker as it allows for a good scoop or handful when adding to boiling water for pasta, rice, vegetables etc.

Vintage glazed pottery salt pig | H is for Home Vintage cream glazed pottery salt pig | H is for Home

If you prefer your salt in a sealed container there are lots of options here too!

Vintage Hornsea Pottery 'Bronte' lidded salt pot | H is for Home

Vintage pottery lidded salt pot | H is for Home

And finally grinders… these make light work of salt crystals & whole peppercorns – releasing aromas and flavours right at the point of serving.

The undoubted master of the grinder is designer Jens Quistgaard, with his numerous examples produced for Dansk Designs. There is, in fact, a book available entirely dedicated to the subject – Danish Pepper: Jens Quistgaard’s Teak Pepper Mills (Amazon)

Danish Pepper: Jens Quistgaard's teak pepper mills book available at AmazonAs you can see from the cover, their sculptural forms and beautiful grain makes for a stunning grouping. We’ve just decided that we may have to start a collection of our own!