Love My Mills
If you’re used to cooking with pre-ground pepper, you will be stunned at how different the freshly ground kind tastes. It’s simply better tasting and spicier than any pre-ground pepper. This is also the case with fresh ground Salt Crystals. While milling your own Salt Crystals doesn’t have the same dramatic effect as it does on pepper, the use of your own salt mill enables you to enhance your cooking by making crystals of Sea salt smaller. Sea salt is much more rich than the traditional table salt that comes in small granules.
Do not put too much pepper in your grinders. This is especially true if you don’t use pepper that frequently, keep the mill only partially filled. Most people don’t know that pepper can go bad. Old, stale pepper just won’t taste as fresh if it’s been housed inside a grinder for months at a time. Store the pepper you aren’t using in an air-tight container, make sure it’s in a cool place away from the light. Add them to your mill only when necessary. When it comes to salt, however, you can feel free to fill your grinder to its capacity. You don’t have to worry about salt going stale if left in the grinder for too long. Don’t try to clean your salt mills in water, especially if they are made of wood. A squirt of window cleanser and a small brush can be utilized to clean the surface of the mill. Don’t use a dishwasher to clean your salt and pepper mills. Every good salt or pepper mill will have a way to adjust the size of the grind. By turning the screw (located on top of your grinder), you can adjust the grind accordingly. You can always adjust to a coarser grind, but if you want finer salt or pepper, you will have to empty the mill first. Black and white pepper are small and easy to grind.
However, green and pink ones are a bit bigger. This variety of pepper can actually clog up the mill. Don’t try to grind a mill filled with nothing but green and pink peppercorn. Instead, mix these pepper in with standard black or white pepper. It’s common to find pepper and salt grinders sold together in a set.
This is a good option because the mill will match. If you don’t think you’ll be needing a full salt grinder more manufacturers do make pepper mills that feature a salt shaker on them. These designs can be quite accessible and allow you to store both spices in one container.