C:\Personal\Gadgets\iron-mills-pepper-mill
Pixel drawing of Iron Mills pepper mill

Kitchen

Iron Mills pepper mill

Best mill ever. Cast iron, steel burrs, made in Cheltenham, and the reason plastic restaurant mills are now unbearable.

Maker: iron-mills.co.uk

What I use it for
  • Pepper on everything, every day
  • Coarse crack for steak, fine dust for sauces
  • Sitting on the table looking like it belongs there
Body
Cast iron
Burrs
Precision stainless steel, hardened 420-grade for pepper (316-grade for salt)
Grind
Adjustable from fine to coarse
Made in
Cheltenham, England, by a company founded by a former Rolls-Royce engineer

Best mill ever. I say that with a straight face. I have used a lot of pepper mills and none of them grind like this one.

The Iron Mills mill is a cast iron cylinder with a crank on top. It's heavy, properly heavy, and that weight in the hand is part of why I like it. The burrs are precision stainless steel, hardened 420-grade for pepper (they use 316-grade for the salt version), and the grind is even from the first turn to the last. Fine for a sauce, coarse for a steak, and it stays where you set it.

They're built in Cheltenham, England, by a company started by a former Rolls-Royce engineer, which explains a lot. The maker’s site has the current designs and prices.

The downside: it ruined restaurants for me. Someone hands me a plastic mill now and I can feel it wobbling. I've thought about bringing my own.

Object propertiesBought once, used daily.