Frequently Asked Questions
“What salt should I use?” THIS IS IMPORTANT!
It’s more a matter of what salt you should not use. If the salt is hygroscopic it will draw more water in the mill. Then it will clump and your mill won’t work. It’s not the mill, its the salt. Also, really huge chunks (and I mean huge, like half-inch) will not fall down into the mill to be crushed. So don’t cut off a big chunk of that 2 lb pink Himalayan salt you bought and expect it to work.
My recommendation is Williams-Sonoma Pure Sea Salt for Salt Mills. We use this at home and it works wonderfully. You can get a very fine grind that is effortless
“What pepper should I use?”
You can use any type of pepper you like. The ceramic CrushGrind wills work with any type of peppercorn you can find. I’ve used all kinds of peppercorns (and I use lot of it) in my mills at home and have found no problems. I found that the larger peppercorns do not work well with many stainless steel mils. That is one reason I switched to CrushGrind, and modified my mill design to accommodate this superior mill mechanism.
I’d recommend you try peppercorns from Penzey’s spices. They have a wide selection of peppercorns, and it is always fresh. Tellicherry is a great peppercorn from them, but you might splurge and try the Special Extra Bold. You won’t believe the difference it makes on a steak. Buy more than you need. You’ll go through a lot of it with your new mill, it’s that much better to use! The link is on the right of this column.
“How do I refill the pepper mill?”
I get this question once or twice a year. Compared to ‘ordinary’ pepper mills with the conventional knurled top knob, it isn’t obvious how you open this pepper mill. It is actually easier!
Just pull the top of the pepper mill straight up. No twisting is necessary. There is a center shaft that connects the grinder mechanism to the mill top, and it’s fixed in place with a friction fit. It might be a little tight, but you will be able to pull the top straight up. Once you get the mill open it will be obvious how it works and easy to put the top back on. You just pour the peppercorns or salt flakes into the mill, put the top back on, and you’re done.
“Imperfection or Flaw?”
If your piece develops a flaw, it will be fixed, replaced or you will get a refund. I take great pride in making products that are durable. You should be able to use them every day, for a very, very long time.
My wood is chosen for its character and expressiveness. I have no interest in making mills that look mass produced. Wood with character will come with varying degrees of imperfections. This can range from bark inclusions and gaps common in burls, to small cracks or other voids that come with crotch figure. Typically a feature is part of the piece’s description. I used to fret over getting ‘perfect’ and ‘character’ to fit together, but I recognized that is fighting nature.
“Can I commission you to make me something?”
As hard as it is for me to say this, it’s not a good idea. Here is the problem.
I usually start ‘wet wood’, which is to say it has to go through the drying process along the way. In the course of this process it will warp, which means I turn my mills twice. The first turn is a rough turn to get an approximation of the final shape and remove as much wood as possible to help drying. After this, IT IS ALMOST A YEAR until the mill is dry enough to finish. So you would have to be a person with the sort of patience that is foreign to my being.
The second problem relates to the first point. As the wood dries it warps and occasionally cracks. Character is one thing, but big cracks happen when wood dries and this ends up in my fireplace. I can’t guarantee that a mill I turn this year will be there next September. And if I make two mills to increase the odds, it gets really expensive.
There might be occasions where this works. If you have a beloved tree that has fallen in your yard, I may be able to make a mill (or bowl) or two. We should talk. If you need something for a wedding in three months, a commission job won’t work, but I may have a mill that is in process of being finished that could work for you.