Customer Reviews

OXO Good Grips Pepper Grinder

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

First, THIS IS A PERFECT PEPPER GRINDER. It has the easiest loading area I have ever seen. It has coarse to fine settings which always come out uniform. It is pretty affordable and it looks good.

Second, when I tried out a slew of pepper grinders, it came down to two major and three minor qualities.

Major:

1. The pepper grinder MUST have adjustable settings, from coarse to fine, and the pepper must come out uniformly. If a pepper grinder can't do this, it does not matter how cheap it is or how cool it looks.

2. The pepper grinder MUST be easy to refill. This is almost as important as #1, and just about as much of a deal-breaker if its poorly designed. Some of the grinders have the most asinine, tiny, and poorly designed holes you could ever imagine.

Minor:
1. It should be affordable. Anything less than $10 and more than $30 should be looked at closely. Under 10 and it just can't possibly be that good, and over 30 means its most likely overpriced. These aren't hard and fast rules, but something to consider.

2. It should be elegant or stylish. I've always preferred something in the silver/black area that tends to go with a variety of kitchen or home decors and just look nice on the table.

3. It is helpful if it faces upward, to keep grinds off the table. This is pretty common nowadays and isn't as hard to find as used to be the case.

First of all I was really surprised it actually came with peppers, gave me a chance to give it a few twists right after it came in the bag from Amazon.

The picture from Amazon shows the grinder side facing up, the way it's meant to be on the table. The dots that you see near the lip are what you use to adjust how fine you want the pepper to come out. The rubber bottom is what you twist to do the actual grinding. It is really easy to fill as there is no metal rod going out the back like those wooden pepper grinders. The fill cap is a twist on plastic cap. Highly recommended grinder.

This OXO Pepper Grinder is ergonomically designed: the rubbery grip makes it easy to use, and the business end is on the top (which means loose pepper doesn't scatter around when the grinder is not in use).

Unfortunately, I was disappointed when I discovered that the grind on the finest setting is much too coarse. Even worse, it produces an uneven grind on every setting.

I almost returned it, but I suppose it can serve as a backup, or maybe I can put some sort of exotic, seldom-used peppercorns in it.

EDIT: I finally gave up trying to get good results with this pepper grinder. Since it was then too late to return to Amazon, I contacted the customer service department at Oxo and returned the item directly to them along with the purchase receipt. They then gave me a full refund for the purchase price. So extra credit to Oxo for honoring their satisfaction guarantee.

The title says it all! I am pitching the four other pepper mills I have in my cupboard in various states of repair. This is the ULTIMATE in pepper mills! Easy to use, easy to fill, works perfectly and feels good in the hand. Equally at home next to the stove or on the table - a truly SUPERIOR product in every sense! I would stand on a mountain top to sing the praises of this product. BRAVO, OXO - Bravo!!!!

Very sturdy and works really well. You flip it over to grind the pepper, which is great because it won't "leak" onto your counter or table when you set it back down.

I work at Bed Bath & Beyond, and one of our recent shipments included a slightly-updated version of the Oxo Good Grips Pepper Grinder. The biggest change is that the lid on the peppercorn chamber is now fully threaded and requires several turns to remove it. I'm guessing this is to address the problem many customers had with the lid inadvertently unscrewing and spilling pepper everywhere. The grinding performance seems to be unchanged, which may be an issue if you prefer the powder-fine texture of pre-ground pepper. The rubber turning mechanism also has a more pronounced grip now, and there are some minor cosmetic changes to the ceramic grinding mechanism and the coarseness lever.

I have the older model, and it's worked out well for me. It produces plenty of pepper per turn, has a large capacity, is easy to fill, and is easy to tell when it needs refilling. I haven't had any problems with the cap unscrewing; guess I got one of the better ones.

When I purchased this pepper grinder along with the salt grinder I loved them, however, after spilling pepper corns all over my kitchen and destroying an entire pot of stew,salad and a number of other dishes, I've decided these are horrible. The bottoms fall off without warning. You would think that a designer would think to thread these bottoms at least a half a turn to secure the contents that could completely ruin a meal. The bottoms only screw on about 1/4 of an inch if that! The only way to avoid this is to set the grinders top down on the table or counter and check the stopper every time you use it but that pretty much defeats the purpose of the overall stand up design. I just sent OXO an email asking them how I go about re-couping my $40. I bought them at Bed Bath and Beyond and don't have the receipt or the packaging of course. I've noticed that everyplace that sells these says they're out of stock and not available until February etc. I'm wondering if there's been so many complaints that they did in fact redesign them? I'd avoid buying these until you find out.

Revised Review -

The major design flaw in this peppermill had not shown itself when I first reviewed it. Others have mentioned the problem with the plate that covers the pepper reservoir. It screws in clockwise. Sometimes the clockwise grinding motion of the peppermill slightly unscrews the cover plate. Once in a while, it completely unscrews the cover plate and (AGAIN) you are looking at a hundred peppercorns covering your food, the counter and the floor.

Oxo usually produces excellent products, reasonably priced. They were asleep at the switch with this one!

Original Review -

The Oxo guys continue to design superior and affordable kitchen products from tongs to mixing bowls. Their record of excellence continues with this pepper mill. I have been searching for years to find a good one, wanting it to be smaller than a Louisville Slugger and easy to grind, adjust and fill. Being able to use with one hand would be fabulous, but I have not found one of the electric mills that meet the other criteria.

Before I discovered this Oxo mill, I was using the tab/crank mill used by Paula Deen. It is not a bad mill, but the plastic housing is very slick, especially if your hands are slightly wet. If it slips out of your hands, you will be cursing it as you pick up a hundred peppercorns off of the floor. And if you have any arthritis in your hands, just cranking the tab can create a painful pressure.

The Oxo mill adjusts by turning the black band next to the grinding mechanism. There is an easy to understand scale - no more turning a screw or gear in the interior of the mill. Peppercorn reservoir is accessed by a cover that easily bayonets on and off. Grinding is effortless and the grind even. Can't beat it and for $20.

Had this peepper mill for about 2 weeks now and I have to say I am very happy with my purchase.
I like this mill for the following reasons
- 5 different grinder settings. I love the really coarse grind for steaks and such
- Easy to grind. no crazy knobs or anything, a simple turn and the same amount comes out on each turn.
- The open end sits on top. No more picking up the mill and having left over pepper to be spread over the kitchen.

Cons:
None except that is not a fancy dancy model, so if you are planning a dinner party with all your good china, etc.. it may not fit on the table. Otherwise it is great for every day use.

It's a good grinder and very easy to operate. My only complaint is that even at the finest setting, it's still too course a grind. I wish it had a setting for a finer grind.