Peppermill

[Bernie Weishapl]

Have a question for all you turners. I ordered 3 salt mills and made one. Nobody has bought it. They have told me no one wants a salt mill. They are the ceramic type from Woodcraft. Is there any reason these couldn't be used for peppermills? I looked them over and the only difference I can see is that one is ceramic and the other stainless steel. Otherwise they look the same. I just didn't want them to just sit there if nobody was going to buy them. All my peppermills have sold but the one lone salt mill just sits down there. Thanks.

[Jerry Marcantel]

Bernie, it's ceramic so it won't rust in the salt. I'm sure it would work, but I've gifted about 10 combo mills, and had 2 ceramics break. One other thing to consider, the pepper mills have springs for adjusting the grind, but the salt mills have a small piece of clears soft plastic tubing for tensioning.... That might be a negative.... Good luck....... Jerry

[Greg Just]

I would think you could go from salt to pepper but not pepper to salt due to the corrosive nature of salt. I have a Crush Grind on my kitchen table that I made 3 years ago and it works as well as the day I made it.

[Jim Burr]

Ceramic is great either way. But no one grinds salt!!! They are starting to become vogue in places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods, but I'd stick with the peppermills for now. We've heard since we were kids...pepper mill/grinder and salt "shaker". I don't know why this is Bernie...just an observation on my part. I'd make a few cool ones and keep showing them. Can you get "flavored" salt in you neck of the woods? I have tons of smoke and pink that are yours because you're a good guy!! Maybe try the BBQ guys with some flavored salt...worst that will happen is you get some good BBQ and they say no...you still get food!!

[David Walser]

Bernie - Yes, your "salt mill" can be used for pepper. As others have said, you wouldn't want to grind salt in a pepper mill, but going the other direction works just fine.

In case you'd like to actually sell your salt mill as a salt mill, consider combining it with a small bag of gourmet salt. There are dozens of varieties of salts available in high-end shops, natural sea salts, smoked salts, salts from ancient salt seas, and herb-ed salts. Salt snobs claim that these salts are vastly superior to the table salt we all grew up with. My brother's family lives near Redmond, Utah, which has a salt mine that produces one of these gourmet salts. Most of the local gift shops sell the salt and salt mills for grinding it. Is there a producer of gourmet salts near you? If so, you might be onto something big.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks I thought maybe it could go that way. David I do have some gourmet salt with it along with a peppermill. I might check out Westport Imports. He sells all kinds of seasonings.

[Jim Burr]

For a good read, check out "Salt...A world History" It really was fun and a great info source! One of the few I didn't get on the Kindle..actual paper book!!

[Mike Golka]

But no one grinds salt!!!

Tell that to my wife. We have both salt and pepper grinders I've made with the "Crushgrind" inserts. I've also sold both with identical inserts. I've never used the stainless mechanism but have been making mills for over 5 years with no problems. As a matter of fact I just finished an order for another 10 mills.

[Cody Colston]

Bernie,

I've sold salt and pepper mills together, Maple for the salt mill and Walnut for the pepper mill. My wife put them in a fancy basket with sea salt and peppercorn included and it sold as a package...for a pretty fancy price, too.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks again.

Cody that is a good idea and my wife thought that might work well. I just made since I had them anyway a Cherry salt mill and a walnut for pepper. I also made a coaster with a cork insert to sit them on to keep the little bit of salt or pepper contained after grinding.

[james bell]

To sell them, find somebody on the coast where there is humidity (or any humid location). No matter how much rice/etc you put into a salt shaker, they still clump up. I have since thrown away my salt shakers and put kosher salt in a grinder. No problems!