By clicking a retailer link you consent to third party cookies that track your onward journey. If you make a purchase, Which? will receive an affiliate commission which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.
Best salt and pepper grinders
Salt and pepper grinders are every cook's staple, but we've tested the most popular from Joseph Joseph, Le Creuset, ProCook, Peugeot, Salter and more, and found a big difference in how easy they are to fill and operate.
We tested salt and pepper grinder sets ranging in price from £10 up to £70, looking at the consistency of the grind settings, how easy they are to use with wet and oily hands, and how straightforward they are to fill.
Our tests found that if you like even grains on both coarse and fine settings and grinders that aren't a fiddle to fill, it's generally worth paying more.
Best salt and pepper grinders from our test
Only logged-in Which? members can view the salt and pepper grinder test results below.
Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.
| Salt and pepper grinder | Fine grind | Coarse grind | Ease of filling | Pepper capacity (g) | Salt capacity (g) | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Excellent | Easy | ||||
| Good | Excellent | Very easy | ||||
| Excellent | Good | Average | ||||
| Poor | Excellent | Very easy | ||||
| Excellent | Excellent | Very difficult | ||||
| Average | Good | Easy | ||||
| Good | Good | Very easy |
Dates tested: August 2022 and September 2021. Pricing and availability last checked: 12 February 2024. We are not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.
The salt and pepper grinders we tested
All the salt and pepper grinders we tested are listed alphabetically below.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the salt and pepper grinders from our tests
Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and recommendations.
Cole & Mason Bridgewater Mills
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 13.5cm x 6cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 14g
Salt capacity 32g
Cole & Mason Clear Acrylic Salt & Pepper Set
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 14cm x 5.7cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 40g
Salt capacity 65g
Cole & Mason Marlow Contemporary Wood Salt & Pepper Mills
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 19cm x 6cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 25g
Salt capacity 55g
Dunelm Acacia Salt and Pepper Mill Set
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 20.3cm x 7.2cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 30g
Salt capacity 55g
H&S Salt and Pepper Grinder Mill Set
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested September 2022
Size 14.5cm x 7.7cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 100g
Salt capacity 236g
Accurately measure your spices to the gram with our pick of the best kitchen scales.
Joseph Joseph Milltop No Spill Salt & Pepper Mills
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 17cm x 7cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 70g
Salt capacity 150g
Colours Grey, blue
Add to your kitchen utensil collection with our picks for the best kitchen scissors and best tin openers
Le Creuset Salt and Pepper Mini Mills
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 12.1cm x 5cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 13g
Salt capacity 31g
Colours Volcanic, black & white, cerise, Marseille blue, satin black, soleil (yellow)
Menu Bottle Grinder Spice Mill two-pack
Available from Nordic Nest (£66)
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested September 2022
Size 20.5cm x 8cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 170g
Salt capacity 370g
Colour Ash-carbon, blues, nudes, hunting green-beige
Olympia Light Wood Salt and Pepper Mill Grinder Set
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 8cm x 6.3cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 7g
Salt capacity 20g
Colours Light wood, dark wood
Oxo Salt & Pepper Grinder Set
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 14cm x 5.6cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 61g
Salt capacity 85g
Peugeot Paris Salt and Pepper Mill set
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested September 2022
Size 18cm x 6cm
Pepper capacity 21g
Salt capacity 50g
Colours Natural and chocolate
Procook Electric Soft Touch Salt & Pepper Mill Set
Available from ProCook (£19)
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 22cm x 5cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 35g
Salt capacity 70g
Pros Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Cons Log in or join Which? to instantly reveal.
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 22cm x 5cm (HxW)
Pepper capacity 35g
Salt capacity 70g
Be inspired to make home improvements. Sign up for our Home newsletter, it's free monthly
How we tested salt and pepper grinders
We tested salt and pepper grinder sets that are popular and sold at major retailers. We bought and paid for every mill set we tested.
The perfect salt and pepper grinder set would be able to produce both fine ground and coarse ground spices, be easy to fill, durable and easy to use.
Ease of filling
- We rated each grinder on how easy it is to fill up with salt and peppercorns.
- With some it's possible to fill them up with no mess. Others left peppercorns scattered all over the work surface.
Ease of adjusting the coarseness setting
- We assessed each grinder on how easy it is to adjust the size of the grains.
- It's a lot trickier with some than others and we found that the coarseness setting would even change midway through grinding on some of the poorer mill sets.
Consistency of grind
We set each mill to its finest and coarsest setting, then assessed the size and consistency of the grains on each. The best mill sets are brilliant at both, but most favour one size of grain over the other.
Accuracy
Sometimes seasoning requires accuracy. You might want to pepper your steak, but not the chips to the side of it.
We assessed the accuracy of each mill when seasoning food.
Oily hands
We rated each mill on how easy it is to use with oily hands and dry hands. It tend to be the pricier grinders that are easy to use if you have oily hands.
Time to grind a teaspoon
A good grinder will produce a lot of grains quickly.
- We timed how long it took each grinder to produce a teaspoon of spice.
- The best took 15 seconds and the worst more than a minute of constant grinding.
Durability
We knocked each set off a kitchen worktop 10 times. Some didn't survive.
Three things we learned testing salt and pepper grinders
1. Electric mills aren't necessarily easier to use
While the thought of freshly ground salt or pepper at the press of a button might sound appealing, the reality can be different.
We tested two electric grinders and were surprised at how many batteries were needed (eight for each set) and how difficult the batteries were to fit.
It was also harder to fill each of the electric grinders with salt or pepper and trickier to adjust the coarseness setting than with most manual grinders we tested.
While one of the electric grinders did produce both fine and coarse grains consistently, we felt the ease of use benefits were spoiled by poor test results on other factors.
2. Most grinders can't do both coarse and fine grinds very well
If you buy a quality mill set, you'd expect it to be able to produce super fine grains for delicate seasoning and chunkier grains for marinating. Many of the grinder sets could only do one or the other well.
But our recommendations above did produce consistent fine spices or coarse grains, and it's easy to adjust the settings to the desired level.
3. Traditional style grinders are hard to use with wet and oily hands
We found that the traditional shape of mill set has some drawbacks when using them with wet and oily hands.
Some modern designs proved easier to use if you have oily hands from cooking and there was also a big difference with how easy the coarseness setting is to adjust.
Looking for perfectly ground coffee beans for your espressos and flat whites. Check out our best coffee grinders
How to refill a salt and pepper grinder
We were surprised just how difficult it was to refill some of the salt and pepper mill sets we bought. Our best tip: fold a piece of paper to create a spout and pour the spices in through this.