9-in. Unicorn Magnum Plus Pepper Mill, Black.
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Our Price: $45.00 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of 9-in. Unicorn Magnum Plus Pepper Mill, Black.
Customer Review: Assaults Pepper
Summary: 5 Stars
Consider the lowly pepper mill, charged with a function so pedestrian one might imagine its design would have been perfected centuries ago. Ask for pepper in a restaurant and most likely a waiter, not your waiter but a special waiter, will arrive with something resembling a baseball bat which he or she waves menacingly over your plate until at last you cry, "Uncle".
Home mills are almost invariably short and bulbous, sporting jaunty S-shaped brass cranks. Routinely made of wood specially designed to attract and retain kitchen grime, they resemble something turned on a lathe by a moderately talented 6th-grader in a remedial shop class. With the capacity of 7.7 peppercorns, inserted with tweezers through an almost inaccessible door, these mills manage to generate a thin film of pepper dust before jamming completely.
The advent of industrial chic ushered in the stainless steel equivalent. More attractive and expensive than their predecessors, they matched them pound for pound where it counts, uselessness. The arrival of the Unicorn Magnum Plus Pepper Mill heralds the end of the quest for pepper mill perfection.
Like a prizefighter surveying his opponent on the canvas, it grinds rock-hard peppercorns into flakes effortlessly, as if to say, "Is that all you've got for me?" Filling is fast, simple, and intuitive while capacity is nothing short of cavernous. Once topped-off you're set for a good long while, perhaps one full political administration, or until the complete collapse of civilization, whichever comes first.
Great grip, easy to use, adjustable grind that delivers consistently. Design criticisms, predicated on materials used rather than its exemplary good looks, are misguided. The days when the word "plastic" was synonymous with "cheap" are long gone. For many design engineers, plastic is the premier material, specified by choice, not as a fallback position. Indeed, this exceptional mill is easy to use, clean, and maintain specifically because the materials used enabled its design. Definitely worth it.
Customer Review: Pepper Fan? Or just have a recipe calling for a lot of pepper?
Summary: 5 Stars
I've loved fresh ground black pepper for a long, long time. I use a lot of it - generally enough to raise eyebrows from heathens that don't know the pure love of Pepper hehe.
It always bugged me how long you'd have to grind grind grind to get a decent amount of pepper on your dish. It'd take forever and sometimes I'd just give up and settle for less than I wanted.
Along those lines, ever had a recipe call for 2 TBS of fresh ground black pepper? Holy Cow! Talk about some marathon grinding! It'd be tough to get to the mark and super annoying because I'd just as soon add extra pepper most of the time.
THIS pepper mill solves both of those problems and has an added 'stop annoying me' benefit too.
It puts out copious amounts of ground pepper every turn so you can pepper up your prepared dish in a real jiffy. It puts out enough pepper that grinding to produce recipe level and more is no longer a 2 break, shake it out affair.
You don't have to adjust it every 2 seconds either to keep the grind consistent. I'd rate that aspect almost as high as the huge output because the annoyance having to stop and screw that little brass thing on the top every 3 or 4 turns is a real pain and adds another layer of 'ah screw it, I'll just use the pre-ground stuff' thinking. While I don't mind the occasional just cracked not ground up pepper corn it can detract from the dish. I've never had to adjust my mill and I've owned it for about 3 years I think.
As a note, if you've read some of the other reviews, I personally haven't ever had a problem with the fill hole. I've never had it come open and spill out. It is nice and big and as easy as a 'top loader' to fill up. Ah, this mill holds a lot of pepper corns.
It is worth the money. You like fresh ground pepper and you use fresh ground pepper all the time? Buy it.
Darin
Customer Review: The first thing I threw away...
Summary: 5 Stars
...was the tin of that awful pre-ground pepper-like substance I kept on hand for those times I needed more than a half teaspoon of pepper for a recipe. Simply didn't have the time or patience to grind and grind (and grind) with my old mills to get a decent amount. This mill produces a huge amount with minimal effort. The next in the trash were my old pepper mills! No mill I have ever owned can hold a candle to this thing.
The big nit in the reviews is how it spills open so easily. Well, if you grab it with both hands and twist it like you're wringing out a dish towel, I suppose that could happen. But if you grasp it with one hand, put the other on top of the large grind knob and turn it, the little fill ring/door should never come into reach. Even with my large hands, this particular "problem" is a non-issue.
As for it's looks, it may not be my first choice for style, but I don't think it's ugly. "In the eye of the beholder" is probably appropriate here. For my taste (pun intended) this mill's performance has earned it a spot on the counter by my stove, right next to a mis-matched salt bowl. Given how well it works, it's beautiful.
Pouring peppercorns into anything smaller than a trash can is tricky. They're tiny, they bounce and seem to have a mind of their own. This mill has the largest filler opening of any mill I have ever owned, and is hands-down the easiest to fill. Takes a minute, but take your time and it you'll find it isn't that difficult.
This mill is large, easy to handle, holds a LOT of pepper, outputs a LOT of pepper easily, and is easy to adjust the grind size, just like most reviewers have said. It is sturdy and well-made. A little pricey, but I'd buy another in a heartbeat if anything ever happened to this one.
Customer Review: Great grinder, huge output
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the Magnum Plus and this pepper grinder is awesome. I have owned quite a few grinders (nothing over $50) and have finally found one I really like. I have had this one for about 8 months and wanted to wait a while before I gave a review. I mainly purchased this one from all the reviews I read and the price. It isnt perfect, but very close.
Likes
As many others said it holds a LOT of peppercorns. I emptied every peppercorn I had and still had a little room left over to hold more.
The output is enormous. I love pepper, probably not as much as some of the other reviewers so I find a half to full twist is usually enough. Sometimes a little more :)
Dislike
This is a very small gripe for me but I agree with other people in that the cover should rotate the other way to close. However having said that I have not had any problems with the cover opening. I have big hands and the knob to twist is quite large, maybe its just the way I hold the thing but my digits never even come close to the cover. Then again maybe im being cautious due to the problem posted from other reviewers. I can see why it would open and pour peppercorns everywhere and yet...... I cant see how.
I have to continually mess with the adjustment knob for the fine/coarse setting. I like a fine grind and when adjusted to the finest setting it is perfect. The coarse setting is REALLY coarse. I remember reading another viewer saying they really tightened the knob and didnt have to mess with it again, im too chicken to do it though. I just keep messin with it.
I dont know what other adjustment there could be but that is probably my biggest gripe with this thing. Even with the crappy adjustment I still give it 5 stars.
Customer Review: Nearly Perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading a review for this in Cooks Illustrated, I decided it was the pepper mill for me. A few years ago I tore the ligaments in my wrist, and it's never healed right. When I want a few grinds of pepper on my salad, I'm fine, but if I need any more than that my wrist acts up.
I've tried electric grinders, but they inevitably meet a particularly ornery peppercorn and the motor burns out. Normally OXO products are comfortable for me to use, so I tried one of their pepper mills with a large crank on top. It's easy on my wrist, but it's an all day process to get a tablespoon of pepper out of. It also doesn't hold much pepper to begin with.
The Unicorn Magnum Plus hold plenty of pepper, so you aren't constantly refilling it. And a single grind of pepper (spinning the top about 1/2-way around) yields almost 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. So, I can certainly get a full tablespoon before my wrist gives out. The amount will vary depending on the coarseness you select, of course. In fact, the output is almost too fast to use at the table, unless you like a lot of pepper. That's fine for me. I'll be keeping it in the kitchen, as I have a nice matching set for the dining room.
Like others have experienced, however, the ring you turn for refilling the mill turns in the same direction as the top and sits immediately below it! It's quite the design flaw for an otherwise impressive pepper mill. I will, as one user suggested, put a piece of electrical tape over it to stop the accidental hailstorm of peppercorns. I debated whether this was enough to justify a one or two star deduction. If only Amazon allowed 1/2 stars. Since I'm able to compensate for the flaw, I went with only a one star deduction.