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Best salt and pepper grinders 2025: expertly tested and reviewed
The best salt and pepper grinders produce both fine and coarse ground spices, are easy to fill and simple to use.
We tested popular manual and electric salt and pepper grinder sets from brands including Peugeot, Oxo, Joseph Joseph, John Lewis and Le Creuset, costing from £12 upwards. Our testers tried each set below and assessed them on the grind consistency, the filling process, if they are easy to use with wet hands and more.
Four salt and pepper mills were worthy of our Best Buy recommendation, and we have one cheaper Great Value pick.
How our tests find you the best
Time taken to grind
Sick of sore wrists while seasoning? We measure the time taken to grind a teaspoon of pepper to find the most efficient grinders.
Ease of filling
Don’t get stuck picking up peppercorns off your countertop while your dinner goes cold. We pull out the easy to fill mills to save you time and effort.
Ease of use
Always washing your hands while cooking? We test all the grinders with wet hands so you know which ones are still easy to grip and use.
We also test...
The consistency of both the fine and coarse ground pepper, as well as how easy it is to adjust between the two.
The best salt and pepper grinders
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 | Price | Score | Fine grind consistency | Ease of filling | Speed* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations. Unlock tableFirst month £5, then £11.99 per month, cancel at any time Already a member? Log in | 90% | ||||
| 85% | |||||
| 84% | |||||
| 83% | |||||
| 79% | |||||
| 79% | |||||
| 78% | |||||
| 75% | |||||
| 75% | |||||
| 75% | |||||
| 70% | |||||
| 70% | |||||
| 69% | |||||
| 68% | |||||
| 65% | |||||
| 62% | |||||
| 60% | |||||
| 59% | |||||
| 50% | |||||
| 46% |
Sign up to reveal
Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations.
Unlock tableFirst month £5, then £11.99 per month, cancel at any time
Already a member? Log in
Dates tested: January 2025, August 2022 and September 2021. Page last checked: April 2025. We are not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available.
*Measured by the time taken to grind a teaspoon of pepper
The salt and pepper grinders we tested
All the salt and pepper grinders we tested are listed alphabetically below.
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Addison Ross Bobbin Salt & Pepper Mill
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Available from Addison Ross (£62)
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Manual
Size 23cm x 7cm (HxW)
Colours Multicoloured, navy, white, yellow, grey, red, black and many others
Addison Ross Chubbie Salt and Pepper Mill
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Available from Addison Ross (£54)
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Manual
Size 13cm x 7.5cm (HxW)
Colours Cobalt, watermelon, aqua, chambray, navy, pale pink, orange, lilac, buttercream
Cole & Mason Bridgewater Mills
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Type Manual
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 13.5cm x 6cm (HxW)
Cole & Mason Clear Acrylic Salt & Pepper Set
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Type Manual
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 14cm x 5.7cm (HxW)
Cole & Mason Marlow Contemporary Wood Salt & Pepper Mills
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Type Manual
Most recently tested August 2021
Size 19cm x 6cm (HxW)
Cole & Mason Napoli Salt & Pepper Mills
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Type Manual
Most recently tested January 2025
Size 12cm x 6cm (HxW)
Dunelm Acacia Salt and Pepper Mill Set
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Type Manual
Most recently tested January 2025
Size 20.3cm x 7.2cm (HxW)
H&S Salt and Pepper Grinder Mill Set
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Most recently tested September 2022
Type Manual
Size 14.5cm x 7.7cm (HxW)
Accurately measure your spices with our pick of the best kitchen scales
Joseph Joseph Milltop No Spill Salt & Pepper Mills
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Manual
Size 17cm x 7cm (HxW)
Colours Grey, blue
Le Creuset Salt and Pepper Mini Mills
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Most recently tested August 2021
Type Manual
Size 12.1cm x 5cm (HxW)
Colours Volcanic, black & white, cerise, Marseille blue, satin black, soleil (yellow)
Menu Bottle Grinder Spice Mill two-pack
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Available from Nordic Nest (£58)
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Most recently tested September 2022
Type Manual
Size 20.5cm x 8cm (HxW)
Colour Ash-carbon, blues, nudes, hunting green-beige
Olympia Light Wood Salt and Pepper Mill Grinder Set
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Manual
Size 8cm x 6.3cm (HxW)
Colours Light wood, dark wood
Oxo Salt & Pepper Grinder Set
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Most recently tested August 2021
Type Manual
Size 14cm x 5.6cm (HxW)
Peugeot Duo Boreal
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Available from Peugeot (£84.99)
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Manual
Size 21cm x 5.5cm (HxW)
Colours Black & white, rock grey & petal pink
Peugeot Paris Salt and Pepper Mill set
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Most recently tested September 2022
Type Manual
Size 18cm x 6cm
Colours Natural and chocolate
Procook Electric Soft Touch Salt & Pepper Mill Set
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Available from ProCook (£19) (Out of stock)
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Most recently tested August 2021
Type Electric
Size 22cm x 5cm (HxW)
Robert Welch Signature Salt and Pepper Set
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Manual
Size 16 x 6.5cm (HxW)
Colours White & black
Russell Hobbs Salt & Pepper Grinders
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Electric
Size 22.5cm x 6cm (HxW)
Need to know Requires four AA batteries per grinder
Salter Electronic Salt and Pepper Mill Set
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Most recently tested August 2021
Type Electric
Size 22cm x 5cm (HxW)
Need to know Requires four AA batteries per grinder
Tower Duo Electric Salt and Pepper Mill
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Most recently tested January 2025
Type Electric
Size 22cm x 7cm (HxW)
Colours Black, white, grey
Need to know Requires six AA batteries
How we test salt and pepper grinders
We select the most popular salt and pepper grinder sets from popular UK retailers. We buy and pay for every mill set we test.
We regularly revisit the salt and pepper grinders on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing.
Ease of filling
- We rate each grinder on how easy it is to fill up with salt and peppercorns.
- Some fill up with no mess, while others leave peppercorns scattered all over the work surface.
Consistency of grind
We set each mill to its finest and coarsest setting, then assess 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.
Ease of adjusting the coarseness setting
- We assess each grinder on how easy it is to adjust the size of the grains.
- It can be really tricky, and we found that the coarseness setting would even change midway through grinding on some of the poorer mill sets.
Ease of use
We rate each mill on how easy it is to use with wet hands. The traditional shape of a mill set has some drawbacks when using it with wet hands and can be slippery.
Time to grind a teaspoon
A good grinder will produce a lot of grains quickly.
- We time how long it takes each grinder to produce a teaspoon of spice.
- The best took 15 seconds, and the worst more than a minute and a half of constant grinding.
Durability
We knock each set off a kitchen worktop 10 times. Some didn't survive.
Why you can trust us: at Which? we're free from manufacturer and retailer influence. Find out more about our impartiality and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.
How to refill a salt and pepper grinder
Most salt and pepper grinders are relatively straightforward to fill. While there are variations, traditional mills tend to refill in the same way:
1. Loosen and remove the knob on top of the grinder by turning it anticlockwise.
2. Pull off the lid and pour salt or pepper into the holder. You can use a folded piece of paper to create a spout and pour the spices in through this.
3. Replace the lid and knob and tighten it to your preferred grind setting.
Should I buy an electric pepper mill?
While electric pepper mills may seem like they'll make your life easier, many of them are tricky to fill, require a lot of batteries, and aren't as efficient as you may think.
We only found one set that we thought was good enough to recommend. See our best pepper grinder results to find out which one.