People of the world, spice up your life!! (Cole & Mason Duo Salt and Pepper Mill)

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	Cole & Mason Duo Salt and Pepper Mill
Date:	23/06/09 (193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Consistently and easily grinds salt and pepper, 2-in-1 mill

Disadvantages: None

Salt and pepper are staple seasoning ingredients of any kitchen or dining table and they deserve a decent receptacle that will unleash their flavour over your food without any fuss.

So please step forward the Cole & Mason Duo Salt and Pepper Mill. This funky looking mill holds salt in one side of the mill and pepper on the other. So to use it, all you have to do is twist it anti-clockwise to grind salt and clockwise to grind pepper.

Having both the salt and pepper in one mill saves space, but it's also handy for al fresco dining when you have so many other things to carry outdoors.

I have always been a fan of Cole & Mason as they make mills that actually do work. There is nothing more annoying and frustrating than a mill that just won't grind, no matter how much you turn it! That is definitely not the case with Cole & Mason and I have tried a few different designs, not because they have broken, but because I just can't stop collecting them!

The turning motion is very smooth because the diamond-sharp ceramic grind mechanism makes very short work of grinding whole peppercorns (the only kind of pepper for me!) and sea salt crystals. The Cole & Mason website advises you to only use sea salt crystals in their mills, because rock salt can wear down the mechanism very quickly.

We have had our Duo mill for well over a year now and it has shown no sign of fatigue, even though we use it everyday. I think it's because the ceramic grind mechanism is so effective at grinding, so you only need to give it one or two turns to get plenty of salt or pepper. With other cheaper, inferior mills, you have to act like you're listening to The Byrds and turn, turn, turn!

It is made from acrylic and ABS hardwearing plastic with a textured white band, so it is very easy to hold and turn the mechanism. The salt and pepper comes out at a very uniform size and shape and there is a separate grind selector for each mechanism, so you can select a coarser or finer grind.

The containers for the salt and pepper are of a decent size, so you're not filling them up every 5 minutes. However, refilling it is not a problem at all and is perhaps the easiest one I've had to refill. Most mills have a fiddly screw at the top, which you have to undo to release the top part of the mill. With the Duo you simply pull the top part of the mill off and then you have access to the salt and pepper containers. You then just lift the lid of the container and refill. The opening of the container is a crescent shape and whilst the opening isn't massive, it is adequate and allows you to pour in your peppercorns without them going everywhere. Then you simply push the top part of the mill back onto the bottom part - the parts are labelled with an 'S' for salt and a 'P' for pepper, so you shouldn't get it the wrong way round!

I think the Duo Mill not only works brilliantly, but it also looks great too. It comes in a variety of colours: blue, olive green, red and white. They have just introduced a stainless steel version which looks amazing!

I think the RRP of around £20 is a bargain price for something that works so well and which should last a lifetime.


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Other info:
* Height: 17.5cm
* Lifetime guarantee (25 years) on the grinding mechanism.

Available from:
- House of Fraser £10.00 or £18.00 (reduced from £20.00)
- John Lewis £19.50
- Lakeland £19.56
- Amazon £26.01 (Stainless Steel version)

Summary: My favourite brand of mill.