When trying to make a great impression with special dinner guests it is a good idea
to roll-up your sleeves and be prepared to dress your table to impress. Every detail of your table should be perfect. This includes everything from spotlessly polished silverware to a decorative salt and pepper mill.
Salt and pepper mills are more than just an accent for the table. They are a method of adding fresh flavour to your food. Since not everyone likes their food flavoured the same and some people are on low calcium diets, it is usually a good idea to refrain from cooking with a lot of salt.
By holding off on the salt added to the food during preparation you leave it up to the guests to select how much salt they want to add. This allows the guest to control the saltiness of their food. It is also a good idea to stock your salt and pepper mill with quality sea salt and assorted peppercorns.
Pepper and salt mills differ from basic grinders. Mills allow the user to control the coarseness of the ground and depending on the coarseness set the mill will push the salt or pepper through one of a series of crushers. Grinders do not allow the coarseness to be determined by the user, they simply provide one setting and finely crush the salt or pepper to that setting.
Salt and pepper mills are available in many different colours and materials. Some of these mills can be rather elaborate and ornate. Wood is a common material for making mills. There are many different woods that are often used. Wooden mills may also differ in the way they are cut.
There are some companies that will manufacture by hand carved wooden mills. These mills tend to be made of rare woods and can be found in a variety of unique shapes. Some rare exotic woods make a great starter for making quality kitchen utensils of all kinds.
A high quality mill should not only be made of fine wood but it should also contain a high quality mechanisms created from high quality stainless steel. Since they are mills and not grinders they should have an adjustment feature on the mill.
Fine wood salt and pepper mills make a great statement on your table but they also provide quality salt and pepper to your guests. When using mills it is a good idea to use only the best ingredients. Fine sea salt is far superior to standard table salt and typically will not contain additives.
Fresh ground pepper is far superior to using already ground pepper. Peppercorns are available in many different colours and these may provide slightly different flavours. There are some peppercorn varieties that come packaged together. Fresh crushed pepper corns from a mill provide better flavour and also provide health benefits over pre-ground pepper. Pepper corns contain oils and these oils not only add extra flavour but some believe they also help with the digestive process.