Cole & MasonH946820 Kew Salt and Pepper Mill / HFSP165 Premium Jar Aromatic Salt & Pepper Refill Set | Bundle

I bought this to replace a pair of battery salt and pepper grinders that were getting a bit past there sell by date. I liked the idea of a "2 in1" grinder as an obvious way to half my battery usage. My early impressions are well...meh. It looks nice and stylish but in practice is a little bit awkward to hold and reach the buttons. They are in a nice place but not quite nice enough. This is exacerbated as the grinder is slow in operation which means you're holding the slightly awkward buttons longer than you would like. The salt is fine but the pepper takes an age to mill. I've only had this for just over a week, so maybe it's just me getting used to a different way of grinding. Will also see if a different type of pepper corn ( if different types exist) to see if that helps

The grinders run quite slowly and just do not perform as expected. The pepper in particular despite various adjustments dispenses a very small amounts. The buttons are not very well positioned making it fiddly to operate

Its ok

Not very powerful so takes a while to grind enough for one person.

I really wanted to like this product but it's just so slow. It takes forever to get a good amount of salt/pepper. It uses 6 AAA batteries and it's just so...meh. Not powerful at all.This might work well if it's just to have on the table, to add some salt/pepper to a salad or a meal once it's finished but, if you are thinking of using it when cooking, forget it.

We did have a pair of cheapish separate grinders, but one disintegrated and the other looked to be on the way out too. These were ok while they lasted but perhaps proved the adage that you get what you pay for as they were very cheap.I looked at various possibilities - from replacement "cheapies" to ridiculously priced items from a company better known for motor cars (or maybe they just share the name - but £100+ makes no sense to me at all!).I was drawn to Cole and Mason products as they seemed well designed and have a good reputation amongst those who have bought them. The 2-in-1 seemed a good idea and the price was not outrageous either so I went ahead and ordered one via Amazon. The "forecast" delivery date proved wildly pessimistic and it arrived after around a couple of weeks as I recollect.In use, the unit is much easier to adjust for the coarseness/thickness of the grind than was the case with our old separate units and also much easier to fill too. The design is very neat, its nicely in the hand and it is solidly made.We've had the grinder now for several months. It gets two or three regular daily uses. As we like lots of ground pepper in casseroles and suchlike, there is further, very intensive use once or twice a week when cooking such things. There are no signs as yet that the batteries need replacing.The long battery life must, in part, be due to the unit's using 6 AAA batteries. This did, however, provide an initial downside. It's not a battery size we use much in our household so we only had a couple of spares of this size when it arrived and there was a delay in bringing it into service as a result - prospective purchasers would do well to stock up on AAA batteries in advance to avoid this.I am very pleased with the purchase and would recommend the grinder - the few £extra that it might cost compared to some rival offerings is well worth based on my experience so far.

Nice high quality piece of kitchen equipment. So why not 5 star only one small problem for me. I don't use pepper that much but where the buttons are located on this you can easily accidentally press the salt and pepper at the same time because of how you hold it. Buttons or at least one of them might be better on top.

Over the years we have bought various salt & pepper mills, all of which have ceased to work after varying periods of time. We bought this as we had never tried a 'powdered' cruet before, & so far we are very pleased with it. I find it slightly difficult to hold & operate as I have slightly arthritic hands but it is a minor problem & I am sure most other people would not find it difficult.