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The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
This post is part of our 'This Is Fire' series, where our editors and writers tell you about the products they can't live without in the kitchen.
After years of cooking and many pepper grinders that have come and gone, there are specific things I look for in a grinder. While many have been good enough, none of them have ticked all of the boxes for me.
This one does.
I'd seen it pop up on my social media, appearing in videos from the likes of Molly Baz and Carla Lalli Music. The Männkitchen Pepper Cannon makes me happy every time I use it, from the look to the feel to the results. But it’s the individual features that outgrind the competition.
Männkitchen Pepper Cannon
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Amazon
Wide range of grinds
Easy grind adjustment
Easy filling
Fast grinding
Expensive
No color choice
You’ll want a second one for white pepper
First, I love the smoothness of the grinding. Most grinders I’ve owned feel a bit jerky as they chew and chip away at the peppercorns. The Pepper Cannon feels much smoother, with less of that annoying catching that feels so uneven and requires effort to continue grinding after each hiccup.
It’s also extremely fast. I need a grinder that can produce enough pepper for a recipe without being tiring to hold or use. I used to prefer grinders with a top crank because they were more comfortable than most twist tops. This grinder does have a twist top, but I don’t mind it at all—I don’t have to grip awkwardly or tightly, and there’s no need to twist with force. But the other thing that makes it less tiring is the speed that it grinds. The cannon name is appropriate! This spits out ground pepper faster than other grinders I own, so I spend less time grinding and more time cooking.
The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
Setting the grind size is easy and efficient. As I turn the bottom nut that sets the grind size, I can feel it click into place with a satisfying little bump, and it stays where it’s set. Some other grinders I’ve owned have loosened over time, so the grinds get larger and larger. Even worse, some of them need to be reset after filling the grinder. I’m usually more interested in the small side of the grind range, and the Pepper Cannon can easily produce ground pepper that’s practically a powder. This is the size that will disappear into a recipe without leaving chunky bits or visible dots. On the large end of the scale, it produces a chunky grind for those times when larger bits are preferred, and there are enough settings in between to produce exactly what anyone might want.
And my counter stays clean in between uses! A cap fits onto the bottom of the grinder, which can hold ground pepper for measuring and also keep errant pepper grinds from falling out of the grinder. The cap simply slides on—no twisting or turning. It’s just snug enough that the grinder can be lifted and the cap stays on. But it’s loose enough that it takes no effort to remove it.
Filling the grinder is simple too. Press the button on top (the only thing that can be chosen in a different color) and the top comes off so the grinder can be filled. There’s no need to take off a nut that inevitably rolls off the counter so I have to crawl around on the floor to find it, or unscrew anything.
The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
The downside of this grinder is the price. But considering the number of pepper grinders I’ve used over the years and discarded, I could have bought several Pepper Cannons. In fact, I’m considering buying a second one to use for white pepper. While these don’t come in colors aside from matte black, the top button comes in silver, black, or red, so if there are multiple grinders, it’s easy to tell them apart. Even the matte surface is functional. Not only does it hide finger smudges, but it also offers a better grip without feeling slick or slippery in use. There's also a salt cannon for a complete set.
Overall, the Pepper Cannon feels like a carefully machined tool rather than a mere kitchen gadget. And it also operates like a well-designed and well-constructed tool.
The Spruce Eats / Donna Currie
Grind Range: 8 to 60+ mesh size | Grinder Capacity: 4 ounces | Cap Capacity (for ground pepper): 2.5 ounces | Material: Aluminum body, hardened high-carbon stainless steel grinding gears
Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
Donna Currie has been writing about cooking gadgets for more than a decade, and has been published on Serious Eats, The Wall Street Journal BuySide, and a number of print publications, including a stint as a restaurant reviewer for her local newspaper. She’s the author of "Make Ahead Bread," a cookbook for making bread baking much easier for busy cooks.
