I tried Gordon Ramsay’s favorite salt and pepper grinders, and now I can’t cook without them

For a brand to get the backing of Gordon Ramsay it has to be pretty special, and HexClad is no exception. It was Ramsay who first introduced me to the brand a few years ago, when I got to visit his cooking academy and hear from the man himself why he thinks this brand is such a game-changer. And it's true — I'm a huge fan of HexClad's genius hybrid technology that combines the convenience of nonstick with the quality and durability of stainless steel. To add to my collection, I recently discovered the joys of its HexMill salt and pepper grinders, and I'm never going back.

I've been using the same grinders since I went to college, and while they were nothing special, I'd never had any major complaints. After all, my meals always ended up well-seasoned, and although re-filling was a pain, I only had to do it every couple of months. HexClad has fixed all the complaints I never even knew I had with my old grinder, including an easily removable lid for quick refills, fully adjustable grind sizes, and a much higher output than most grinders, saving me time and my wrists a bit of aching when whipping up cacio é pepe.

HexClad has used burr grinder technology to develop these mills, so they feature the same tech as some of the best coffee grinders , and the same consistent finish. At $199 for the pair or $129 individually , the HexClad HexMills don't come cheap — but I do think they're worth the investment. Here's why.

HexMill Salt and Pepper Grinder Set: $199 @ HexClad
They retail for $129 each, but you can get both the HexMill salt and pepper grinders for $199 when you buy at HexClad. The salt grinder features a quality gunmetal finish, and the pepper a cool black. Both have the same easily-removed lid and speedy grinding. View Deal

User-friendly design

HexClad left no stone unturned when designing these grinders. I'd usually have to painstakingly unscrew the top of my pepper grinder when it needed a refill, but I now just have to press the button on the top of my grinder and it comes away in a second.

At the bottom of each grinder is a cap that pulls away when you want to grind directly into your pan or on your avocado toast. If you leave it in place, you can grind directly into the container and then pour it all into your dish at once without it losing freshness, which is helpful for recipes that require a specific volume of salt or pepper.

Leaving this cap in place also means you won't get any grounds on your countertops when you pop your grinders back into place, but I've found that I consistently forget to remove mine, so I leave them in my cutlery drawer and accept the extra mess on my countertops so I can pick my pepper grinder up and go.

Fast, powerful grinding

One of my favorite pasta recipes requires a very specific 50 twists of pepper, but if I used the HexClad to make this recipe, I'd probably run out of peppercorns halfway through cooking. As the brand says online, "think 5 grinds, not 50." Below, I twisted the grinder three times at both fine and coarse settings to show just how much you get from a very minimal wrist motion. The salt grinder is just as good, so I've had to watch for over-seasoning when getting used to my new gadgets.

You can also choose from 10 grind settings by twisting the dial at the bottom of these grinders. At first I wasn't sure which direction to twist in, but it's actually quite easy. When making your grounds finer, the output gap will get smaller, and when you're going larger it, logically, gets quite wide.

A grinder for life

I was starting to have a few issues with my old grinder set. The lid would unscrew a lot faster than it should, and I'd have to re-tighten it between uses to keep it in place. You shouldn't have to replace your grinders very often, and given the high-quality metallic feel of these grinders I'm confident that they're built to last, but if you do run into any issues with the HexMills, they're backed by a lifetime warranty.

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