Reuse a "disposable" Spice Mill

Intro: Reuse a "disposable" Spice Mill

I've developed a taste for fresh ground pepper, but as someone on a low salary I don't want to buy an expensive pepper mill. Some spice companies sell peppercorns, sea salt grains, and dried spices etc. in neat little grinders, but you're not supposed to be able to refill them, which is a bit silly since you can buy bulk spices much cheaper from most supermarkets.

STEP 1: Oops

My first attempt at getting the plastic grinder top off the glass container went badly. I tried to use a spoon to pry it off, wedging the end of the spoon into the lid and banging it on the table. It made some cracking noises, which I thought was glue. It turned out that I'd broken the rim of the glass bottle off.

STEP 2: Soften the Plastic

Later when I had another empty pepper grinder, I decided to soften the plastic before prying it off more gently. I set my oven at 250F and put the grinder inside for about 10 minutes.

The room smelt like pepper =)

STEP 3: Remove Lid and Refill

Pry off the top gently. REMEMBER: hot glass doesn't look hot!. Use a potholder.

Refill with peppercorns or whatever other spice you like. I don't know if maybe some others might be too hard for the plastic grinding surfaces to handle. You may have to experiment. Also, if you look at the size of the teeth (on the underside of the top) it can't handle very big objects.

STEP 4: Replace the Top

Bang it lightly with your fist until it clicks. Enjoy fresh ground pepper.

Comments

[mrbreezeet1]

I got the lid off, and filled it with pepper corns, but now it won't grind.
Any idea why?

[richfiles]

All it took was some hot water from the sink... Granted, my apartment has some HOT water, but all it took was just a few seconds of heating, once the water was at full hotness.

[ignisgeodacius]

Thank you for posting this. I got pretty worried when I saw a picture of her putting a plastic product in the oven!

[LiftAndLove]

Kinda a dumb question, but can you put rice in there and use it to make flour?

[ignisgeodacius]

I think what you are looking for is a mortar and pestle. Granted the amount of work you will have to put in it would probably make more sense to just buy some rice flour in the bulk isle at your local grocery store. On the other hand a mortar and pestle is a fantastic tool to have in your kitchen!

[xenobiologista]

Probably not because hand-cranked pepper mills usually spit out little chunks, not fine powder. You'd be better off using a blender. Any reason you can't find rice flour for sale?

[mesagoat]

about that rice flour, as you said earlier xeno...

"totally depends on which part of the world you live in, which shop you buy your groceries at, and which brand you're looking at."

mos' o the "grocery" stores in the food deserts of this DisUnited States, are little more than repositories of toxic junk. something healthy, and non-gluten, like rice flour is beyond the scope of human comprehension for some of this store managers. blessing's to the food hackers, diyers and healthy thinkers out there.

[LiftAndLove]

I can, but me and my ex are starting a farmers market booth that sells baked goods, and I thought It'd be better if it was more 'hand made'. Plus from what I hear rice flour isn't as cheap as rice.

[xenobiologista]

Yeah you DEFINITELY need a bigger mill if you're going to want enough stuff to make bread, and one that can grind finer. Try Googling "hand mill flour" or something.

[LiftAndLove]

Haha okay. But I have to make the mill, because since I'm not allowed to get a job yet. I'm looking around though.

[mattcintosh]

my problem is the grinders with the peppercorns are actually *cheaper* than just the peppercorns in a bottle. The weights were almost identical, but the grinder was about 50 cents less... go figure...

[SueM126]

I love the peppercorn medley but don't like that the bottle isn't refillable. It's wasteful to keep throwing thing in the landfill or recycle bins. I went on a Google search to find that this mix isn't exclusive to this brand, However, like you, I found the price of the item in bulk is more expensive. I love that this grinder has 3 settings and is easy to use, so I wrote the company asking them to change their ways.

[Blissterful]

Good for you writing the company! I've been writing the companies who sell the fruits and veggies in cans that don't interlock to stack well and slide off each other on to the floor or on my feet! Think I got 2 companies to change or maybe it was a coincidence. (Who cares, it's fixed, right?)

[xenobiologista]

Pricing totally depends on which part of the world you live in, which shop you buy your groceries at, and which brand you're looking at.

At the time and place when I wrote this, this was the most economical option for me to get fresh ground pepper, and it seems to have been useful for a few other people too. If it doesn't work for you, feel free to ignore this.

[mattcintosh]

I just mentioned it because I had one I was able to take the lid off, but when I got to the store, I was frustrated that the ones with the lid were cheaper than the ones without. Same brand and everything.

Its like they were punishing you for actually buying a real peppermill.

[ThatC]

Great tips here! I heated grinder container in microwave for about a minute, then held container in left hand using pot holder, then using my right hand, pried lid off with the tip of potato peeler as suggested below. No trip to Trader Joe's, no buying anything, just a minute (literally, no more than one minute) and the container to re-use!

[marcus368]

Perfect way, thanks :)
900w microwave at 45 seconds, held container using towel, slight pull twist to lid and came straight off and in perfect condition

[Blissterful]

Gosh, it's been 4 years! I've been saving my empty spice containers for reusing and wondered where this tip was? Ha! Thanks! And, let's grind away!

[Jo-AnnS4]

This worked great!!! I reused a store bought McCormicks grinder and filled it with Rosemary. Saved me so much money. Thanks for the tip and instructions.

[WilliamS496]

What a great article, thanks! Worked perfectly!