7 ms·

The Peppermills of Jens Quistgaard

82 points by NaOH 2y ago

comrade1234 2y ago
[dead]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
e_i_pi_2 2y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20241228230216/http://quistgaardpepper.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20241228230216/http://quistgaard... Site wouldn't load for me, here's an archive version
- xtiansimon 2y ago
  Hmm. It loads on my dino iPhone SE 2020. I was looking for someone else here who appreciated the design and quality of the content. Lots of sites of this type are not as nice as this.
- jonathonlacher 2y ago
  Blocked on enterprise firewall for me, "weapons".
unwind 2y ago
When the article said: These peppermills, otherwise known as “table seasoners”, evoke tiny household sculptures, powerful individually, but most compelling when grouped and viewed in sets. Is that some kind of direct translation from Danish, the "table seasoners" part? I'm certainly not a native speaker of English, but that was a term I've never heard before ... I tried googling it but didn't find much, which is why I ask.
- curmudgeon22 2y ago
  I've never heard that term before (native english speaker)
- soegaard 2y ago
  In modern Danish it is "saltkværn" (salt mill) and "peberkværn" (peber mill).
- 867-5309 2y ago
  table salt, but not table pepper or table seasoners
- shermantanktop 2y ago
  > otherwise known as “table seasoners” ...to the author, who is now trying to make "table seasoner" happen by implying that everyone who is anyone is saying it.
- tokai 2y ago
  Seems like its only used online by Dansk Designs. So its a US marketing term.
- austinjp 2y ago
  It's not a phrase I've ever heard before. Breaking it down, in case you're curious: "Seasoning" (you're doubtless aware) refers to salt and pepper, and the act of adding them to food. But I've never heard the word "seasoner" to refer to a salt or pepper dispenser. The "table" part is fairly commonly used as in "table salt" i.e. salt in a dispenser on the dining table. It's also occasionally used in phrases like "water for the table" when asking a waiter to bring enough water for everyone at the table. But "table seasoners" is a bit over-laboured for me.
- ade2 2y ago
  There is a word like that in swedish (bordskrydda) and danish (bordkrydderi) meaning spices/seasoners that are on the table (and added as each person prefers during the meal). Direct translation would be "table seasoners" or "table spice".
steve_adams_86 2y ago
Wow, these are beautiful. My dad used to make these as a sort of hobby (he liked any excuse to hop on the lathe, and they made great gifts; you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one). He'll love to see this. It didn't occur to me that there'd be such an extensive collection of something seemingly so obscure, yet here we are. It seems like this exists for everything out there. It's very nostalgic in a way. Though my dad's were different, the dark, solid wood and geometric shapes bring me back to my childhood.
- pengaru 2y ago
  > you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one Every time I find myself stocking another kitchen I'm reminded how 99% of what's sold in American stores now is trash, esp. when it comes to the can opener and pepper mill. Just finding a mill that doesn't litter microplastics on everything is an endless treasure hunt, before even considering aesthetics and capacity.
  - cafard 2y ago
    Amen to the can opener. Our very old one is is vastly better than anything in the stores.
zhengyi13 2y ago
I clicked on the article on a lark, and I was stunned? certainly excited to see the "Acorn" model there: my father's had one of those for... well, as long as I can remember. Maybe near 50 years now? Still beautiful in teak.
mauvehaus 2y ago
These are handsome, but my real question is: how's the mechanism? Of the half dozen or so pepper mills I've owned, half of them kind of sucked from the get-go (the current one grinds ok, but doesn't feed fresh peppercorns without a regular shake), and the other half broke in a couple years (the last one the adjustment mechanism jammed up). I don't feel like I'm an unreasonably aggressive pepper grinder, nor do I think I use an abnormally large amount of pepper. Hell, I'd only call myself a halfway decent home cook. In related news: does anyone want to recommend a decent commercial, easily available option? Not looking to spend a fortune, but would be willing to spend enough to have one that'll last another 40-50 years.
- davee5 2y ago
  Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon. I absolutely adore this device and have bought a few as friends for discerning cooks and mechanical gadget lovers. Build quality is utterly fantastic and the quality of the grind is excellent. Most importantly the ability for it to grind copious amounts of pepper with minimal input is unmatched. I tried just about all the other ones recommended on various forums but none match up, not even close. Yeah it's $200 but oh man is it nice.
  - tstrimple 2y ago
    It's a buy once cry once situation for me. Very happy with my Pepper Cannon and I no longer have to give myself RSI grinding enough pepper for cooking large meals.
- Clamchop 2y ago
  I've got an OXO that has worked great since I bought it in 2014. It's an ugly piece of white plastic, but it's efficient, unfussy, ergonomic, and adjustable. https://a.co/d/609d3IX https://a.co/d/609d3IX
  - calmbonsai 2y ago
    I've got this OXO version and it has worked great too. The singular down-side being that its rubbery bottom tends to grip too tightly to surfaces so it falls over instead of sliding. This makes sense due to that end being the gripped side during use. https://amzn.com/dp/B08DL86ZCQ https://amzn.com/dp/B08DL86ZCQ I also own the aforementioned Unicorn. I use it for "bulk black pepper" grinding and use this model for finer grinds of white and green pepper.
gmontech 2y ago
[dead]
buescher 2y ago
It was sort of a thing for southern California machinists to start peppermill companies, or at least two. I have a vintage William Bounds one marked "made on the third planet from the sun" and I used to have an Olde Thompson I think.
Crunchified 2y ago
The pepper grinders at the gift shoppe at Seattle's Space Needle are terrible. Someone like this designer needs to make a GOOD Space Needle pepper grinder with a good (Peugeot) mechanism! (I recall a sombrero-roofed observation tower at the I-95 South of the Border rest stop/tourist trap in South Carolina called the Spice Needle)
jonstewart 2y ago
Gorgeous pepper mills. The website breaks the back button, however.
- bookofjoe 2y ago
  Not for me.
dmd 2y ago
But can they sing? https://teenage.engineering/products/choir https://teenage.engineering/products/choir
ilovecurl 2y ago
As an avid fan of Star Control, I can't help but love the Druuge model, "His reference for this mill’s shape comes from similarly shaped alien ships in a video game called Star Control."
califool 2y ago
WOW. This is amazing. Big peppermill fan and ex-chef. I hope I find one of these gems one day.

82 points by NaOH 2y ago

comrade1234 2y ago

[dead]

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

e_i_pi_2 2y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20241228230216/http://quistgaardpepper.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20241228230216/http://quistgaard... Site wouldn't load for me, here's an archive version

xtiansimon 2y ago
Hmm. It loads on my dino iPhone SE 2020. I was looking for someone else here who appreciated the design and quality of the content. Lots of sites of this type are not as nice as this.
jonathonlacher 2y ago
Blocked on enterprise firewall for me, "weapons".

unwind 2y ago

When the article said: These peppermills, otherwise known as “table seasoners”, evoke tiny household sculptures, powerful individually, but most compelling when grouped and viewed in sets. Is that some kind of direct translation from Danish, the "table seasoners" part? I'm certainly not a native speaker of English, but that was a term I've never heard before ... I tried googling it but didn't find much, which is why I ask.

curmudgeon22 2y ago
I've never heard that term before (native english speaker)
soegaard 2y ago
In modern Danish it is "saltkværn" (salt mill) and "peberkværn" (peber mill).
867-5309 2y ago
table salt, but not table pepper or table seasoners
shermantanktop 2y ago
> otherwise known as “table seasoners” ...to the author, who is now trying to make "table seasoner" happen by implying that everyone who is anyone is saying it.
tokai 2y ago
Seems like its only used online by Dansk Designs. So its a US marketing term.
austinjp 2y ago
It's not a phrase I've ever heard before. Breaking it down, in case you're curious: "Seasoning" (you're doubtless aware) refers to salt and pepper, and the act of adding them to food. But I've never heard the word "seasoner" to refer to a salt or pepper dispenser. The "table" part is fairly commonly used as in "table salt" i.e. salt in a dispenser on the dining table. It's also occasionally used in phrases like "water for the table" when asking a waiter to bring enough water for everyone at the table. But "table seasoners" is a bit over-laboured for me.
ade2 2y ago
There is a word like that in swedish (bordskrydda) and danish (bordkrydderi) meaning spices/seasoners that are on the table (and added as each person prefers during the meal). Direct translation would be "table seasoners" or "table spice".

steve_adams_86 2y ago

Wow, these are beautiful. My dad used to make these as a sort of hobby (he liked any excuse to hop on the lathe, and they made great gifts; you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one). He'll love to see this. It didn't occur to me that there'd be such an extensive collection of something seemingly so obscure, yet here we are. It seems like this exists for everything out there. It's very nostalgic in a way. Though my dad's were different, the dark, solid wood and geometric shapes bring me back to my childhood.

pengaru 2y ago
> you don't realize how awful the ones in big box stores are until someone makes you a proper one Every time I find myself stocking another kitchen I'm reminded how 99% of what's sold in American stores now is trash, esp. when it comes to the can opener and pepper mill. Just finding a mill that doesn't litter microplastics on everything is an endless treasure hunt, before even considering aesthetics and capacity.
- cafard 2y ago
  Amen to the can opener. Our very old one is is vastly better than anything in the stores.

zhengyi13 2y ago

I clicked on the article on a lark, and I was stunned? certainly excited to see the "Acorn" model there: my father's had one of those for... well, as long as I can remember. Maybe near 50 years now? Still beautiful in teak.

mauvehaus 2y ago

These are handsome, but my real question is: how's the mechanism? Of the half dozen or so pepper mills I've owned, half of them kind of sucked from the get-go (the current one grinds ok, but doesn't feed fresh peppercorns without a regular shake), and the other half broke in a couple years (the last one the adjustment mechanism jammed up). I don't feel like I'm an unreasonably aggressive pepper grinder, nor do I think I use an abnormally large amount of pepper. Hell, I'd only call myself a halfway decent home cook. In related news: does anyone want to recommend a decent commercial, easily available option? Not looking to spend a fortune, but would be willing to spend enough to have one that'll last another 40-50 years.

davee5 2y ago
Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon. I absolutely adore this device and have bought a few as friends for discerning cooks and mechanical gadget lovers. Build quality is utterly fantastic and the quality of the grind is excellent. Most importantly the ability for it to grind copious amounts of pepper with minimal input is unmatched. I tried just about all the other ones recommended on various forums but none match up, not even close. Yeah it's $200 but oh man is it nice.
- tstrimple 2y ago
  It's a buy once cry once situation for me. Very happy with my Pepper Cannon and I no longer have to give myself RSI grinding enough pepper for cooking large meals.
Clamchop 2y ago
I've got an OXO that has worked great since I bought it in 2014. It's an ugly piece of white plastic, but it's efficient, unfussy, ergonomic, and adjustable. https://a.co/d/609d3IX https://a.co/d/609d3IX
- calmbonsai 2y ago
  I've got this OXO version and it has worked great too. The singular down-side being that its rubbery bottom tends to grip too tightly to surfaces so it falls over instead of sliding. This makes sense due to that end being the gripped side during use. https://amzn.com/dp/B08DL86ZCQ https://amzn.com/dp/B08DL86ZCQ I also own the aforementioned Unicorn. I use it for "bulk black pepper" grinding and use this model for finer grinds of white and green pepper.

gmontech 2y ago

[dead]

buescher 2y ago

It was sort of a thing for southern California machinists to start peppermill companies, or at least two. I have a vintage William Bounds one marked "made on the third planet from the sun" and I used to have an Olde Thompson I think.

Crunchified 2y ago

The pepper grinders at the gift shoppe at Seattle's Space Needle are terrible. Someone like this designer needs to make a GOOD Space Needle pepper grinder with a good (Peugeot) mechanism! (I recall a sombrero-roofed observation tower at the I-95 South of the Border rest stop/tourist trap in South Carolina called the Spice Needle)

jonstewart 2y ago

Gorgeous pepper mills. The website breaks the back button, however.

bookofjoe 2y ago
Not for me.

dmd 2y ago

But can they sing? https://teenage.engineering/products/choir https://teenage.engineering/products/choir

ilovecurl 2y ago

As an avid fan of Star Control, I can't help but love the Druuge model, "His reference for this mill’s shape comes from similarly shaped alien ships in a video game called Star Control."

califool 2y ago

WOW. This is amazing. Big peppermill fan and ex-chef. I hope I find one of these gems one day.