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To quote the Spice Girls, “All the people in the world, spice up your life!” There are few things more tragic than unseasoned food. Just imagine how dull life would be if all we had was bland chicken breasts and boring vegetables.
Our first instinct might be to buy a container of pre-ground spices, but if you really want to take your cooking to the next level, all it takes is a little DIY magic. It’s not just a little better to grind your own spices—it’s way better. According to Nicole Papantoniou, the Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Kitchen Appliances & Culinary Innovation Lab, “Spices have oils in them that dissipate when they’re exposed to air. So they taste stronger and more potent when you grind them just before using.”
There are a variety of ways to grind your own spices, from pulverizing them in a food processor or blender to crushing them up the old-fashioned way with a mortar and pestle or even a rolling pin. But the best way by far is to use a designated spice grinder.
We sat down with Papantoniou to find the best spice grinder on the market. Whether you’re crushing some sweet, smokey, and savory spices for traditional Indian dishes like a homemade papdi chaat or you want to grind up some fresh cinnamon sticks to bake a sour cream coffee cake that tastes just like the one your grandma made, our picks are about to open up a whole new (and tasty) world for you.
Looking to stay on that grind? We have some coffee grinder recommendations we think you’ll love. (Because yes, you will need to use a separate grinder for coffee.)
Our top picks
- Best Spice Grinder: OXO Good Grips Contoured Mess-Free Pepper Grinder
- Best Budget Spice Grinder: OXO Good Grips Radial Grinder
- Best Splurge Spice Grinder: Cuisinart SG-3 Rechargeable Salt, Pepper and Spice Mill
- Most Versatile Spice Grinder: Kuhn Rikon Essential Adjustable Ratchet Grinder
- Easiest to Use Spice Grinder: Dreamfarm Ortwo One-Handed Pepper Mill
- Best Manual Spice Grinder: Peugeot Paris u'Select Pepper Food Grinder
How we picked these products
To find the best spice grinder, we turned to our friends at the Good Housekeeping Institute, who have identified the best and highest-rated brands and put them to the test. Their team of on-staff experts—which includes all types: engineers! data analysts! registered dietitians!—rigorously put everyday products to the test (and then more and more tests) in their New York City-based labs to determine which ones you can trust.
Grinding more than 4 ½ cups of peppercorns into 36 grams of freshly-ground black pepper, these Kitchen Tech Experts put a plethora of pepper mills (10, in fact) through rigorous tests to analyze their user-friendliness, accuracy of grind settings, efficiency, cleanability, weight, adaptability, and capacity and yield. After reviewing their findings and discussing their road tests in-depth with Papantoniou, we’ve determined that these are the best spice grinders you can buy in 2022.
OXO Good Grips Contoured Mess-Free Pepper Grinder
Pros
- 5 grind presets
Cons
- Hand-wash only
Spice things up a little (or a lot) with the OXO Good Grips Contoured Mess-Free Pepper Grinder, which has five preset grind sizes, ranging from fine to coarse.
“I love this one,” raved Papantoniou. “It was the best overall in our tests. It has a lot of settings that are easy to adjust, it has a very fine ground that makes things taste very fresh, and it’s pretty easy to fill.”
This grinder features non-corrosive, ceramic grinding system, a top-grind design to prevent mess, and a clear, BPA-free window to help you keep track of when your mill’s contents are running low. You can just flip this unit over and unscrew the cap for hassle-free refills.
In fact, the Good Housekeeping Institute declared the Good Grips Contoured Mess-Free Pepper Grinder to be “one of the easiest to refill in our test: the bottom unscrews, allowing access to a wide mouth.” Sure, you’ll have to put in a little extra time and effort to hand-wash this unit, but it comes pre-filled with black peppercorns, which we certainly think sweetens the deal.
Pros
- Affordable
- Speedy
Cons
- Small fill spout
- Hand-wash only
The OXO Good Grips Radial Grinder is adept at quickly grinding large and small batches of spices. Boasting a long arm and non-slip, oversized knob for easy and ergonomic turning, this handy kitchen tool is as comfortable to use as it is intuitive.
“That’s a favorite in our test kitchen,” Papantoniou said of the Good Grips Radial Grinder. “You can produce large quantities at a time, and it has a rubber grip that helps make it non-slip.”
The key to this unit’s impressive performance lies in its thoughtful design: The clear window makes it easy to determine when it’s time for a refill, the snap-on plastic base keeps your prep area clean, and it’s simple to adjust, with grind settings that range from coarse to fine.
We do wish the Good Grips Radial Grinder was dishwasher-safe, had preset grind settings, and the fill spout was a little bigger. But for the price, this is a great budget-friendly option for making quick work of whole spices.
Cuisinart SG-3 Rechargeable Salt, Pepper and Spice Mill
Pros
- Sleek, user-friendly design
- Dishwasher-safe
Cons
- Pricey
- Slow
The Cuisinart Rechargeable Salt, Pepper and Spice Mill may be the priciest option on our list, but it’s definitely worth its salt (and pepper).
While this grinder doesn’t include preset coarseness levels and it isn’t as speedy as other models, it’s still a breeze to operate. Simply load up your spices, choose from the available grind settings—from fine to all the way to coarse—and press the button on the front of its stainless steel body. You can even use it one-handed!
And don’t forget about the accessories: Featuring an indicator light and a removable crumb tray, the included charging base offers the convenience of having a long-lasting battery life and the ability to grind your spices anytime, anywhere without the need for an outlet. Plus, this unit comes with a teaspoon-size measuring cap for distributing your ground spices and two detachable, clear grinding containers, which have the capacity to hold about half a cup of whole spices on each side. When you’re done, just pop it in the dishwasher for easy cleanup.
“I really like this because it is truly one-handed and is always accessible to me because I keep it out on my counter,” Papantoniou said of the Cuisinart Rechargeable Salt, Pepper and Spice Mill. “You can keep two different things in there—which I don’t do, but you can—for salt on one side and your red pepper or peppercorns on the other. And I love that you barely need to charge it.”
Kuhn Rikon Essential Adjustable Ratchet Grinder
Pros
- Ceramic grinding stone
- User-friendly
Cons
- No preset grind sizes
Do mixed or tainted flavors really grind your gears? Let that be a thing of the past with the Kuhn Rikon Essential Adjustable Ratchet Grinder, which features a high-performance ratchet operating system and an efficient ceramic grinding stone that lets you seamlessly switch between spices. This unit’s grind setting dial may lack presets, but it’s still dead simple to use: Just fill it up with your spices using the front loading door and move the ratchet handle back and forth to grind.
“It requires a different motion than twisting, so some people might find it easier to use,” noted Papantoniou, who also appreciated that the Kuhn Rikon Essential “has different containers that you can attach to it, which is great for storage.”
Aside from the detachable jar that automatically collects freshly ground spices for easy cleanup and storage, this automatic grinder truly offers an excellent user experience from refills to cleanup, with a black and clear plastic design that makes it easy to determine when it’s time to reload.
Dreamfarm Ortwo One-Handed Pepper Mill
Pros
- One-hand design
- Dishwasher-safe
Cons
- Tough to adjust
Like the Kuhn Rikon Essential Adjustable Ratchet Grinder, the Dreamfarm Ortwo One-Handed Pepper Mill also has a durable ceramic grinding stone, so you don’t have to worry about whether your anise- and cinnamon-heavy biscochitos are going to have a strange (and wholly unpleasant) taste.
But that’s not where their similarities end: Papantoniou said this grinder also “uses a different motion and it’s one-handed, which is helpful when your hands are dirty or you’re using a wet hand/dry hand method while you’re cooking.” And whether you use this manual grinder with both hands or just one, you can still take advantage of the six grind settings, which range from super-fine to coarse—though some may find it tough to adjust between them.
In addition to boasting a unique, ergonomic construction, the Ortwo’s angled cylindrical design and crumb catching lip let you set the without having to worry about spillage and subsequent cleanup. This grinder also comes with a two-ounce spice jar that’s made of clear tempered glass and features a wide mouth for easy refills.
Peugeot Peugeot Paris u'Select Pepper Food Grinder
Pros
- 2-step grinding process
- 6 grind presets
Cons
- Tough to refill
- Hand-wash only
From its expertly engineered precision to its corrosion- and rust-resistant stainless steel burr grinding system, there is nothing run of the mill about the iconic Peugeot Paris u'Select Pepper Food Grinder—just ask its legion of fans.
“This brand is known for their pepper mills. They’re really high quality, they’re made of wood with a smooth finish,” Papantoniou said, adding that the Peugeot Paris u'Select offers “a great classic, traditional way of grinding pepper and other spices.”
Made of fresh, smooth beech wood that has been grown, harvested, and finished in France, this timeless manual grinder features six grind settings at the bottom of its base. What’s more, it boasts a more uniform consistency thanks to its patented two-stage grinding process: First, a large set of sharp teeth breaks up your peppercorns, and then a smaller set pulverizes them into a refined powder or coarse blend.
Granted, it's not dishwasher-safe and the refill process could be more convenient (the top knob easily twists off, but then you have to work around the center post to replenish this mill’s contents without spilling). But we think it’s a small price to pay for a spice grinder that will serve as a valuable accessory in your kitchen for years to come.
What is the difference between a coffee grinder and a spice grinder?
Before understanding the differences between a coffee grinder and a spice grinder, you’ll want to know about the different types of grinding methods.
“There are two types,” Papantoniou explained. “You have blade grinders and you have burr grinders. Blade grinders work with an S-shaped blade to basically chop ingredients like a food processor does. Then you have a burr grinder that has two burrs, and the ingredients move through the burrs to be grinded.”
If you already have a coffee grinder on hand, your first thought might be just to use it for your spices as well as your beans—but we wouldn’t recommend it. Sure, the thought of grinding cinnamon sticks or whole cloves in your coffee grinder may seem more innocuous than cayenne (talk about adding a bit of spice to your pumpkin spice latte).
But Papantoniou warned that much like milk and lemon juice, there are just some things that you shouldn’t mix, and that includes using one burr or blade grinder for all things pulverizing.
“You can grind both coffee and spices in each, but an electric coffee burr grinder is typically very large and you shouldn’t put any spices in there because it’ll be nearly impossible to clean. A blade grinder is more capable of doing both, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should because you don’t want to cross-contaminate,” she said.
The good news is, both of these grinders can be relatively inexpensive and easy to store, so it’s not too big of a reach to spring for both.
What should you look for when buying a spice grinder?
We know you're probably itching to get starting making some crispy fried chicken that rivals KFC's or some easy homemade Creole jambalaya. But you can't just pick up the first grinder you see.
There are several important features to look for in a spice grinder—you’ll need to settle on your ideal power source (rechargeable, manual, corded, or battery) and the coarseness levels. For example, manual grinders offer more control and precision, but if you’re going the electric route, you’ll need at least three: fine, medium, and coarse. Above all else, you’ll want to establish what type of grinder makes the most sense for your needs and budget.
When shopping for a spice grinder, Papantoniou pointed out that there are a few things people should look for, but it depends on the model you pick. “There are two types—manual or electric. With manual models, you’re likely rotating a lever to grind your spices, so if you go with that option, you’ll want something with more heft to it because that means the materials inside are bigger and stronger. If you’re looking for an electric model, I would look for something that has more containers—the more containers it has, the better, because you can grind your spices and store your leftovers,” she said.
Electric blade models tend to be smaller, making them ideal if you have limited storage space, live in a smaller household, or don’t plan to grind your spices that often. However, their blade design can generate more heat than burr or manual grinders, which may affect the taste of your spices.
Manual spice grinders tend to use blades as well, but unlike their electric counterparts, they offer more control over your yield and don’t make too much noise or take up too much space. But because they require a bit more elbow grease than just pressing a button, the grinding process is more time-consuming and can be uncomfortable to use for longer periods.
Finally, electric burr models tend to be more precise, but the resulting refined taste comes at a cost—they’re pricier, louder, and larger than blade or manual grinders.
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