Becca wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> > I have the old style Penzeys mill with the crank handle; Zassenhaus.
> > I use it but I don't think it's anything special. �In fact it's not
> > made very well, the grinding burr is in a cheapo plastic housing
> > pressed into wood, on dry days the wood shrinks so it loosens and
> > sometimes falls out, along with all teh peppercorns. �
>
> Mine came from Penzey's, but I bought it several years ago. �The ones
> they sell now, have the plastic grinders, like you mentioned (the one I
> have, has metal grinders). �I was going to buy one for a friend, but
> when I saw the plastic, I changed my mind.
>
> Becca

The one I have I bought from Penzeys too, more than ten years ago. It
does have metal grinding burrs, albeit very small burrs, but it's the
little housing that holds the burrs that is plastic, and the plastic
housing that contains the metal burrs is pressed into the wooden body
with nothing holding it in place other than the pressure exerted by a
slightly undersized wooden hole... during periods of dry weather the
wood shrinks, the hole enlarges, and occasionally the entire mechanism
falls out. I have other wooden grinders but those all have a metal
plate screwed to the bottom that holds the mechanism in place
regardless of humidity. Also the plastic used for that housing is the
type used for cheap toys, it's not very stable like a nylon, delrin
and others, so with use over time it distorts and it no longer holds
the burrs in proper alignment. The model that Penzeys sold to me is
very poorly made.