Atlas Pepper Mill, Brass, 8"

This is a gorgeous pepper mill - a show piece for the kitchen. It's built like a tank and has a substantial, gratifying heft to it. However, if you read the reviews for this, and all of the Atlas pepper mills, you will learn it's limitation - it only does a very fine grind and the screw adjustment does little to nothing to change this. You will also see some people have obtained a very coarse grind by removing the adjustment screw and the bridge/plate it screws in to, at the expense of losing a fine grind. They still have no adjustment available to them. This is a poor "solution".At least one reviewer has identified the real problem - the grinding burr is too large/tall. It cannot freely move up and down as intended to adjust the grind. The solution is simple - you need to remove 1/8" - 3/16" of metal from the bottom-facing rim of the burr. If you have an angle grinder, this will take seconds. If you don't, prepare to spend an hour or two or three with a Dremel (cylindrical stone grinding wheel) or better and more accurate yet, though much more effort, a metal file. I used a DMT Dia-Sharp Extra Extra Coarse diamond stone and filed the burr down by hand. It took two sweat-drenched, hand-cramping hours. It was worth it. I now have a full range of grind, from the original super-fine to at least as coarse as my Unicorn Magnum Plus.Tips on how to dismantle the Atlas can be found perusing the reviews. If you must have coarse ground pepper, the engineering effort to get it may seem absurd considering this mill's high price and you'll probably want to find a different mill. However, if you're like me and are captivated by the otherwise outstanding aesthetics and quality of the Atlas, a little ingenuity and elbow grease can transform this into the finest pepper mill available.

Love Love LoveUnlike other reviews for a similiar mill this pepper mill has a spring loaded screw on the bottom, which grinds from chunky to fine with a simple turn of the screw. Not only is the mill gorgeous, and well constructed, it holds an abundance of peppercorns and puts forth enough milled pepper with an easy, gentle, and plentiful grind in just a few seconds. I am thrilled. It is definitely worth the expense.

I've been wanting one of these for years! I finally broke down and bought one and could not be more pleased. I'm an avid cook and it works fantastic - the grind quality is uniform, fast and simply lovely. When compared to my regular old stainless steel one, this one looks beautiful on my kitchen countertop and is consistent with grind. There is no guess work on the grind. I felt like I had to adjust my old grinder every time I used it or put new peppercorns in it......NOT with this one. Consistent every time, works like a charm.The only drawback is that my kids can not turn the handle as easily as I can. I encourage them to cook with me including adding spices to our dishes. This pepper mill is more difficult to turn because you do have to hold the canister steady while using the other hand to turn the handle. Not a problem for me, I find it easy, but for a child cook, a bit of a challenge that will surely be conquered as they grow. My six and eight year have the most difficultly. My two older boys do okay. However, with that said, it is much easier to achieve the quantity of pepper with this mill than my old one. I felt like my wrist was getting a work out before, it is easy and quick turning now!Simply love it and think of it in this way - "it is an investment in something you know you will use and keep for years". If there is heirloom quality in a pepper mill, this is it!

I bought this mill as a Christmas gift to myself because I'd been looking for a good-quality pepper mill that wouldn't break like the others I've tried in the past. It's attractive and elegant-looking and seems nice and sturdy. It holds a lot of pepper corns so I won't have to refill it very often. It produces a nice, uniform grind with a pretty smooth action when the crank is turned. The only thing that disappoints me about this pepper mill is that it seems to have only one setting-- very fine. My husband and I prefer a coarser grind, and I can't seem to adjust the mill accordingly. I tried turning the screw on the bottom in both directions to get a coarser grind, but it just stays fine. So, I'm either too dumb to figure out how to adjust the fineness of grind or this mill is only capable of a very fine grind.