The Fresh Pepper Grating Hack That Will Making Measuring Your Spices A Breeze

In many culinary settings, black pepper is considered one of the most basic seasonings every cook needs to know how to handle. To be honest, it is difficult for us to imagine any kitchen without it in ample supply. Almost as valuable as salt, it forms the backbone of the basic seasoning blend that most of us first learned to use, perhaps without even really thinking about it.

Despite its popularity, there can be challenges to using pepper. Whether you prefer a black or white variety, you still must choose between buying preground pepper or buying whole peppercorns and grinding them yourself. The first option can save you time, labor, and perhaps some cash, but it leaves you with a dull taste that comes nowhere near the zing of freshly ground pepper.

That's because freshly ground pepper contains more essential oils and delivers a superior flavor to preground stuff that's been sitting around and degrading for an indeterminate amount of time (via Eparé). However, it can be a pain to try and grind the correct amount of pepper for your recipe every time without coming up short or creating a lot of waste. Luckily there are ways to make using fresh peppercorns simpler for even the most novice of cooks. 

The one area pre-ground pepper excels in is being easy to measure. Simply dip your measuring spoon in its container or shake out the amount you need, and you're done. In contrast, using a pepper mill makes measuring more complicated. Unless you have the skills of a stage magician, it's next to impossible to grind pepper into a spoon without seasoning your entire kitchen.

Now, you can grind your pepper into a bowl and work from there. The problem with this method is it can create a lot of waste and gives you another dish to wash. Thankfully we found a pepper-grinding hack in chef and author Julia Turshen's cookbook, "Small Victories," that makes measuring freshly ground black pepper a breeze.

The gist of this method is that you grind pepper, little by little, keeping count of the number of turns. When you reach an even measure, like a teaspoon, note how many turns it took to get there. Once you know how many turns produce how much pepper, you no longer need to worry about dirtying up measuring spoons or other pieces of kitchen equipment. Just count your turns and grind with confidence (and a bit of basic math).

There are a number of advantages to grinding peppercorns yourself over buying ground pepper. The most obvious is that freshly ground pepper has a complex taste that the pre-ground stuff can't duplicate. According to Eparé, that's due to the oxidation of the volatile compounds that are released immediately after grinding. These are the chemical compounds that give all colors of peppercorn their unique taste, but they don't keep their unique taste and flavor for very long. Over time, continued exposure to oxygen breaks down those compounds and flattens the taste of the pepper.

Another advantage to grinding your own pepper is that it puts you in control of the size of the result. According to Holar, the coarseness of the pepper flakes not only impacts the aesthetic of a dish but how we perceive the taste of the pepper. The finer the grind, the more uniform the pungent pepper taste will be. A coarse grind is just the ticket if you want bursts of pepper flavor. For most pepper mills, that is the purpose of the little knob on top. It allows you to customize your grind.