Herb Tool Reviews

Just decided to pop 'Perfex' into the Amazon search engine on a whim, and was very pleasantly surprised to see it pop up. I've been using my trusty Perfex for years (bought it in Boston, actually), and have given many away as presents to friends, who are always delighted with them. Lightyears past the various Peugeots, advantage no. 1 over all others is the easy loading (and changing) of pepper(s), independent of the very precise adjustment of the grind. Only caveat is that with time (like 20 years!), the spring weakens a little and you might have to adjust the nut somewhat more often. But they last forever and work...simply. A real kitchen 'tool' that also looks good on any table.

flawless operation; no worries here.

This is just what I needed for grinding spices and herbs. I'd been using a suribachi (a ridged mortar for grinding sesame seeds) and the result was a lot of spice caught in the spaces between ridges. With the classic mortar and pestle, there's nothing to interfere with the process. The heavy pestle grinds up spices quickly and efficiently, and the mortar wipes or rinses clean immediately. If you've never ground your own flavorings, do try. It's fun and it allows you to get the benefit of all the oils you release as you grind. It's particularly good for saffron because you can buy whole saffron threads so there's no chance it's been adulterated.

Highly recommended for the more hands-on cook.

Yes, it is only a pepper mill. But those of you that have searched for a quality, long lasting, durable mill - you need not look further. Nothing beats this mill.

Just watched America's Test Kitchen on public television and this peppermill was rated #1 for ease of use, being easy to fill, and the larger amount of pepper it puts out.

I got this mill as a Christmas gift last year, and with only moderate home use the plastic (not ceramic as in most good mills)grinding element inside the mill cracked last week. I must say, however, that while it was working, i found it to be a sturdy, versatile, functional mill, the best i had ever owned. That said, one would expect the mill not to break down in less than a year.

Note: if anyone has the address for Trudeau so i can sent my mill back, please email me privately. Thanks.

it took me forever to find, but here it is. 1800-878-3328. it must be a super small company. they don't even say that they are trudeau corp. when they answer the phone. they don't have parts for the pepper mill, but they will send you a brand new one. it has a lifetime warrrenty!

I have a similar model Trudeau grinder, which failed after a couple years of heavy use. True to their word, Trudeau replaced it no charge with a new one. Needless to say, I was stunned.

This is a beautiful piece of equipment. It's very well made and should last a lifetime with proper care. The inside of the mortar is quite rough which, I'm sure, helps facilitate grinding of ingredients. But, it's easy to scrape knuckles on this. With a little practice this can probably be avoided. This seems to be the only drawback in an otherwise fantastic kitchen gadget.

It's good for mincing, and the form is a nice take on the half-moon design. However, an ulu would be better. It's single blade, but is good for slicing and shearing as well as mincing. This can only do mincing, due to it's handle design and blades.
Personally, I prefer a tool with more function, like an ulu. Can't beat a design that's been used for thousands of years (for a good reason...)

My grandmother swore by one of these rocker-shaped knives for doing nuts and other fine chopping. I have one, and I use it a lot for mushrooms, nuts and herbs. Having said how great it is, I have to add some caveats:

1. It's sharp, yeah, I know, duh! But...food gets caught between the two blades and it's tempting to run a finger in there to push it out. Well, don't. Keep a spatula or chopstick handy to push out anything caught there.

2. You really should use a concave sort of chopping board if you can find one. While a flat plastic chopping board works just fine, a curved board makes chopping easier.

3. Some things just aren't good for this knife: dryish but not TOO hard things (nuts, celery, etc) work best. The wetter the food, the more it sticks. Even so, I do use this for chopped chicken livers. But for nuts, it's about my favorite knife to use.

I love anything Italian and have been known to attempt soul-searching arias (my apologies Senors Pavorati et Bocelli) as I cook in the kitchen. And if I have this half-moon delight in my hands, rocking back and forth rhythmically over large sweet onions--I blame the orbs, not my vocal chords, for the tears.

On the serious side, the dual stainless steel blades on this particular mezzaluna by Hoffritz make it extremely quick for all chopping and dicing needs. Caution is definitely needed regarding how sharp those hard working blades are. I strongly do not recommend allowing young ones near it. Note: due to blades, make sure to choose a durable cutting surface.

Mezzaluna is a beautiful Italian word and as a tool, makes a great addition to your kitchen. I was very surprised at how easily it handles even large wedges of veggies, thanks to the well-designed knob handles. It's perfect for creating spicy salsas, stir-fry samplings, and even sausage crumblings for pizza toppings.

A perfect gift at a good price for anyone who truly enjoys cooking.

This product has a cute name, but it is very difficult to use. I constantly have to take the nutmeg out and re-adjust it. Larger nutmegs do not fit in the storage area. It's a lot of work to get a little bit of nutmeg - disappointing.

I have owned this nutmeg mill for over 2 years - a gift from my wife. The mill is good-looking and has the great advantage of keeping the nutmegs together with the tool. Its storage capacity is 4 to 5 average size nutmegs under the acrylic, plus one nutmeg being grated.

However, outside of being a handsome storage box for nutmegs, it is not greatly useful. The center spring which pushes against the nutmeg being grated is not very strong, and the cutting mechanism is not strongly abrasive. As a result, the mill will stop working before a netmug is fully processed, and leave you with about 1/3 of a nutmeg which cannot be milled. Also, because of the way the spring grabs the nutmeg (through small triangular teeth), it frequently start slipping against the nutmeg it is trying to hold in place. When that happens, you can grind as much as you want but nothing will come out, since the nutmeg is not being rotated.

Altogether this is quite frustrating. It requires constant adjustment. When the nutmeg is 2/3 down you still try to get it to grind but it won't, and you feel bad about throwing the remmant away. The worst, for me, is that I don't want to stop using it since it was a gift from my wife. So I am bound to use this ineffective tool forever...

If you are interested in a nutmeg mill, check out the spring-loaded Zyliss, I don't own it (obviously) but I have heard good things about it. Either way, unless you intend to have it for display only, stay away from this mill.

I received 2 different nutmeg grinders as a gift last year. This one is absolutely fabulous! Smooth action of the handle and makes short time of grinding. I go through one nutmeg pod a month at minumum. Just unscrew the top, pop another down into the middle hole, put the top back on and you're in business.
There is no comparison between fresh ground nutmeg and the already ground nutmeg. Excellent product!

Try Williams-Sonoma for their double bladed mezzaluna- much better than this one!

I was really looking forward to getting my Pedrini Mezzaluna. I've been in the market for a good mezzaluna for a while, and when I was unable to find one with two handles and two blades, I settled for this one.

I've used mine twice now, both times with disappointing results. The blade isn't very sharp and it's very difficult to find balance due to the way the tool is constucted.

Also, the mezzluna comes with know instrutions for care whatsoever.

I am seriously considering returning this producting and resuming my search.

This design is much less of a Mezzuluna chopper, and more of an ulu. (An ulu is a traditional blade that is used for prep, chopping, slicing, mincing, and cleaning of game. Versatility galore. Very cool -- get one if you get the chance)
This blade is similar to an ulu. I was not only able to mince, but shear, and cut. A very handy peice for dealing with large peices, and easier on the wrists than knives. Use the arm instead of the hand.

Not as good at mincing, but fabulous at preparing cuts, and poritons, and shearing fat off of cuts of meat.
Could be more sharp, however, and should probably be advertised differently.