Salt and pepper grinders
 

This is such a minor inconvenience but does anyone else hate the salt grinders as much as I do??? It's not that I can't grind them, I just really, really don't like the huge chunks of salt and the way it is so unevenly put on the food. I have ruined many meals because I end up with too much in one area and not enough in another, then I'm biting into big pieces of salt. What's wrong with just the standard salt and pepper shaker??? :rant-rave:

And there's nothing like getting a big chunk of pepper in your throat. Cough, couch.

I never can figure out how to use them.

They do spread germs very evenly!

Usually, the grind can be adjusted, unless it's an inexpensive grinder

When I grind it the salt always comes out on top.

I have always used grinders for salt and pepper. I can grind from course to very fine ( but you use more salt) even my spices are ground. Keeps them fresh. If you are getting a chunk then it's a cheap grinder

The best ones I have were a gift - battery operated salt and pepper. They grind evenly and coarse or fine. But I think the set cost about $60.
The others I've bought are unpredictable and all have broken down after a while.

Hold the grinder higher above the food for a more even spread

What is salt? I haven't salted in years except .... Watermelon, grapefruit and cantaloupe.

Hate to be a Killjoy (showing my age) on this topic - but... how many out there don't relish (sorry again) touching various things at a restaurant:

- menus
- salt/pepper
- condiment containers
- bathroom handles

Really - how many times...if ever, are these things cleaned/disinfected. you know.

I would hate to see a UV light demo of a typical restaurant. I try to wash up after doing the menu thing - use a paper towel to open the restroom door -or elbow, etc etc. My better 1/2 has a small bottle of hand sanitizer in her purse, and we try to remember using.
Try not to think about these things when out but think that I may have a Howard Hughes thing going on.

Also reminds me of one of the best shows ever on TV - and the scene when Ed Norton tells Ralph "Don't Touch Me, Ralph. I'm Sterile"

http://www.haminahamina.com/Sterile.wav

It's why we are not sick. We were not brought up to use sanitizer, we ate fruit right out of the garden with out washing it. Our immune system is the best generation out there. Don't you agree your grandchildren get sick at the drop of a hat and are at the doctor more in a year than I have been in a life time

I'm not referencing the grinders for cooking..they are wonderful. I was talking about the cheap ones on the tables of most restaurants. They are not adjustable and are not refillable.
Asianthree, I agree with you 100%. There are children living in dumps in other countries, foraging for food, people are bathing in polluted rivers and they are surviving. I really don't think my health is going to be ruined by touching a salt shaker in a restaurant.