# Shakers, Mills or Cellars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846 "2019-08-18T19:40:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/21 "2019-08-19T01:40:43Z")
I think if you had had pepper grinder, salt shaker as an option, it would win. That’s what I use. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/22 "2019-08-19T02:29:51Z")
We’re odd… we have a [turned olive wood salt bowl with cover](https://www.amazon.com/Naturally-Med-Olive-Sugar-Keeper/dp/B004IOS65K/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_79_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C44SN870S6G26Q6MFT3T) (guess it’s a cellar) filled with kosher salt, and a [Unicorn Magnum Plus 9" pepper grinder](http://www.unicornmills.org/magnum-plus.html)filled with some kind of peppercorns we got at Penzeys. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/23 "2019-08-19T02:33:13Z")
No, a REALLY odd person would own one of those 4-foot wooden paper grinders waiters used to carry around during the 1970s, when you just ordered a green salad, and they would say “Would you like some FRESH PEPPER?” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/24 "2019-08-19T02:35:59Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > No, a REALLY odd person would own one of those 4-foot wooden paper grinders waiters used to carry around during the 1970s, when you just ordered a green salad, and they would say “Would you like some FRESH PEPPER?” I always hated ground paper on my salad. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/25 "2019-08-19T02:36:55Z")
Salt Cellar in the kitchen Salt shaker at the dinner table. Pepper mill for everything. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/26 "2019-08-19T02:55:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I always hated ground paper on my salad. Oh…oh…oh…I thought better of you than that. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/27 "2019-08-19T03:31:45Z")
All three, though the shakers are for convenience, not for cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/28 "2019-08-19T04:14:08Z")
Salt shaker on the table. Pepper mill for pepper. Hand and palm for salt from the box while cooking. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/29 "2019-08-19T04:53:47Z")
Salt cellar (well, a small ramekin with kosher salt) and a pepper mill for me. (For table use. For cooking it’s the same, except a bigger ramekin for the salt and I’ll sometimes just crush the pepper in a mortar or get out a slice grinder if I need a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/30 "2019-08-19T04:57:32Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Do you ever google before you reply? > > A “Salt Cellar” is quite common and fairly well known around foodies…sorry, ;lets kick this up a notch, gourmets and gourmands… > > My table has a salt cellar with coarse Koshers salt and two pepper mills; one black, one white. cayenne pepper is served in a side ramekin with an espresso spoon. > > ymmv It’s not even a foodie term. My mother in law from Chippewa Falls who is most definitely not a foodie uses it, and I myself learned it in the 80s from an origami book, of all things. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/31 "2019-08-19T08:13:59Z")
I use shakers, but since I’m from a Hungarian family, they’re salt and paprika, not salt and pepper. (I don’t much like pepper anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/32 "2019-08-19T09:16:05Z")
Black pepper: it’s inside the _salchichón_. When I use it for cooking it’s out of an envelope, unmilled. I recently bought a mill but haven’t used it yet. Red pepper, both hot and sweet: shakers. Salt: sometimes in a cellar, sometimes in a shaker. Salt and pepper mixture: I hate French cooking stores, I swear they pull me in… it’s in a shaker. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/33 "2019-08-19T13:14:58Z")
Grinder for both salt and pepper. I rarely add salt to anything, and the smallest salt container is a grinder, which unfortunately is as expensive as just a huge container of salt, but the large container will just be taking up space and the grinder will last for years, possibly longer than the large container which will eventually cake up. Pepper on the other hand I use up several spice-containers worth per year. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/34 "2019-08-19T13:39:41Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Salt shaker on the table. Pepper mill for pepper. Hand and palm for salt from the box while cooking. Exactly this > [@Chronos](#): > > … I’ve seen salt mills, too, but they’re just pure impractical pretension, based on the premise that a mill is better for pepper, and therefore it must also be better for salt. Surely that’s the wrong pretension? People have salt mills so that they can mill their\* sea salt\*. On the other hand, people who have actually been to see salt pans, and have observed the seabirds shitting in them, tend to use a shaker. j ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/35 "2019-08-19T14:09:05Z")
I don’t have a proper salt cellar, but I have a pretty blue glass bowl that I keep Kosher salt in for cooking and finishing. I have a regular salt and pepper shaker for my husband. I also have a wooden pepper grinder. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/36 "2019-08-19T14:16:00Z")
Apparently I’m a snowflake. I really don’t care for black pepper at all. I _think_ I may have a shaker or grinder somewhere in the house, but I couldn’t tell you where they are. I’m not even 100% sure I have any black pepper to begin with. I’ll typically leave it out of recipes unless I really feel like it’s going to add something (for me), which s rarely. Kinda the same deal for salt. I like salt, but not when I can taste it. I think it makes a huge difference when I’m cooking, but IMO, if you can taste the salt, it’s too much, like way too much\*. So, like the pepper shaker, I think there’s a salt shaker around somewhere, but I typically just pour it out of the big container when I’m cooking or baking and that’s it. \*While I don’t like to be able to taste salt in what I cook (or bake), I like it in places where you’re supposed to taste it, crackers, chips, that kind of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/37 "2019-08-19T14:32:56Z")
When cooking I take salt from a smallish ceramic canister with a tight fitting lid to keep moisture out. I’ve heard of “salt cellars” before but I don’t use the term. On the rare occasions when I want to add salt to my food after it’s cooked and on my plate, I use a salt shaker. About 90 percent of the time, my pepper comes from an electric pepper mill, both during cooking and on the plate. I have a couple of hand-crank pepper mills but I don’t use them as often now that I have the electric one. I also have a jar of pre-ground pepper that I use for a handful of recipes that call for so many teaspoons of pepper. That’s mostly for homemade sausage and a few canning recipes. It has a built-in perforated shaker in the lid, but when I use pre-ground pepper, I usually remove the lid and measure out the pepper with a measuring spoon. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/38 "2019-08-19T14:47:09Z")
There’s a cellar with fine grain salt next to the stove (next to the pepper grinder) but what I usually grab for day to day salting is a shaker of Goya Adobo con Pimenta. Also note that salt cellars are sometimes called pigs. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve never seen the point of fresh-ground salt. It’s a rock. You can control the grain size when you grind it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/39 "2019-08-19T15:34:17Z")
My salt in a larger _mis en place_ dish, pepper in a grinder. Actually, two grinders, although I will dispense of the old one. The new one (a Unicorn Magnum, that’s really its name) has an awesome efficiency. The old one might go to the Salvation Army. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846/40 "2019-08-19T15:48:55Z")
Shaker, had to look up cellars, don’t recall hearing that term before. Do they have a special purpose? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakers-mills-or-cellars/838846.md?page=3)