Product Description

The Graviti Pepper Mill features a grinding mechanism located at the top of the mill that automatically begins to grind as it is flipped upside down. Gravity sensors initiate and terminate grinding based on the movement and position of the mill. Isaac Newton would have definitely approved of the new Graviti Mill! The Graviti Mill has an easy-to-use tilt motion. No buttons are required to activate this battery-operated mill. Newton wannabes simply have to insert the batteries, flip the mill and let gravity do the rest! Ideal for everyone, the Graviti Mill is effortless and can be used with just one hand. Equipped with a ceramic grinder, the strongest and most durable grinding mechanism on the market, the Graviti Mill will maintain its sharpness and never rust – even when used over a steaming pot. Our ceramic mills first cut then grind to maximize flavour. Trudeau Graviti Mill: no button, no effort, no mess!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7010 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Color: Chrome
• Brand: Trudeau
• Model: 0716907
• Dimensions: 10.80" h x 10.00" w x 14.80" l, .70 pounds

Features

• Battery-powered pepper grinder that turns on when tipped upside down
• Fun and practical design with grind-level adjuster knob and ceramic grinder
• Works well for either peppercorns or sea salt; comes filled with peppercorns
• Runs on 6 AAA batteries, not included; stands 7-3/4 inches high
• Washing by hand recommended; available in several colors; 5-year warranty

Amazon.com Review
As its name implies, the Graviti battery-operated pepper mill from Trudeau leans heavily on the laws of physics for its function and appeal. A sleek and amusing gadget that also makes great ground pepper, the piece turns on automatically when flipped upside down. This saves grinding effort, of course, but it is also useful for the stirring cook who only has one free hand to add spice, not to mention that it serves as a fun conversation starter. To ensure that the Graviti is not mere gimmickry, Trudeau equips it with a durable and efficient ceramic grinder, and a finely tunable knob for adjusting coarseness. The grinder works well for both pepper and sea salt and arrives filled with gourmet peppercorns. It washes up by hand, runs on 6 AAA batteries, and stands 7-3/4 inches high. Trudeau makes the mill in several attractive colors and backs it with a five-year warranty. --Emily Bedard

Customer Reviews

review of trudeau salt/pepper gravity mill
At first we loved it. Then it began to jam. When we cleared the pepper, it worked for a while and then jammed again.
Early on I had bought six for Christmas presents. I haven't heard from the recipients. I hope their's work better than mine.
V.T. Abercrombie

What a Super Design..However, Quality is poor.
Graviti Pepper

Reading about the design of this pepper mill had me very intrigued. Some of the features that caught my attention, the pepper comes out the top of the unit, no more pepper all over the counter due to pepper grounds falling out the bottom where most units discharge the grindings. Being battery powered, you only need to tip the bottom up to have a nice flow of pepper dispense out the top. A very simple design that really is useful.

Quality: Well, this is where this unit falls a little short. It really is a shame. If this design were made more durable it would be a have to have product. The area of most concern is the drive motor module to pepper mill body interface. The instructions warn not to over fill the mill with unground pepper. If you do you stand a chance of causing the motor module not to seat properly into the mill body allowing it to spin in the housing. Doing this just once, will cause the little plastic nobbies to wear off that secure the drive motor. This in turn will render the unit useless. The body of this unit is plastic. Not that there is anything wrong with plastic, I just don't think it was originally designed for plastic and the loads on the drive system seem way to high for the plastic interface. If it were made of just about any metal I don't think there would be an issue.

Filling Unit: This can be a little tricky. You fill the unit with peppercorns from the bottom. Take care to rotate the base a few degrees in the direction indicated to remove the base. Tip it upside down with the bottom facing up. Pull out the motor module using the pull ring. Add peppercorns to just below the full mark. Reinstall motor module making sure that it fully engages the grinder and that it seats all the way down. Reinstall the base and you should be ready to grind.

Color: This unit can be purchased in many colors including chrome. Even the chrome is made of plastic however.

Pricing: The price for the unit seems fair as long as it keeps working. I've had mine for about two weeks now. I will post an update as time goes by.

Conclusion: I really like the design and how the unit works. I'm glad I purchased it so far. I will take special care at filling the unit NOT to OVER FILL it. I would highly recommend to anyone that has a love of useful and very unique kitchen gadgets.

Bad Design and/or or lack of instructions
I bought one of these a couple months ago when I was looking for a battery-powered, press-button unit. And except for it turning itself on whenever it got knocked over (which happened fairly often because of its height), I really *did* like it. Now, my family's not stingy about using pepper, and that narrow top doesn't really hold terribly much. I could find no way of removing the top to refill it without the risk of breaking the cheap plastic (yes, all that "chrome" you see is just painted plastic - unless they make some "special edition" I don't know about). And there were no real instructions that came with it that I recall, except about the battery placement. So instead I had to unscrew the base cover enough to disengage the batteries, then turn it upside down & remove the battery pack, refill it upside down, replace the battery/motor assembly so it firmly engaged the center grinding post, flip it back upright, and screw back on the base cover. This puts a lot of peppercorns to collect all at once in the top where the grinder is, and it jammmed very easily. This forced the base to spin itself around inside the body, instead of the bar turning the grinder at the top like it's supposed to. So in effect: it quit grinding.

I did fool with it several times & got it working briefly, only to have it fail time & again. Once that base starts turning, its grip (if you can even say there is one) keeps getting looser & looser.

I feel that if it had been designed so the pepper could be refilled through the top, this *might* not have happened (tip-overs aside, possibly). Either that, or something to firmly anchor the motor assembly. But it's a nice novelty if you've got $25 to blow on something you might never be able to re-use.