How To Fill Pepper Mills With A Simple DIY Trick

If you consider yourself a home chef, you most likely own a pepper mill. (We selected some of the best pepper mills in 2023 if you don't!) Here's a familiar scenario: You're refilling your pepper mill, armed with a bag of peppercorns and all the confidence in the world, when disaster strikes. Thanks to the pepper mill's ridiculously narrow opening, peppercorns spill everywhere, cascading onto the counter and the floor like mischievous marbles. Now, the obvious solution would be to use a funnel — but not everyone owns one. While purchasing pre-ground pepper is convenient and hassle-free, choosing pre-ground over fresh peppercorns is a mistake. The flavor of pre-ground pepper is not nearly as pronounced. Another reason you should use freshly ground pepper is that it allows you to control the coarseness of the  grind. 

Luckily, there's a DIY trick for pretty much everything, and your kitchen may already hold a key tool for easily filling your pepper mill: silicone muffin liners. These pliable, non-stick liners can be used for much more than holding muffin batter. You can also transform them into makeshift spill-free funnels. Simply pour the peppercorns into the liner, give it a gentle squeeze to create a spout, and guide them directly into the mill — no spills, no stress. This method is so easy, you'll wonder why you ever struggled in the first place. If you don't have silicone liners, paper muffin liners can also do the trick, though they may require a bit more finesse.

Silicone muffin liners work so well as DIY funnels because of silicone's versatility. Because they are flexible, you can control the pour with precision. The non-stick surface makes it a handy funnel for peppercorns as well as other dry spices and even liquid ingredients. And silicone's heat resistance makes it great  for pouring hot liquids — talk about a multitasker!

However, if you don't have silicone or paper muffin liners, there are plenty of other DIY tricks you can experiment with to save yourself a trip to the store. A piece of sturdy paper like an envelope or index card can be twisted into a cone for an improvised funnel. Insert the cone's tip into the mill and pour in the peppercorns for another mess-free solution.

For the less dexterous among us, there's also the foolproof releasable plastic bag trick that's far less stressful than playing peppercorn basketball. Place the pepper mill inside the bag, pour the peppercorns freely, and let the bag catch the extras. Those stray peppercorns can be saved for later, making this hack both a cleanup and storage solution. You can also use this method with a wide-mouthed sealable container.