Black Pepper!!!

[Outpost75]

I worked in the spice industry for over 26 years and tested tons of black, red and green peppercorns. We would get the peppercorns in 200 lb. burlap bags (later woven polyester), fumigate (used methyl bromide at the time), pull samples and test, then grind, sift and package.

Until ethylene oxide and irradiation were widely available the plate counts on black pepper were allowed at somewhere around 1 million SPC (Standard Plate Count). There was an allowance for rodent droppings as well as dead insects and insect parts. Black pepper was one of the filthiest spices around. I still use it though...

That is where the phrase for busywork "sorting fly (turds) out of pepper" came from...

[gwpercle]

Inspect carefully each pepper corn before dropping it into your pepper-mill ...
this cuts down on the amount of rodent droppings , dead insects and other trash that end up in your black pepper .
If the black pepper-corn has eyes ... trash it ... it ain't pepper .
Gary

[1Papalote]

My grinders are from the family of years ago . I grind several pounds each year, coarse, of course. There's only one item in the kitchen that trumps black pepper,.............BUTTER!!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Inspect carefully each pepper corn before dropping it into your pepper-mill ...
this cuts down on the amount of rodent droppings , dead insects and other trash that end up in your black pepper .
If the black pepper-corn has eyes ... trash it ... it ain't pepper .
Gary

Huh? I've only found pepper-corns with one eye

[gwpercle]

Huh? I've only found pepper-corns with one eye

Two eyes ... it might be a dead Bug ...
One eye ... that's OK !
Gary