Pepper is the world's most popular spice and comes in various forms ranging from whole to ground. Pepper, as well as many other spices and ingredients, are measured by their grind (or mesh) size. Mesh size is a standard unit of measure of the number of holes you can have in a
US sieve - (the number of openings per linear inch in a sifting screen).
The more holes per square inch the
finer the product. With spices, the finer the grind the more surface area is produced and the more rapidly it imparts flavor to whatever you are seasoning.
- Whole Black Pepper (Peppercorn) is typically 6 to 8 mesh.
- Half Cracked Black Pepper is typically about 6 to 8 mesh.
- Quarter Cracked Pepper is 8 to 10 mesh. (Coarse Butcher Grind.)
- Course Black Pepper is 12 to 16 mesh. (Butcher Grind.)
- Table Ground Black Pepper is 18 to 28 mesh.
- Restaurant Ground Black Pepper is 22 to 28 mesh.
- Fine Ground Black Pepper is 30 to 34 mesh.
- Ground White Pepper is 60 mesh.
For
a little perspective, ground Cinnamon is 300 mesh.