I'm smoking some coho this weekend. My favourite brine recipe calls for a tablespoon of cracked pepper so I spent quite a bit of time in front of the TV twisting our little pepper mill to get the required measure. My hands and wrist were quite sore!
After getting the measure, I put the tablespoon measuring spoon inside the bowl I was grinding into and took it upstairs to the kitchen, being very mindful not to spill it.
I put the bowl with the spoon on the counter, looked at the ingredients already in my mixing bowl, and turned away. As I did so my hand hit the handle of the measuring spoon. The edge of the bowl acted like a fulcrum and the tablespoon launched out of the bowl, spreading my freshly ground pepper all over the floor. I may have said a bad word, or two...
As I brushed the pepper into a pile on the floor, a thought occurred to me "Could I put it in the brine anyways"
I mulled that over longer than I should have, but some stray dog hairs dissuaded me.
Back to the TV...
(I told my buddy what happened and he recommended a coffee grinder which he uses for grinding pepper when barbequing beef brisket. For my second batch of brine that worked much better with less hand strain!)