Is It Better To Buy Whole Peppercorns Rather Than Ground Black Pepper?

It's a staple in every pantry, both restaurant and home. You'll find it on every tabletop at restaurants, every drive-thru window, and every kitchen playset. It's even been animated as a character on a popular 90s children's show.

That's right, we're talking about pepper, that beloved condiment known for adding depth to meals and making fathers sneeze since the beginning of time. Pepper is one of the most commonly used spices across the globe, adorning recipes from to . But for an upgraded flavor the next time you cook with pepper, try switching to whole peppercorns instead of typical ground pepper.

Whether you throw in the whole peppercorn or take the time to grind it to powder on your own, using it in this form will introduce a whole new depth of flavor and fragrance to your meal. Whole peppercorns look like pea-sized black seeds and are harvested from the Piper nigrum plant. There are three kinds of peppercorn which come from this same plant – black, white, and green — and the only difference is the way they're harvested and processed.

This is , because the processing takes longer. But black peppercorns have a stronger taste, and are well-known for their slightly sweet, hot flavor. And using whole peppercorns as opposed to pre-ground pepper from a shaker produces a wildly different flavor profile to elevate your cooking.

Fresh whole peppercorns beat pre-ground pepper every time Black peppercorns actually start out green before they're ripe. Once they are harvested, the.