A shaker is a piece of basic kitchen equipment. It is a container with holes at the top used to hold and sprinkle salt, pepper, masala, etc. on food. The containers are usually identical pairs of different shapes and designs. However, different designs dictate which shaker is used to hold what. For instance, the number of holes in salt shakers is different to the number of holes in pepper shakers. This article explains the difference between salt and pepper shakers.
Definitions
Salt shakers are perforated containers used to sprinkle salt during a meal. They have larger holes compared to pepper sprinklers. Salt shakers can be of clear or opaque bottles. And they are usually in different sizes but not larger than a mug.
Pepper shakers are containers that have holes on the top side used to sprinkle pepper onto a meal. The holes are usually smaller in size and more numerous compared to those in salt shakers. The containers can be clear, opaque or even decorated. The sizes vary but they are usually smaller than salt shakers.
Comparison Chart
| Pepper shakers | Salt shakers |
| They have smaller holes | Have larger holes |
| Have many holes | Have fewer holes |
| Sometimes they are bigger than pepper shakers | Same size as salt shakers or smaller |
Salt shakers vs Pepper shakers
What is the difference between salt and pepper shakers? We can compare them by the number of holes each has at the top and the size of the holes.
- Pepper shakers have smaller holes on the top. In addition, their holes are usually more numerous compared to salt shakers. The holes are smaller since the pepper has much smaller particles (crystals). Salt shakers have fewer and larger holes because the salt particles are larger compared to pepper particles. Under normal circumstances, a meal will have more salt than pepper. It is therefore logical to have larger holes on a salt shaker than there is on a pepper shaker for ease of sprinkling.
- In most cases salt shakers are bigger to accommodate more salt since salt is used by almost everybody. Pepper is normally used by those who want to spice up their meal and is very much optional, thus not much of it is consumed in a meal compared to salt. As a result, pepper shakers tend to be smaller but sometimes they are of the same size as salt shakers.