How to refill McCormick disposable pepper grinders

Do you have one of these? I actually have two and both were almost empty.

I was frustrated trying to figure out how to get the cap off without destroying it. I twisted, turned, yanked and even tried prying it off without any luck. The thought of tossing out a perfectly good pepper grinder sparked an internet search. One of the searches recommended soaking the cap in hot water for 10 minutes. It seemed reasonable, but I wasn't totally convinced that that was the best method. So I headed down through the comments to see what others thought. Some loved the water method, but many suggested using a blow dryer and that's just what I did.

The experiment was a great success! This is what I did,

Heat the bottom of the cap with your blow dryer on high for about 1 minute, turning the bottle as you heat it. I actually held the bottle in my had while I heated it, but I had to lay it on the table to take the photo.

Then pull it apart. The cap will come right off. You can also use a kitchen towel to get a better grip. If you have any peppercorns still in the bottle do this over the sink or you will have peppercorns flying everywhere. Did that with the first bottle.

Fill the bottle and push the cap back on.

Did you know that the circles on the top of the lid determines how small or large your pepper mill will grind your pepper. To change the grind, lift the red tabs and twist to adjust. The larger the circle = the larger grind.