Whether creating new recipes or coming up with new methods to get things done, Alton Brown isn’t afraid to experiment in the kitchen. In fact, when frustrated by the laborious work of grinding fresh pepper, the celebrity chef solved the problem by inventing an entirely new kitchen gadget: the Pepper Drill.

Invented on Brown’s show, “Good Eats,” the Pepper Drill is essentially a peppercorn grinder attached to a cordless power drill with an empty 35-millimeter film canister as a connecting axel. The tool might seem like a comedic gag, but it’s surprisingly effective and can grind multiple tablespoons of pepper in seconds.

While it’s not his only invention, Brown says the Pepper Drill is close to his heart as it's one of the first gadgets he invented on his show “Good Eats," which was all about innovation. In fact, Brown said, “One of the hallmarks of a ‘Good Eats’ episode is hacking things, hacking tools, making devices out of other devices to do my bidding.”