Peugeot 25434 Daman U'Select Shaftless 6.5 Inch Salt Mill, Stainless Steel

Peugeot Daman u'Select shaftless salt and pepper mills are simply the best-designed, most functional and highest quality *engineered* items I have ever seen of their type. They make all of the several pepper and salt mills we previously owned seem like toys or junk. The Peugeots approach instrument quality for the purpose of grinding salt and pepper, and they are also attractive and easy to use.Several features make this an outstanding salt mill:* The adjustable stainless steel grinding mechanism -- different from the pepper mill mechanism, specially designed for grinding salt crystals -- really works. Firstly, it delivers very consistent size grounds at any setting. Secondly, it is easy to produce salt from a very fine powder to very coarse by turning the adjustment ring on the brushed stainless steel-encased plastic base to any setting through its 270 degrees of movement. The official product photos here on Amazon show accurately how well these mechanisms are made, and how well they work to produce a range of grain size.* The shaftless design is a superior concept. Traditional salt mills have a full-length shaft, to which the barrel cap and turning knob are attached by a top nut, through the middle of the unground salt crystals. As they are turned, the square-section shafts often used tend to create powder residue by abrading the salt crystals before they reach the grinding mechanism. That cannot happen in this shaftless Peugeot design.* The thick-walled barrels of almost crystalline acrylic are both attractive and functional. The salt crystals are displayed in a column which is both an attractive feature and a constant indication of remaining contents, unlike traditional turned wood units. Although smoother than turned wood models, the barrels of the units are easy to hold because they taper in at the middle, and flare out top and bottom. The entire clear acrylic barrel acts as a knob for turning the mechanism with one hand, while the other hand holds still the stainless steel base.* Refilling the mills is far easier than traditional shaft-drive models in which a top nut must be unscrewed, the cap/turning knob removed, and fresh salt crystals poured into an often small space around the top of the shaft. These shaftless Peugeots have a stainless steel-encased plastic refill cap held in place in a recessed fill hole by four small button magnets. It is easy to lift off the cap, and to refill the mills without spillage.Very highly recommended. The pepper mill counterpart of this salt mill, the Peugeot PM25441 Daman U'Select Shaftless 8.25 Inch Pepper Mill, Stainless Steel is its perfect companion, sold separately on Amazon. Although packaged in sets by some Amazon Marketplace resellers and other retailers, Amazon's lower shipping costs of the individually purchased mills are far cheaper for international orders. The shorter 6½-inch version of this model, Peugeot Daman 6.5 inch Acrylic Salt/Pepper Mill Set - U Select would be equally attractive despite needing to be refilled more often.

I will never need another salt or pepper grinder. You can see which salt you have which grinder easily, whether Himalayan extra course or finishing. Has a large variety of grind options, holds a lot, looks beautiful, has an easy access magnetic top that holds firmly in place and over all feels great in the hand. I have two different ones for salts and four different ones of peppercorns. Fantastic grinder!

Bought this salt grinder in 2013 because I liked the Peugeot pepper grinder so much. Both have great design and are easy to fill being shaft free. The salt mill worked fine until recently when each twist produced less output and created inconsistent grain sizes at different settings. Emptied the salt and cleaned out the interior with canned air. Better, but not like new. Consulted Amazon reviews to see if others had similar problems; even visited the Peugeot site but it was in French. Got pretty frustrated and felt tempted to junk it and even started looking at other grinders.In a last ditch effort, I cleaned it again and proceeded as before but this time with one difference: I folded up a paper towel, removed the cap from the unit and turned the mill upside down and gently tapped the top on the towels to dislodge any salt. To my surprise, about a half tablespoon of powdered salt mixed with whole crystals fell out from their hiding place in the grinding chamber in the silver base! More canned air and when the base turned easily, with no abrasion, it was clean. Refilled with super coarse Himalayan salt and it worked good as new.

The grind adjustment mechanism on mine started binding within the first few uses, eventually becoming nearly impossible to adjust - even when turned upside down. Salt also spilled out from the mill after use, regardless of trying to shake out excess over food etc.I returned the unit to their customer service in Niagra NY; while it was promptly returned and hasn't bound as badly as it did originally, it spills salt any time it's moved,creating a mess. These are exactly the types of problems I was trying to avoid by purchasing an expensive mill. Very disappointing.

We have several of these Peugeot mills for our home and love the ease of refill and use, grind levels and the smaller size of th emill (vs 8 inch). However they were shipped full of salt with the magnet lids (Great for easy refill) were not taped so they dumped every salt crystal in the shipping box which meant we paid for product we could not use and will now need to add our own salt and pepper.

I've been using this for a few weeks and it has a solid, quality built feel about it. The weight and the smoothness when you turn it compared to other mills is noticeably nice. I like that it is filled from the top and it is already upright - no flipping to use it. There is little chance of the contents spilling out except if you knock it over. The cap is held on by magnets so a tip-over could cause it to open. I purchased both salt and pepper mills. These are the best mills I have ever owned and the price on Amazon was lower than the cooking stores.

I bought the salt mill in Oct. 09. It has worked well and did what it said it would do. I liked it enough to buy the pepper mill to match. (I didn't originally, because I have a pepper mill collection.) I recently discovered that the salt mill has developed a crack from the magnetic top to about 2" down the side. The crack goes all the way through the plastic, but doesn't seem to effect the integrity of the mill. The mill has never been dropped or set close to a heat source. I like the mill and now, I also like that it matches the pepper mill. I'm obsessing a bit, but I will probably buy another salt mill. I have a custom kitchen and I don't want a broken (looking) mill. I've not seen any signs of poor quality in Peugeot mills before this, but if it happens again, that'll be it. There are other really good mills out there.