Peugeot is the go to for this subreddit. They can be a bit cheaper on Amazon though

Looked for a BIFL pepper and salad grinder myself for several years. The most obvious good ones are the Peugeot, which you already have linked to yourself. The models which are in my opinion nice (painted models) are unfortunately not very robust and therefore don’t age very gracefully or take mishaps during use that well. Wooden kitchen products are per se not BIFL IMO. They now also have stainless steel models, but I think that looks silly in the very curvy, classic design of the Paris model, not to mention that it’s not all-metal, but actually has several plastic insert parts. I haven’t looked into their construction too much to evaluate them, but they might be the best to get from a BIFL perspective. But then also the pure stainless steel models, no the ones with the coating like the black or the copper ones - without being able to tell it with full confidence - the coating will most likely be less durable than the pure brushed metal.

I have looked at A LOT of other producers and finally picked this ones for myself: https://www.manufactum.com/salt-pepper-mill-m-acker-a68020/ https://www.manufactum.com/salt-pepper-mill-m-acker-a68021/

I have not even started using them, so can’t say much about how well they work. I expect them to work normally - the mill assembly is actually a pre-built unit from a company specialising on mills, so I don’t expect any surprises there. Material-wise they’re going to hold up for several centuries for sure and they will age well. The mill grinders might need to be replaced after 10-15 years depending on use, but that will be the case with anything else. They definitely can take a beating from most mishaps during use and have very good repair potential. Design wise they’re unfortunately not perfect. The whole upper part is all solid stainless steel billet. An absolut unit, but unfortunately also quite heavy - this makes the mill easier to knock over because of the high center of mass. Then when it falls - it will damage whatever it falls on, rather than taking damage itself. Also the interface of the grinding body parts is just pure metal-on-metal. With clearance of course, but still - this could be improved.

Peugeot has really went downhill recently. Try fletcher’s mill!

How so? Mine is about 1 year old, I love it. Works beautifully. Id recommend Peugeot mills.

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It's also not a good look for a company to deny access to information on their products:

>You have been denied access to the Fletchers' Mill Online Store on the basis of your IP Address

Unicorn Magnum

Weber Workshops Moulin grinders. Pricey but most definitely BIFL

$320USD, plus taxes and shipping.

The Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon is $200.

Is there a head-to-head competition somewhere?

I second this!!

Purchased a salt and pepper shaker from Peugeot in 2019: Paris stainless steel 7-in.

Was hoping for a BIFL set but was immediately disappointed. The grinding burrs on the unit are nice but the top screw on the mills FREQUENTLY loosen as they are used. I need to tighten them almost every time they are used. I have tried to tighten them more and less, trying to find a tension where they are stable. No luck. I'd love to throw some thread lock on there but then I wouldn't be able to put the salt and pepper in.

Very annoying!

If you just want shakers any full metal ones should be bifl. I use ones from WMF the German cutlery company. If you want a pepper grinder full stainless steel with ceramic blades should do.

Skeppshult Cast Iron & Walnut Peppermill

https://pleasanthillgrain.com/skeppshult-cast-iron-walnut-pepper-spice-mill-grinder

I find that the best grinders for both salt and pepper are actually handheld coffee grinders.

All plastic.

Are there any that you can twist instead of swinging that giant handle around?

Plastic lasts forever.

Unicorn Magnum would be my recommendation. That thing pumps out so much pepper and makes my workflow so much faster.

I think the main reason the coffee grinders work better is because they have a handle to give more leverage, which means you can grind a greater quantity more quickly than just doing quarter-turn twists.

Is that why everything breaks now? Not enough plastic?

They're better in a lot of ways if you could get one that would suit the purpose. I looked for a coffee grinder that would work for pepper a while back and considered taking off the handle and replacing it with some sort of hexagonal nut that would fit over where the handle goes and be large enough to grip and twist. But coffee grinders tend to have other issues for this application like not having a place to store the pepper, since with coffee you put in fresh coffee each time. Do you know of any specific ones that would be good for this?

I don't know of a good one. I just use a hand grinder that I replaced with a better one for my coffee. it looks like this but I don't know if that one would be good or meet your needs.

Are you looking for shakers or mills?

For pepper you may want a mill because freshly cracked pepper will taste fresher.

For the salt there is no reason to get a mill - it’s sodium chloride. It doesn’t degrade when cracked like a peppercorn would. Salt mills are a gimmick :)

I have a small peppermill for pepper. I’ve probably had a decade but can’t comment on BIFL as I don’t use it heavily.

For salt I have one of those shakers they usually keep chili flakes or parm at a pizza place. Glass body and metal top with big holes. Kosher salt. Had for forever. See no reason it shouldn’t be BIFL unless I break it. Any restaurant supply will sell them.