Just received an email that David Jones are starting their Black Friday sale now.
Not the best price for this grinder but thought it may be of interest to some.
Breville Smart Grinder Pro S/Steel $199 Delivered @ David Jones
1120
Lnomaz on 23/11/2020 - 10:47 davidjones.com (2584 clicks)
Last edited 23/11/2020 - 11:04 by 1 other user
Last edited 23/11/2020 - 11:04 by 1 other user
This is part of Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals for 2020
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Can't speak for Smeg but I've had this Breville grinder for years and it's great. Definitely worth $200 imo
I have been using this grinder for over 8 months now, and my only complaint is the excessive static from the burr which clumps up my grind. I need to keep shaking my filter to ensure the clumps break and spread evenly without any pockets, but I haven't been able to find another solution.
I had this replaced thinking the burr was faulty, but then realised it's probably the moisture/temperature in my kitchen which probably doesn't help with static.
I have tried the SMEG from a mate and that gave me a very nice smooth grind in the same spot in my kitchen. So assuming a static cancelling component is missing in BSG Pro. I am no expert though - this is just what I have experienced as an absolute newbie and learning from experiments. I hope this helps.
Perhaps talk to breville and see if you can get that problem resolved.
To mitigate static, you could try single dosing without RDT - Ross droplet technique. Wet a teaspoon and stir the beans to slightly wet them before grinding. V popular method and doesn’t harm the grinder.
Imo clumps don’t matter much for espresso you’re going to slam and compress the bed when you tamp it, and then exert 9 bars of pressure on the coffee when you brew. It’s more important that you nail your puck preparation and have an even tamp.
WDT distribution can help as well. Can check these terms on the home barista forums.
Value for money this is great, have one myself and love how simple it is to use and am very impressed by the quality of materials.
I have one (silver version) and it needs replacing. Not sure whether to get another one or pony up to a better grinder.
These are great value for money grinders though. Anything under $200 is a good price.
Instead of grinding your money can you donate instead?
Is there an issue that has occurred? Because mine is hitting 2 years old and I hope it lasts longer
I took it apart to clean it earlier in the year and it's never been the same since. My fault, I know.
It's really clumpy now, no longer the fine powder that it used to make in the beginning.I've had it for easily 5 years though, so could just be end of life.
Ah ok, thought there was a major issue with the machine itself. I've only done a normal clean. Never taken it apart, just a brush and compressed air through the top.
@Deuce: Another way to clean is to grind raw white rice. It seems to remove some of the residue build-up. Not everyone agrees or likes this method but I found it worked okay. I think it works because rice when ground has a more abrasive action than coffee beans, so picks up more gunk on the way through.
@ifonlyiwasyounger: Whoops thinking of something else. You can disassemble and clean the grinders with brush and vacuum and the like.
Just on the rice. A mate did that to his SGP and he reckon it made it worse so something I've always thought to avoid.
@ifonlyiwasyounger: There is a grinder cleaner. I think its called Grindz or something along the lines. It works better than rice (apparently) and doesn't damage your ginder. But it's expensive.
@ts13: Any reason why? I only used compressed air every year or so to do a deep clean. I vacuum it every week.
@Deuce: Oh - I just meant it’s easier in terms of convenience to vacuum regularly than to use compressed air. But tbh - it’s not an issue to pull out the outer burr and give it a good clean in soapy water and a sponge. Let it air dry completely before reassembling. There’s no risk that this burr set can become misaligned, so nothing wrong with pulling it apart and getting a vacuum right into the lower burr set.
@ts13: Ah ok. I thought the compressed air did damage. Yeah, I remove the hopper and burr and clean it in soapy water. Then usually I vacuum what I can. Every year I blow compressed air to get most of the trapped grinds out.
I've got the Dose Control Pro and mine has just gone after 4.5 years. Apparently its to do with the Impeller and Breville don't sell the part.
Think I might upgrade to the Smart Grinder Pro finally.
I'd definitely spend more, especially if you're wanting something that will last longer than 2 or 3 years.
Anything that's under $200 (with a few exceptions) is really just an appliance and is prone to planned obsolescence/failure
If you like seriously good espresso, I'd be looking at a Rocky Rancilio at the least (there's a reconditioned one on Jet Black Espresso's site for $330)
Now that Breville own Baratza, I'd guess we'll see prices coming down a littleI had the first model and if you read around, you'll find it had some issues but still a great unit.
Mine lasted 5 years or so…and I bought this as a replacement
There was a plastic spacer or something that failed on model 1This is the new model with better features and and I believe any known issues have been addressed.
As far as an appliance, for this brand I understand where you're coming from but this grinder really is something…particularly for the price.
https://coffeegearathome.com/breville-bcg800xl-smart-grinder….(this is comparing to model 1)
Have you called Breville? They're pretty good about replacing stuff. I've had mine replaced twice over the years, and the second time it was considerably outside the warranty. Didn't even have to push, they just offered straight up.
Good plan, I'll try that. Did you call or email?
Call.
I’m onto my second one of these. What I find is that even on the finest grind it often isn’t enough.
There’s a shim system inside but trying to use it to go even one step finer ends up in grinding the gears.
I order from a lot of different roasteries and some can grind at levels 6 or 3 but yeah most are somewhere just below 1.
that's… unreal. I've never ever gone that low.
That said, I grind 12-14 grams for a single, not 7g as so many recommend, so maybe that's why :)Right now I'm on 11 for a 13.8g grind, and I'm getting 24g of espresso in 30 seconds.
What are you making?
I've used one where 1 was suitable for a Turkish coffee and not much else.
May be Turkish coffee.
Just normal espresso for my cappuccino, with fresh beans (~10 days after roasting). I’m as surprised as you but that’s how it is, and I’ve mentioned it in a few coffee forums to little response, watched all the videos, and been trying for a good 5 years.
I buy from three different local roasteries in Perth and then a few of the excellent ones from over east whose names now utterly escape me. I’m always looking for something I can pull well. They are all beans roasted for espresso and milk of course.
I use the breville dual boiler, pre-heat and fill the basket (it’s the two-shot non pressured one), tamp it, and watch the pressure which was tuned during the last service to top out at 9-9.5 and which I can verify with the rubber disc. This is what everyone seems to recommend.
So with this grinder, level 1, and managing the dose and tamping pressure, on some specific brands I can reach that perfect 9 bars sustained pressure. I have the naked handle so I can observe the single coffee stream coming out correctly or when I’ve made a mistake.
But on many beans they will instantly drop to 8, 7 or even 6 bars on the finest grind, where extra dosing or tamping makes no positive difference, and the result is a gross watery mess. The only conclusion I could reach is the grinder can’t go fine enough for some beans.
Have you tried tamping harder? If you don't compress it enough you'll have trouble maintaining pressure.
It could also be that you're not putting enough coffee into the basket.You should post on a coffee forum with a picture of your grinds to see if it's as it should be.
I'm not an expert on coffee though so take this with a grain of salt.
@Zephyrus: I’ve measured with a scale and tried varying degrees of hardness. No go.
The reason I bought the second one was because I thought the original must have worn down, and that I didn’t want metal flakes in my grinds after trying to shim it down one notch and it grinding the gears. But nope.
So I’d recommend something else.
@Untameable: When you used the shim to go finer, did you then increase the grind size back to 13-16?
If the machine is operating, you can just replace the burr assembly.
But with the cost of genuine spare parts sometimes is better to just buy a brand new one with fresh warranty.
Good timing, the Barista Express built-in has reached its bottleneck for me, it's time to upgrade to a more advanced grinder. Can't find anything else at the price tag better.
I think BBE use the exact same grinder embedded to its body
No it is not. Smart grinder pro can be used to grind for filter as well. It actually does a much better job for filter than espresso.
I mean it's the same 40mm conical steel burr.
Obviously the adjustment (and the steps) will be more limited on the built in BBE
Would a lamen notice any difference between the Smart Grinder and Barista Express?
@bleeder: Probably not. Smart grinder has more range than the inbuilt grinder in barista express. It has 60 steps compared to 18 in Barista express. If i am upgrading from barista express grinder I would probably look into Baratza sette or something like that.
Don't think so, I've used the smart grinder pro at friend's place and it does a much better job (finder control and quantity, etc.) than the built-in, for around 150 (got some 10% off DJ eGift card before, not any more…), I cannot complain for what it can do…
The oracle lineup is A SGP built in. I don't think the lower range is the same.
Does this have a fine enough grind and control to dial in for espresso?
The last grinder I bought (delonghi dedica grinder) barely goes fine enough for a pour over so I need something with much more control. Will this do the trick? Or am I going to have the same problem?
yes this will go fine enough. i've never taken mine down to even close to the finest setting.
My machine chokes at 9 when pulling a shot .. too fine for anything less
I have a breville dual boiler, I usually grind light to medium roast beans at 6. When I had breville temp duo before that i couldnt go below 9. It chokes because of the basket. Cheaper machine baskets are not made for finer espresso grinds.
This has a bottle neck going really fine for espresso. But you cant find any other grinder doing the same job as this. If you need more control I guess you need a stepless grinder which are more expensive.
Has anyone paired this with a smeg coffee machine? If yes, what's your recommended grind settings for a double shot expresso
it will vary from machine to machine and bean to bean
I'd suggest buying 500g of beans from Aldi and dialling it in to a rough ballpark, where you're getting 40g of coffee out of an 18g shot in around 30 secondsThat's not how it works (or spelt!). It depends on the beans you use, and other factors which differ for every setup.
Start with 8, adjust as needed.
I just wanna make cold press coffee, will this do it fine enough?
Doesn't the grind size needs to be very course for coldpress?
Im not too sure tbh, im just getting into it.
Course grind for cold press.
Do you mean cold brew? If so, you don't want fine.
For cold brew, much like other immersion methods, you want to go relatively course as your water and coffee will play together for quite some time.
You don't want to bring out any bitterness from over extraction.
This machine actually does fine grinds better than course grinds, though. It will do course, but you don't exactly get a consistent grind size.
That all said, cold brew is relatively forgiving.
Thats what I meant but too late to edit it lol…..
Thanks for the heads-up Fookos.
fyi this went down to $150 last year on amazon for black friday. might be worth waitin til Friday for a cheaper price.
damn just saw this
It's ok because you bought on your price protection credit card. Didn't you???
Yeah but only if price difference is >75
it's okay cause it's david jones. easy returns. just hold onto it and buy another on black friday if needed and return DJs, if not you still have the DJs one.
Error?!? Note that at least according to the dj website, this is the older non-pro model with no dose "iq" or whatever and 25 grind settings vs 60.
Probably just error in description.
They have stopped making the regular Smart Grinder BCG800BSS for a long time.
Current model is the pro version BCG820BSS.
BCG820BSS is $229 at many places, so $199 at DJ is not super crazy.
Purchased and can confirm model number is BCG820XL
The "Dosing IQ" system is pretty simple, but useful. Basically at pre-defined grind levels it swaps between different amounts of grinding time. There's also a knob for cups as well. The problem is that you have to set them yourself, there's no internal calculations to convert.
It's really a stop gap solution to fix the real problem, which is no mass feedback.
I got one not from djs. I'd be more interested in the greater number of grind settings. I'm more of a weigh the beans every time and grind till complete (single dosing) kind of person, but each to their own.
I agree djs probably has made a mistake but I'd be hesitant pulling the trigger online as it is currently advertised. I mean it would be that they haven't updated for the new model as the name, photo, and description are all consistent with the old model.
I noticed in Westpac mobile app, I had a targeted offer for using my Westpac credit card ($20 credit for spend over $125 in David Jones in store or online).
I couldn't help myself! Thanks OP.My daughter ordered one from Amazon, it arrived yesterday. I received the box, then she said it was for her best friend/ She paid $199. She told me its the grinder she would buy .
I have the westpac card, so using cash rewards, 1.5% cash back $6 then $20 westpac rebate,it cost me $173 delivered from DJ… So now my daughter will get the grinder :)
I've had mine for more years than I care to remember. Probably more than five, perhaps ten or more. It still works faultlessly
Cant complain. Got Harvey Norman to price match and paid with LatitudePay. $179 and hopefully can pickup today.
I have 3 people that drink coffee all with a different volume of coffee. How easy is it to set for 3 different people? Do you have adjust all the settings each time or is there pre programmed buttons for your preferred grind?
This or the Smeg grinder?