New to Breville BES920/BCG820 combo

[Vmro1893]

Hi,

Recently purchased the

breville bes920 and smart grinder pro combo, and was just wondering
if anyone who is using this combo can maybe share there espresso settings which has worked best ( grind time , size , Burr adjustments) or is it best to leave as factory settings ?


Thanks

[timdimdom]

welcome vmro =)
best thing to do is unfortunately to go through a few bags to find what is too fine and too coarse for your machine and get a feel for it. and then rinse n repeat as you change around beans. settings rarely translate between grinders as they tend to have minor differences between batches - i remember a 5 on my machine would be a 4 on someone else's.

personally i like to go as fine as the grinder can go first to see what the grinder is capable of and see if the machine chokes. then dial it back to around 1/4 to the finest and try that. If it gushes, to go finer, still choking then to go to mid fine-ness and do the same.

hope that helps!
(and congrats on the cool new toy!)

[Vmro1893]

Thanks for the advice,

I left the burr on the stock settings which I think is 6,

Adjusted the dial to grind size 12 at a rate of 9.8 secs grind per shot.

Ended up getting about 10g coffee in the single shot basket and got a 30 sec shot of 30ml of espresso. Bar on about 10.5

Do you think this sounds correct ? and the right amount of coffee ?

[rweeko]

Hi Vmro1893,

I just picked this combo up today and used it for the first time. Beans I'm using is Toby's Estate Wooloomooloo.
Double basket single wall.

Grind size: 14
Grind time: 20.2 secs
Shots: 2

Shot time: 24 secs for about 30mls of espresso

I'm going to dial it down to a slightly finer grind next time around.

I guess the main factor is how fresh your beans are/when it was roasted that impacts the variables of grind size - assuming your tamping pressure is constant between each shot.

[MavCN]

I left the burr on the stock settings which I think is 6,
Adjusted the dial to grind size 12 at a rate of 9.8 secs grind per shot.
Ended up getting about 10g coffee in the single shot basket and got a 30 sec shot of 30ml of espresso. Bar on about 10.5
Do you think this sounds correct ? and the right amount of coffee ?

12 is a good starting point. Use Razor to get the correct dose.
25 to 30ml of espresso in around 30 secs is an ideal rate rate of flow.
Bar around 9. Was the pour straight, coffee dark and flow not running away or dripping?
Most importantly, did it taste good to you.

[rweeko]

Hi Vmro1893,

I just picked this combo up today and used it for the first time. Beans I'm using is Toby's Estate Wooloomooloo.
Double basket single wall.

Grind size: 14
Grind time: 20.2 secs
Shots: 2

Shot time: 24 secs for about 30mls of espresso

I'm going to dial it down to a slightly finer grind next time around.

I guess the main factor is how fresh your beans are/when it was roasted that impacts the variables of grind size - assuming your tamping pressure is constant between each shot.

I've re-adjusted my settings this morning to get a better shot

Grind size: 10
Grind time: 19.8 secs
Shots: 2

Shot time: 30 secs for about 30mls of espresso

[trentski]

That's the magic number but how did it taste?
Doubles are generally more forgiving at 60ml for 30 seconds. Remember those numbers are just a guide not an exact standard, how it tastes matters more than the numbers.