Originally posted by StephenT2
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I have the same set up, had the smart grinder a while but upgraded from a Gaggia classic to a BDB in 2022.
After a bit of trial and error have some pointers that have worked for me.
In terms of grind size, I'm going anywhere between 8 and 3/2 depending on the bean (average I would say is 7-5), noting that I have adjusted the burr to a few notches finer by taking it out and moving the ring, so you might take this down even a little more.
I am using a VST double basket though, which I believe allows for a finer grind.
I'm generally going 1:2.5ish, but don't drink milk based drinks so personal pref. Dosing 17-18g.
I also recently ditched the supplied Breville tamp (it's terrible / not wide enough) and getting better results with a 58.5mm (got a Normcore which very happy with, figure anything this size will be better IMO).
I'm also using WDT, and got a 3rd party bottomless portafilter - thankfully I can see that not getting channelling, but this can be a big help if you're not getting the shots you're happy with.
I'm hitting about 8-9 bars generally after preinfusion, hit 7ish once or twice when have ground too course, so have also been happy with the factory set OPV. I expected it to hit a bit higher based on info I have seen. Have hit 9.5 bars some shots but again, this was clearly when too fine, and when this has happened the shot has taken too long also, so not a worry.
Of course, everyone is different, but found the above has been good for me with the BDB. Hope this helps!

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