Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

[Steffen]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Thanks lovey for the review. I received my BCG800 yesterday and tripped up on the same problem: washing the hopper and grinds container [smiley=rolleyes.gif] The hopper has spots where no towel will go so you have to shake out as much as you can and then leave it to dry. No really a problem, but irritating if youre impatient and eager to do the first grind with the new machine… The grinds containers lid holds a similar surprise, it is layered from metal and plastic parts, and there is nothing that will get the water out from between them - other than time. Hint for new buyers: just wipe the damn things out with a damp cloth if youre keen on trying the grinder right away.

I find no need for additional shims on my specimen, it grinds almost powdery at the finest setting (so much so that Im going to try it for turkish). At the coarse end the grind is reasonably consistent, the small amount of fines doesnt bother me in the plunger.

I have yet to use any of the automation the grinder offers. Im used to adding a pre-measured amount of beans to the hopper and just grinding until theyre all through, as I dont like beans sitting around in the hopper. Im only doing 4-6 cups per day so Im worried that storing beans in the hopper (rather than the valved zip-lock bag) will harm them in some way. I also like to swap beans during the day and usually have 3 or 4 different ones roasted and ready to go. Therefore the hopper needs to be empty. I may therefore never need the dosing features.

Im slightly worried about the change of noise the grinder makes (even empty) as the grind adjustment approaches the fine end. Im not sure whether the burrs may be touching. Is that even possible with this grinder? I do like the fine grinds for brewing straight in the cup, but I dont want to wear out the burrs prematurely [smiley=undecided.gif]

Overall, Im very happy with the purchase (from E61) and look forward to many tasty grinds…

Cheers
Steffen.

[Lovey]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Im slightly worried about the change of noise the grinder makes (even empty) as the grind adjustment approaches the fine end. Im not sure whether the burrs may be touching. Is that even possible with this grinder? I do like the fine grinds for brewing straight in the cup, but I dont want to wear out the burrs prematurely Smiley

I think the noise you may be referring to (a change of tone like the motor is speeding up), is just the last of the coffee passing through the burrs and unloading the motor.

Youll certainly know about it if the burrs are touching, youll hear a metallic chinging noise.

[brew]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I have had this grinder performing beautifully for months.... Love it, but have had my first concerns about it this week.

I got some really small decaf beans, freshly roasted, and they jam in the damn burrs! Makes a terrible clack clack sound like a belt skipping on a cog.... It still works with other beans but Im worried it might have done sime damage to the internals.. Time will tell, lucky it has a 2 year warranty!

[Dimal]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I got some really small decaf beans, freshly roasted, and they jam in the damn burrs! Makes a terrible clack clack sound like a belt skipping on a cog

Sounds more like a small rock or a ball-bearing got mixed up with the beans. Small beans shouldnt worry a grinder in the slightest whereas larger elephant type beans may cause feeding problems.

Have you tried to chew a few of the smaller decaf beans, just to see if theyre any tougher than normal? Maybe theres a few unroasted ones in there.... :-?

Mal.

[herbie]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Hi brew,
The click clack sound is the safety clutch working on the grinder when the burrs jam.
This happened to me when I put some Costa Rica San Margos lightly roasted beans through my Breville at espresso fineness.
They are o.k. at a darker roast in a blend.
I dont kow why it happened. Has only happened with these beans.
We love our Breville [smiley=thumbsup.gif]and have put through so many different beans enjoying great coffees.

[brew]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Ive cleaned it out over and over- desparate for a coffee but couldnt get the fresh roasted beans to grind... The beans are small, but roasted just into the second crack... They tend to get trapped in the wide part of the burrs, and it takes a good effort to get em out.... There is usually about 6 of them all jammed at once.

I gave the beans to my bro, who has a cheap Gino Rossi cc45 grinder and he had no problems....

I also noticed a stack of coffee grinds have appeared behind the backit LCD screen after I up ended it to get the grinds out of the burrs....

Overall I still think its a great buy, just maybe its a little under powered?

[w1kitz]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

This thread seems to have slowed down somewhat lately!

Anyway... Ive just started on a fresh batch of beans and have had to adjust the grind setting a few steps coarser, keeping the dosing setting the same, but it is giving me a much smaller dose than before...

Isnt it supposed to adjust the dosing so if you change the grind setting you will still get the same amount?

Im finding on the current setting (about 10 from finest), even with the "amount" dial wound right round to max its not dosing enough... I have to give it about 3 single shot amounts to fill a double basket... On the finer setting before, a 2 shot setting would be enough.

Maybe because the new beans are a different blend (and fresher), that is making a difference??

[pjchris]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I think (I could be wrong) that the dosing is timed rather than weighed and if your new beans are significantly larger than your previous lot they may feed more slowly in to the burrs, thus less coffee in the same time.

Having said that I dont see much change in mine, even from new to old beans...Probably because my beans are always between 4 and 10 days post roast..

Peter

[w1kitz]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Ive just noticed the same issue with my new beans so this is something not related to bean freshness...

There is a large step in dosing amount between setting 17 and 18 on the grinder. (7-8 from finest, or between the step under the "p" and the next one under the "r" in "espresso"). On setting 17, I will need to grind about 3 shots worth of coffee to fill the double basket, whereas on setting 18 it is good again and 2 shots worth is enough.

Just wondering if anyone else can check this to confirm it? It is a bit of a pain as my current beans require the setting to be about 17-18 so if I change it from one to the other, it completely messes up the dosing amount. I can always just dose it manually but thats not the point...

I know it changes once you get down into the coarser range but this is in the middle of the espresso range so there shouldnt be any jumps like that should there?

[Dennis]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I can always just dose it manually but thats not the point...

Hello avid

Ive yet to some across a grinder that doses automatically andnear perfectly, that isnt in the plus $2k price bracket.

Rather than change grind settings, or when changing grind settings, have you tried using the "more/less" feature?

At work, I use a Smart Grinder for decaf and initially use the 2 shot dose and finish dosing manually. At home I have a Macap M4D and effectively do the same thing.

[w1kitz]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Hi Dennis,

What I was trying to say is that there is a big difference between setting 17 (and lower) and 18 and above. At setting 17, even with the more/less dial right round to max (25% more), 2 doses is not filling a double basket, in fact I need nearly 3 doses.

Compare this with setting 18 (and above), where I can have the more/less dial on about 15% more (3 bars), and 2 doses is just about right. I would say the difference between setting 17-18 is almost 1 whole dose.

Above 18, the dosing amount is quite consistent - I can leave the more/less dial on 15%-20% more, and I get a pretty consistent dose each time. Changing the grind setting to 19, 20, 21, etc doesnt affect the dose much at all.

Theres just a big jump from setting 17 to 18 for some reason. At 17 and below, the dosing amount is a lot less than it should be it seems. Which means I guess that Ill just need to dose manually in that case. For setting 18 and above, the dosing is quite good.

I could always remove or add a shim to it, as this should shift the grind setting away from that 17-18 bit.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed such a big jump in dosing around that setting?

Cheers

[Dennis]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

Thanks for clarifying.

I could always remove or add a shim to it, as this should shift the grind setting away from that 17-18 bit.

Have you added any shims previously, and if so, was this because there was a need? Ive heard of people putting them in because they had heard someone else did, so apologies if that isnt/wasnt your situation.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else has noticed such a big jump in dosing around that setting?

No, I havent seen or heard of this before.

[greencardigan]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I picked up a smart grinder with an extra 2 years warranty today.

With the grinder on the finest setting, a very full basket, and an extra hard tamp, I obtained a borderline shot on the EM6910.

Looks like Ill be using my old grinder for a few more days until I get some shims. Not too worried but a tad disappointed.

[jkarlis]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I would be disappointed too. I really cant understand why Breville & Sunbeam cant manufacture them so theyre good to go out of the box. At the very least they should supply shims in the box.

With all the excitement about the 900 I am hoping it isnt let down by similar poor QC in the manufacturing process.

[Dennis]

Re: Breville BCG800 Smart Grinder

I would be disappointed too. I really cant understand why Breville & Sunbeam cant manufacture them so theyre good to go out of the box. At the very least they should supply shims in the box.

I agree. Its unfortunate that the end consumer is now employed as the quality controller. It does seem that there are fewer Breville grinders slipping out into the marketplace without the need for shims, though still, it is an issue that I hope will be recitified.

We (Cuppacoffee and I believe Talk Coffee) do include the shim kit with every unit sold...just in case.