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Can anyone confirm the steps on the Breville are finer than the steps on the Sunbeam?, like one step thus far on my Smart Grinder seems a lot finer than the Sunbeams, and the number on the digital gauge also often shows the same number within two click on the dial?
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glad to see youre loving the SG. in my experience the Sunbeam had similar step sizes, but that was comparing the BCG800 and the em480. could be different with the 820...
my advice with dealing with step grinders is that if you find yourself wanting something between two steps, you might have to adjust dose instead to find that middle ground between two steps (if that makes any sense)Comment
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With my 3 ¼ year old BCG800 I can adjust it to within steps. Perhaps the steps have worn out with age making it stepless.
I also have a Vario but I prefer the much easier to use Smart Grinder which is quieter, less messy and has a much better portafilter cradle. As for taste I cannot tell the difference. May be that is due to my taste buds being old and worn out.
Years ago I had a Sunbeam grinder. Don’t know the model but it made a mess on the bench, suffered from retention and static. No comparison with my Smarty.
BarryComment
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Just with testing thus far, clicks on the Breville 'seem' half that of a Sunbeam, with the Sunbeam you were always cursing that half step off one way or the other, so far the Breville seems very good in fineness of one step giving you what you want/need, I mean maybe it's even like 3/4 of the Sunbeam, but even then it's closer to ideal.
Yeah the dial clicks still seem soft/vague Barry, one of my first thoughts was I wonder how whatever is in there will feel with age, so interesting you mention that.
I should say I did not even realize the extent of the changes on this grinder vs the original, there is a number on the display now vs just the bar on the old, I thought the old version had the seconds adjustment, but it was just plus and minus dose time (5% or something), the new adjustment in .2 second increments seems limitless, it has a min of 2 seconds, but if there is an upper range, I lost interest in finding what it was after getting up to 25+ seconds on a single dose.
The Sunbeam can't touch the 820 on features, how clean it is, or quality of grind from what I'm seeing thus far, the Sunbeams work, but they are a static mess and a half to use daily, just the pull out catch tray alone on the Breville is worth raving about, nothing seems to project outside of it, it just clips out and with a quick tap it's all clean.
Only possible gripe thus far, my Lelit of course has the 57mm portafilter, which means it's just too big for the smaller insert, and that tiny bit small for the large one, but the basket on it's own fits perfectly in the smaller one, and I was used to grinding into just the basket on the Lelit (been using digital scales to measure shots for years now), other upside, timer seems accurate enough once dialed in to your bean/roast, I may be able to trust the done and not pre weigh my shots anymore in general use...Comment
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I saw this one at a major department store the other day. Is this a new grinder from Breville? The BCG600. It looks to have the same burrs set with adjustable upper burr as the BCG820. Overall it may be mechanically the same as the smart grinder pro but with no digital interface. It still has 60 steps of adjustment, plus the upper burr adjustment. It is also around $100 cheaper.
It is rumored that Breville will also bring out a grinder of better quality than the Smart soon which I will be interested to see.Attached FilesComment
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I saw the lesser Breville, in fact the girl in the shop picked up the wrong box and was going to sell me what she thought was a Smart Grinder for $179, till I realized she had the grabbed the wrong box, it looked ok, but you miss a lot of what I think makes the Smart as good as it is, for not really huge money, but if it's got the same internals, maybe.Comment
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Bought a BCG820 after reading this thread and I'm very impressed. Grind is consistent and able to go ultra fine (much better than my previous breville grinder). Somehow I've lost my 58mm portafilter holder though and can't find anywhere to buy one
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anyone seen these on sale? got the money poised and ready for when they drop before or after christmasComment
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Hi mate,Originally posted by cloudwarrior View Post
First post here, I picked up the smart grinder pro (820) @ JB HI FI HOME in KEDRON about 2 weeks ago. It was the last one on the shelf at the time, but I talked them down from $249 to $180 when I bought it with the breville 'the infuser' machine. I didn't try hard either
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Bit of an update.
On the EM3600, the single biggest factor is beans and their freshness. It makes a massive difference.
Now that I have upgraded the machine to an e61, I've had to move the burr adjustment from 6, then 5, now 3 - all on fineness setting 1 and still not close to choking. With these beans, a blend of 7 types, I can pull 55ml in 25s on around 16g dose. Getting heaps of clumps now, but distribution and tamping is still very cautious and heavy.
I expect to move it to the finest adjustmenton the burr, to open up some more range when my beans change.
Anyone know if it's possible for the burrs to touch or any other risks here?Comment
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My Sunbeam Cafe series could out of the box, so be careful...Originally posted by Holyfrog View Post
With my Breville I was quite careful, going finer carefully out of the box, then when I pulled the index ring and set it to 2, would back out a fair way carefully winding back in on the dial to get the fineness I needed for the PL41 Lelit.
With the Lelit as said I'm 2 on the index ring, and between 9-8 on the display for the grinder, I have noticed the finer you go the more it will clump, so I'm up from 16gram shots to 17gram shots adjusted to suit, I may even go back to the 18gram shots I was doing with the Sunbeam grinder, the Lelit seems to like the larger dose anyway, and I do like the nice strong doubles.Comment
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Thanks. I'm down to setting 1 now. You can hear the motor slowed down.
Grind adjustment doesn't want to move easily below 5 on the lcd, and I won't force it. Clumpiness is a factor at this point, but distribution seems to deal with it.
21g in the double with a full tamp head of clearance still in the ECM.Comment
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does anyone know how does the BCG820 perform compare to rancilio rocky?Comment
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Seattle Coffee Gear compare exactly these two models.
Please note, that in the original and redux reviews, it seems they are using the BCG800 not the 820, judging by the display on the LCD.
Looking at this review again and having used the 820 for a few months, I'm happy I chose the 820 for a beginner.Comment
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A heads up that this is on sale at Myer as part of their boxing day sale for $199.
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