Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinder

Rated 4 out of 5

Posted By:
lisa falleroni

10/25/2012

i have never been a fan of plastic and within a month of use, the lid of the grounds basket just snapped off. i almost returned it but realized it has no bearing this machines capacity to grind coffee, which it excels at. now in year #4, i have had not a single other issue with it using it EVERY SINGLE DAY for espresso shots on Turkish grind setting (my machine is ancient), but have no complaints about the other grinds. it is annoying that the grinds meander due to static, but for the most part,all grinders are messy and this seems less so b/c it contains the grind to the area under the grinder. a simple wipe down on the exterior keeps it sparkly. and a toss the grind basket and bean cup into the DW every so often and this will look and perform amazing for years. when you consider the price of some of it's competitors, i would trust this is among the better values.

Rated 1 out of 5

Posted By:
Gerald Maes

06/13/2011

This review is for: Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinder Besides all the well documented problems like the static electricity sending your coffe everywhere when you remove it from the grinder and the lack of a fine grind setting, you can also look forward to a few months after the warranty expires when your Breville conical burr grinder will just stop working. Then you get to call Breville and they'll offer you 20% off of another faulty grinder. SAVE YOUR MONEY

Rated 3 out of 5

Posted By:
stickboybike

06/15/2010

Has owned for:
Less than 1 month
Ability Level:
Coffee Lover

Breville grinder, not bad for a first grinder.

This is my first grinder and it does a fair job. I use it daily in conjunction with my Gaggia Baby. Sometimes I'll grind a course batch for the french press but getting the grind back to the same consistency for pulling shots is a bit tricky. The Espresso setting on the grinder, for my machine, is too course. I've been grinding around mid setting of Espresso and Turkish. None the less, follow the directions when you first get the grinder with regards to break in, 'getting started'. You'll need to find that sweet spot with the machine in order to get good crema from your shots. That means wasting some beans to fine tune the grinding process. After all, you adjust your grind, not the tamping pressure when chasing good crema.

How Long Have I Been Using This Product?

Less than 1 month

What's Best About this Product?

Easy of use, cleaning, styling.

Some Helpful Tips For Using this Product:

Be patient while you dial in your needed grind setting for the beans you're currently using. For filling a double shot, 58mm portafilter, I'll count out 7 seconds of grinding into the catch container...1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi... After 7, you'll have enough to pull the double shot. At least it works with my Gaggia Baby. If you change the grind setting, ex: espresso, then course, then back to espresso, grind about 2 seconds of bean to purge any extra 'previous grind setting grounds'. Then you'll be ready to go!

My Experience With Using This Product:

Coffee Lover

The Coffee I've Tried With This Product:

Drakes Roasting Square One coffee Starbucks

Some Improvements I Would Recommend for This Product:

Figure out how to dissipate static within these 'mostly plastic price point grinders'. Naturally grinding and shot pulling is a messy activity but opening the grinding container lid and having grinds poofing all over the place b/c of static is a bit annoying.

Some of the Other Machines I've Used:

none