Customer Reviews

Breville Conical Burr Grinder BCG450XL

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this for Xmas 2011 for my very fussy, coffee snob husband. We are both very pleased the with grind settings and find it works well for all grinds of coffee. The problem we had with other grinders was that the fine grind didn't go fine enough or evenly fine enough for espresso but have been very, very, happy with the Breville for espresso (my husband will by those massive bags of quality beans for making espresso and French Press so the machine sees a lot of action). I couldn't recommend this machine more highly for it's price point. The only way you'll get a better grinder is to shell out a couple hundred dollars more and even then I don't see that much of a difference between them to warrant the extra $$$.
***November 20, 2012 ...we have had this almost a year and we still love it. It's still grinding exactly how it's supposed to.

This Conical Burr Grinder certainly produces nicely ground coffee and it is also quieter than the Krupp one I have on top of a coffee maker.

The product is very solid and I was impressed with the quality of the grinder itself when I inspected it during the setup process. The anti-static grind cup is pretty good too -- not entirely static-free, but close enough considering it is plastic. Actually the whole machine is fairly solid for a popularly priced grinder.

Last, but not least, I was VERY happy for once that the Canadian price was close to the US price. I expect to pay more for products in Canada, but the difference most of the time keeps me from ordering and makes me say bad words :-)

Ths box advertises "ultra fine", the grinder itself has a "super fine, Turkish" grind setting, but according to Breville it is not capable of a very fine grind, certainly not a Turkish grind as advertised. They have been very, very responsive to my concerns, but I think buyers should know it seems to be an excellent general grinder but will not grind fine enough for a single wall espresso filter (water transit time - 5 seconds - it should be over 20 seconds) and barely fine enough for a dual wall espresso filter. If you need a fine grind, get the next model up with the shim kit. Once again - I stress that the folks at Breville.ca have been terrific in their assistance.

I've been shopping around a while now for a burr grinder for drip coffee and finally settled on this one (after returning a Cuisinart DBM-8).

For the price range I think this is a fantastic grinder. Relatively quiet (for what it is), makes a decently uniform grind, and the static free cup, while not completely static free, is a huge improvement over the three other burr grinders I have used. I no longer have grounds flying all around my kitchen and can actually dump the grounds straight from the cup into my filter without having some of them end up in the water reservoir of my drip machine.

For me this is a great solution without having to spend too much but three things I'd point out for others are:

- The 30 second timer works for me as I normally make only one or tow cups at a time. If I was making a full pot on a regular basis I imagine I'd soon tire of having to grind through two or three cycles just to produce enough. Not a frequent enough concern for me based on my habits but it might be for you.

- As others have mentioned, I would not consider the grind fine enough for espresso or Turkish. I would say this makes a decently uniform "very fine" grind but probably falls just short of true espresso grind for the purist. I don't own an espresso machine so, again, not a concern for me personally.

- I'm using this to "dose" my grounds so I dump the cup entirely out into my filter. If I wanted to grind more than I need and then scoop the grinds from the cup I would be annoyed (like others) at the irregular shape of the cup. Although I don't understand why anyone would leave anything behind in the cup. The purpose of this type of grinder is to grind exactly what you need each time you make coffee so I'm not sure why this is an issue for some but it may be for you.

If your needs are like mine I would recommend this as an excellent and more affordable solution for getting the benefits of a burr grinder (cooler and more uniform grind than a blade grinder). I would also add that the anti static plastic makes the process neat and easy compared to other burr grinders I have used where static is a bit of a pain. I haven't had it long enough to speak about reliability or clogging/cleaning issues but I do notice that this has a fairly direct (if not entirely straight) path from burrs to receptacle so I hope cleaning will be easy to maintain. I hope my experience will mirror that of other reviewers who have had this unit for a year or two and are still happy with the purchase.

I used this on a daily basis for several months and it worked fine. Then all of a sudden it took several cycles of maximum time (30 seconds) to grind enough for a single french press pot. Tried to clean it - no help. Took out the top grinder and now I can't get the grinder back in place so the product is now completely useless. Not terribly expensive when compared to some of the high end grinders, but still priced sufficiently expensively that I don't think this should work for a year and then be disposed of.

This grinder is very easy of use and fast. Grinding my coffee every morning is not really longer than taking an already ground coffee. Pitching a handful of beans in the stand and push start button. That's it! And it much better! One important thing is it doesn't heat the coffee while grinding it.

I was looking for a burr grinder for a long time. I read a lot of reviews and it looked that most of the products lacked the capability to produce the ground coffee needed for a good espresso.
I just bought this grinder today and I am really satisfied. I tried to do 3 types of grinding (for dripping,espresso and Turkish coffee). All 3 turned out OK. I haven't tried to brew any of the batches.
I am looking forward grinding just before doing the espresso. That's tomorrow morning...Hope I'll get a nice crema, and of course flavor.

Edit after more than 1 year:
I used this grinder almost everyday. I did espresso, and the result was impressive, the dripping is also good. I also ground larger size for the french press. All the coffee was good enough for me. I use to grind the coffee just before brewing. I also buy small batches of organic beans. This machine works beautifully.

I bought this grinder a couple months ago from Amazon to replace a small krups burr grinder because I couldn't get the grind fine enough for espresso. The Breville grinder takes up a little more room on the counter but it's both attractive and functional. We haven't assessed the longevity of it yet, but so far have been very pleased - it doesn't gum up, is fast, has good range of grind adjustments and grinds fine enough for espresso. Would buy again.

I have owned mine over 3 years, and it is still going strong, even grind every single time!!!

Pro's - very easy to use
quick
even grind
multiple settings, plunger/fine/espresso/Super fine for Turkish

Cons - The container should have been glass rather than plastic

i had a Bodum conical burr grinder and lost a small metal part that fits over the grinding mechanism. I contacted Bodum hoping to buy a replacement part. I was told that particular part wasn't available for purchase. SO, I had to buy a new grinder!
I chose the Breville as I have 2 other Breville products and find them reliable. I do like it, it is quieter than the Bodum and the company actually stocks spare parts! I also needed a replacement coffee grind cup for my Bodum in red which was constantly out of stock.