This is the upgrade of Breville BCG800XL Smart Grinder. So many things is similar; with red are marked the things that this grinder contains and BCG800 Smart grinder does not. Otherwise they contain same preferences.

The grinder comes in three different colors (Black sesame, silver and  cranberry red). They all have different prices, so you might have first decisions to make about purchase already at this point. Design is very good and looks very “classy.” Quality of the product is quite good, however it is not good for French press coffee. It is small and light. It has an LED screen and 25 steps of adjustment. Another great virtue of the grinder is that you can remove the bean hopper with beans in it. It has a great price to value ratio.

Breville smart grinder PRO has 60 settings and comes in 3 different colors (brushed stainless Steel, cranberry red and Sesame black). Price is around 230$, depending on which color you buy, but it is better quality than the old version of the grinder in many ways, as described below.

Check price and availability here

Specifications:

 

Breville BCG820BSSXL Smart grinder PRO
Price	200-250$
Weight	6.5lbs (3 kg)
Dimension (WxHxD)	6.25 x 15.25 x 8.5 inches
Speed of grind	Not given
Voltage	110 – 120 Volts
Burr	Stainless steel conical burrs
Grind range	Not given
Steps of adjustment	60
Grind adjustment can be recalibrated	YES
Bean hopper capacity	1 pound  (450g)
Grounds bin capacity	Two  portafilter cradles ( 58mm and  50/54mm) and  grind container included
Motor rotation	Not given
Additions	Conical burr cleaning brush (besides portafilter cradels and grind container)
Motor power	165
Timer	YES
Housing material	Stainless steel with plastic
Hopper material	Plastic
Manufactured in	China

Burr

Stainless steel conical burrs minimize grinding heat to protect the essential oils in the coffee bean. Conical burrs keep the best grinding, and that’s because it reduces the heat transfer to the ground coffee grinding, which keeps the natural essential oils in the coffee, which gain coffee wonderful and distinctive flavor, other than to grinders blade stainless steel, which transferred the biggest temperature, the grinding coffee, which makes coffee lose distinctive and wonderful flavor that contain them.

Adjustable upper burr allows you to extend the grinding range to either coarser or finer without the use of tools.

Grinder

In order to make ideal performance Breville coffee grinder, you should follow many tips, most important of these tips, the beans are fresh grinding necessary for espresso, you must grind the beans in small batches, avoid beans stored for long periods in silos.  Grinding is consistent after you find the right settings.

60 precise grind settings that allow you to go even finer on your espresso and coarser on the French Press. Definitely improves grinding choice. Comes with a manual to make your choices simpler. However, pro version of this grinder is not as idiot-proof as normal version.

Bean hopper

Hopper holds 1 pound (450g) of beans and it has an air-tight lid and locking system. The hopper is removable from the grinder base, so can easily be used to store beans at the correct temperature. Another nice feature is being able to remove the bean hopper without having to empty the beans.  You can have another hopper filled with decaf and can switch from regular to decaf beans in a few seconds (another bean hopper costs 10$ though in their online shop).  However, it is worth to mention that hopper is not airtight (and coffee beans degrade when exposed to air) and it is not recommended to store full pound of coffee beans there.

You may also dispense the coffee grounds directly into a double or single-wall porta filter for making espresso by inserting one of the cradles provided by Breville. By using either cradle size of 50-54mm or 58mm, you can have the machine do the dosing hands-free. The same goes for dispensing to a coffee filter.

Precision Digital Timer allows you to adjust and program grind time in 0.2 second increments. Also added button to allow you to pause mid-dose, collapse or settle the coffee.

Functions

With Breville smart grinder, you can find 25 of the settings of different. There is also an amounts setting where you can set up exactly how much you want to brew. It is measured in cups or shots. Therefore you can set exact amount of coffee that you need to brew. It has a LED screen.

60 precise grind settings that allow you to go even finer on your espresso and coarser on the French Press. Improved interface with more intuitive feedback control including the grind setting, number of shots or cups, and the current grind time. You can press and hold the grind amount dial to save your favorite settings.

Material

The Smart Grinder is made of stainless steel with plastic. It weighs 5.5 pounds which means that it is not too heavy. It therefore does not take too much space. Grain hopper is made of plastic.

Loudness

This grinder is one of the quieter coffee grinders on the market. However compared to comparable other products, customers are happy with the low loudness that it produces.

Cleaning

Regular cleaning helps the burrs achieve consistent grinding results which is especially important when grinding for espresso coffee.

Dark oily beans require that the Grind Outlet be cleaned more often than medium brown non-oily beans. Coffee oils can deposit inside the Grind Outlet and become rancid.

A way to clean it is also by grinding a quarter of a cup of white, uncooked rice under coarser setting (make sure it is not instant white rice). General cleaning routine is:

1. Unplug power cord from power outlet before cleaning.
2. Wash the grinds container and ld, bean hopper and Lid and porta filter cradles in warm soapy water, rinse and dry thoroughly.
3. Wipe and polish exterior of the grinder with a soft damp cloth.
4. Wipe the LCD screen with a soft damp cloth. Apply cleanser to the cloth and not the LCD surface. Cleaning with dry cloth or abrasive cleaners may scratch the surface.

How often you should clean it depends on quality and type of the beans you are grinding. It is best to do checks of cleanliness as often as possible. In general cleaning procedure is simple so there are no major troubles reported with cleaning. It usually takes less than 5 minutes to clean a grinder.

Warranty

Breville offers a 1 year guarantee. Sometimes might be useful to use it if you see it defected when received. In general customer service is good and you will get it fixed easily if something is wrong. After guarantee is over, parts might not be so cheap and also in case electronics dies out you might have troubles fixing it. However customers in general do not have many problems with that.

Possibility to extend warranty for extra 6 months.

Consumer reviews

Majority of the customers who purchased this product are very satisfied with it. The average amazon product grade is 4.1, which is very high.

Unfortunately, this grinder is new so not many customers purchased it yet. So far they seem to be satisfied with product and do not report difficulties, or if they occur, Breville’s customer service was there for them to solve them.

 

Summary

It is a great value for the money. Removable hopper with beans in it is a feature of high-priced grinders. You cannot store beans in it for long time as it is not airtight, but it is still very useful for coffee enthusiasts. Comes with very helpful manuals and is one of the best coffee grinders for that price. Has good warranty and customer service. Be careful though if you are making French press, the grinder might not be for you. It also comes in three different colours and has a great design. In general a great grinder.

This is a great improvement of the old standard Breville Smart grinder. If you are willing to spend extra 30$ for better quality it is definitely worth to think about it. It seems most of the deficiencies of the old grinder were improved. It is a great grinder for coffee enthusiasts who want to enjoy a good quality coffee.