Customer Reviews

Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinder

5 star:		(147)
4 star:		(82)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(47)

 

 

I have used three grinders in the past 5 years, one blade and two wheel burr grinders, all broke or were dusty and noisy. This is the first conical wheel grinder I have owned and I cannot compare it to its comparable competitor, the Capresso, and I have only used it a dozen times or so, However, I am impressed by its quality, it is beautifully made and the huge reduction in noise was most welcome. The big plus...I set the timer, press start and walk away, no holding lids down, no coffee flying around etc. Just for the reduction in noise, its quality and the fire and forget operation makes it a 5. It grinds coffee very consistently and the grind is adjusted easily. Is it perfect? No. Two items I noticed. It has a 30 second timer...I need more time so I set it for 20 seconds and do two grinds...not an issue but for me, but wanted to tell you. Second, the ground coffee compartment is shaped in a manner that has insets so its not as easy to clean out and I have to empty the coffee carefully. Still I recommend this and am impressed. It is quality!I will provide a six month review to see if this maintains its operation.

After six months my initial views remain the same, a very fine grinder!

PROS: good even grind, little static cling, low noise, good price, aesthetics, fairly easy to clean - with some minuses.

CONS: oily beans can clog in bottom of hopper (all grinders seem to have oily bean issues), funky on/off switch location seems to get knocked to off all the time, timer can't be bypassed and seems to get turned down or up by incidental contact - if you are "dosing" be careful.

We've had the Icon for about three months now and are really very pleased with it. It replaced the horrible blade grinder in our dead Cuisinart Grind & Brew. Whatever you do I'd never buy anything but a separate conical burr grinder and coffee maker. The Cuisinart was terrible! Only a couple of minor flaws keep me from giving it five stars. But then the competitors start at $150 to $200, so I'm not complaining. Breville is an up and coming company in an exclusive field and they are giving Jura/Capresso fits at trendy stores. The unit is attractive and fits snugly under the cabinets in our small kitchen. It's designed to blend with the modern "professional"stainless kitchen look without going overboard so it gets good marks on looks.

The unit is easy to clean, except that I'd like to have a way to remove the lower section of the Conical Burr for weekly cleaning. If you use oily dark roast beans as we do you'll definitely want to clean regularly as oil builds up in the bottom of the hopper making beans stick. Gently rocking the grinder while it runs will dislodge any recalcitrant beans. This is not really a big problem and from the reviews I've read this is an issue with all grinders.

The instructions don't mention cleaning the removable section of the Burr Grinder but it will build up an almost greasy deposit on the inside and a small streak of dark deposit on the outside and bottom of the removable section. After taking out the bean hopper just lift the top of the burr by it's plastic holder and clean with a tooth brush. When reassembling be sure to line up the burr housing the same way it came out or you will not be able to reinstall the hopper. This is easier to do than to type, it's just part of the weekly cleaning, but it should have been covered in the manual.

The other thing the manual doesn't cover on cleaning is that I have to invert the unit and gently tap it to dislodge the slight buildup of old grinds from the bottom burr section before reinstalling the top half of the burr. I then tap the unit with it held upright to make any remaining grounds fall from the shoot. Doing this over the sink saves any cleanup hassles. If not careful one could drop or damage the unit doing this. I should point out that I've never seen any significant buildup of grounds in the shoot - nothing to affect the great tasting coffee this unit grinds.

I know this sounds like a lot of work, but it's really not much trouble. I clean the unit this way once a week and it take about 15 min. to do. Bear in mind that this machine grinds two pots a day of French roast and Tanzanian peaberry. Those are both very oily beans and from what I've read most grinders have major issues with the dark roasts.

To gain a fifth star I'd like to see Breville make the conical burr completely removable and include some sort of brush to clean the shoot and burrs. I'd also like the hopper made so beans can't lodge themselves in the bottom of the hopper requiring rocking while grinding.

In closing I'll say that if you don't use Dark Roasts I doubt you will see any of these problems. And if you do I assure you this grinder will work well for you with minor adjustment.

I bought this grinder as a replacement for a previous burr grinder that was dying a slow, painful death. I now wish that I had put the poor old grinder out of its misery much earlier! This Breville unit is a vast improvement over every grinder I've used before.

For starters, it generates less than 50% of the noise I've heard from competing grinders. I have no idea why that should be, I just accept it and move on! The grounds are dispensed very neatly. There is no need to wipe up the surrounding countertop once the cycle is complete - all of the grounds arrive neatly in the little plastic receptacle.

When I first started researching burr grinders, I was intrigued by the concept of 'static reducing' technology. Given that grounds clinging to both the machine parts and the receptical can create a real mess, I was wondering if this magical technology was really effective. To my surprise, at least with this machine, the answer is 'yes'. I can flip the lid on the grounds receptical and tip the coffee into my machine with almost nothing left behind as a result of static cling - even if the grinder has just finished its work (which is when the static tends to be most bothersome).

The quality of the grind is fantastic. The output is uniform and the coarseness can be adjusted within a range that is probably far wider than I will ever explore. The finest setting produces grounds that are perfect, in my book, for even the fussiest espresso drinker.

The stylish-looking machine seems to be well-built, with high grade materials used throughout. I don't quite agree with some of the previous reviewers who feel the plastic is a bit flimsy. After over 3 months in service, I have not had any problems or concerns with the plastic.

The only downside I see is the small size of the hopper. Perhaps I am just accustomed to a large capacity hopper, but this device doesn't seem to me to hold the promised half-pound of coffee. I have to refill it twice a week. My last grinder required servicing less often than once a week. Still, I suppose filling it more often keeps the beans even fresher!

my initial order from amazon was DOA. the power button will not depress. obviously it needs power to grind...

i contacted breville directly as they are nearby in torrance, ca. since amazon was out of stock on a replacement unit, i thought breville may have been able to help me trouble shoot the unit and save me the hassle of the return process. low and behold breville customer service is exceptional! they instantly emailed me a prepaid fed-ex return label and RMA and i had a new unit in 3 days! no questions asked! they even sprung for fed-ex saturday delivery! so bear that in mind if you get a defective unit.

so the grinder- truly excellent. especially for pump espresso...

well built, sturdy and nice looking in stainless steel. solid feel not a cheap plasticy feeling here.

no static. make sure you wash the grinds container before first use.

not too loud. actually alot quieter than our old blade grinder.

the grind. i got this because we recently purchased a "REAL" espresso machine- a gaggia carezza espresso machine and i usually do lattes on the weekend. i am a huge fan of fresh beans and love to grind before brewing (the way it should be done). however the gaggia is a little finicky on the grind. our blade grinder could not produce an even grind and i don't like buying preground. so i invested in this grinder. perfect grind! nice crema. i found with the carezza the best setting with the breville is JUST past the espresso setting 2 or 3 clicks toward the turkish. this provides a perfect even grind for the gaggia machine. haven't tried it out for our cuisinart drip maker yet but, i'm sure if it can satisfy the gaggia it'll rock the cuisinart.

the taste- fantastic. make sure you use a quality bean. for espresso i prefer the vesuvio blend and the dancing goats blend from batdorf and bronson. these also (especally the dancng goats blend) double very nicely for a drip cup of coffee too. you can order from them online and they do not roast your beans until the day your order ships. i suspect soon i will be getting my own roaster and start home roasting...

the cons- really only 1 (or 2). the timer. i haven't figured it out yet. it seems like it is too short of a grind time even set to max (30 seconds). so if you want to grind for say 8 cups you have to run it at 30 seconds twice. which leads to the user manual, which may be outdated becauses it states the timer is set to read in cups. which it is not, it is in seconds. of course that's sort of trivial as you can bypass the timer by just holding in the grind button. but if you want to set and forget it it may be a slight hassle. but more fiddling with it may lead to a clearer understanding of the timer- though it is not rocket science.

overall i update my review to a 4 star after receiving the initial defective unit. the fact that breville customer service is so great lends peace of mind to a purchase. i only deduct one star for the timer.

I had a Capresso burr grinder for years. It made a mess and the grinds stuck to the sides of the container because of the static. Plus it was loud. I LOVE this Breville grinder. I am not a coffee expert. This grinder is much quieter and cleaner. The ground coffee never sticks to the container and there is never a mess on my counter anymore. Some people have complained that the bean hopper is too small. I disagree; it's bigger then the one for the Capresso. A plus: it goes great with my Zojirushi thermal coffee maker. This coffee grinder exceeded my expectations.

I did a fair amount of research before purchasing this grinder, having owned two in the same price range (Capresso and Bodum) that let me down. I've had it a month, and so far it works wonderfully. It grinds very evenly, in a reasonable time, and reduces the static of the grounds dramatically. It's clean, accurate, and not overly noisy. I'm not sure what else one could expect in a $100 burr grinder. I will definitely consider Breville when I make future coffee-related and other kitchen appliance purchases.

Have had this conical grinder about a month, use 2-3 times daily, and really can't remember the last time I have been as happy with a small kitchen appliance. This grinder produces an extremely consitant grind, is easy to adjust grind, very quiet, and easy to clean with it's removable top burr. I have had virtually no static or counter mess unlike my prior Krups and Starbucks models (the Krups lasted less than a day before return, what a dissapointment). The Breville model is good looking, and it appears and feels to be high quality throughout. As for some previous reviewers concerns about "thin plastic", I don't get it. Unless you are extremely rough on things I don't see the plastic parts as an issue. If I had one complaint (very minor) it is that I have to grind twice (30 sec which is the max, plus 12 more seconds to get the proper amount of grinds for my 12 cup drip maker. Highly reccomended and a bargain price for a upper level quality home conical grinder.

I make my morning coffee with a French press. When my bodum grinder started dying, I decided to get a new one.
Like many other people, I hesitated between the Breville and Capresso model.
Since I was more familiar with Capresso I decided to get it.
However, the Capresso grinder is NOT suitable for press pots at all!
Even at the coarsest setting, it came out more like the "all purpose grinds" you get at the market.
I returned it immediately and got the Breville at my local Williams-Sonoma and this machine works great with my press pot.

For those who are looking for a nice burr grinder but are not able to decide between the Capresso and Breville here is what I felt:

1) the Capresso grinder has a timer just like the Breville grinder.
However, while the Breville has a separate "start" button that you have to press after you set the timer,
the Capresso starts grinding the moment you turn the timer.

2) Both models seem to have a fairly big hopper to keep your beans in.
(I don't keep my beans in the hopper so I haven't used it as a bean container but they both look big enough for anyone)

3) Cleaning for both models are similar. If you go to BB&B or Linens n things, they sell coffee brushes for about $2.
Using those, cleaning is fairly easy for both models.

4) Breville does seems to have less static. For me the winning feature of Breville was that the grind container at the bottom has a top.
The Capresso didn't have a top for the grind container, which probably exacerbated the problem of grind coffee flying out due to static.

5) Breville is probably not suitable for espresso machines. The finest grind isn't as fine as the grinds I got from the Capresso. So, if you are looking for a grinder mainly for espresso the Capresso would be a better choice. But, as I mentioned earlier, for a press pot or percolator, Breville may be more suitable.

The only reason I am giving this grinder four starts is because I've only had it for a short time.

Recently I bought this item directly from Breville in Torrance, CA. I have to say I am very happy with the overall package. I was immediately impressed by how tidily this unit grinds the beans and dispenses the grind, no bits everywhere! The timer is a very nice feature. It looks very sharp.

Just one thing, the quality of the plastic leaves something to be desired. It is very thin, a tad flimsy even. If it was twice the thickness it would add a lot to this machine. Put it this way, I know I'll have to buy replacement parts for the bean hopper (where the beans go in) and for the ground coffee container down the road. I also agree that it's a tad hard to pour out the grounds due tot he odd shape of the ground bean dispenser.

But I reitterate, I am very happy with this grinder. I have read that serious espresso folks prefer a finer grind than this can provide but I'm not a barista, not yet atleast, so I'm loving it so far.

I wanted to give warning to people thinking about purchasing this product. I have been using this grinder for the past 8 months. I had to return the first one as the timer stopped working. I am now on my second one and it has developed the same problem. The timer is only accurate about 50% of the time. I usually have it set for 10 seconds. Sometimes it runs less that one second, sometimes 2 or 3, sometimes 20. There's really no telling what you might get. It is really frustrating.

At this price point, they ought to be able to make a timer that actually works. It's such a shame too, because the grinder portion is great, but timer is sketchy at best.