Thursday, October 31, 2013

Breville BCG450XL Conical Burr Grinder


A Great Looking Quality Grinder
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...
Best deal going
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...
Still happy after three months
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...
Click to Editorial Reviews

No comments :

Post a Comment