Breville, Silver BCG600SIL The Dose Control Pro Coffee Bean Grinder, 2.3

I purchased this grinder have years of using a burr hand-grinder. I have only had this unit for two weeks, so I can't comment on durability. I make pretty much only espresso, which is the reason that I bought this grinder. I have to say that I am very happy with this grinder. It has more than satisfied my needs, and I noticed a huge improvement in the quality of my espresso after starting to use this.Pros- Beyond easy to use. This is definitely a plug and play product.- Excellent grind consistency. I have found the grinds to be very consistent across the spectrum of fineness- It is very easy to make fine adjustments, even though this is a stepped grinder. The steps themselves are quite small, so one click on the bean hopper will make a noticeable, but small difference in the grind.- Nice design with some extras (the razor in the grind tray, the cord storage inside the grinder, etc.)Cons- I have the put the all plastic construction in the "con" category. That being said, I can't take off a star for this, given the price range of the product. I think with appropriate care and maintenance, this unit will last.- It seems that Breville had espresso in mind with this grinder (given the frequent mentions of espresso in the manual and the videos that Breville put out). That being said, I found it difficulty to dial in a grind that was fine enough for espresso at first. When I first set up the grinder, my first few shots were all around 15-18 second pulls, with all of the settings at the finest grind (including the inner burr adjusted). I was working with some relatively old coffee, so I went and bought some freshly roasted (~10 days from roast date), and that is when everything fell into place. I found a grind setting that worked well, pretty quickly.One thing that I have noticed is that for some beans, I had to bring the grind to it's finest setting in the hopper adjustment area just to get about a 30 second espresso pull. This was a little concerning for me, but after bringing the inner burr grind setting to it's finest setting (1), I am given quite a bit more range with different bean types for espresso. For espresso drinkers, I would recommend moving the inner burr to the finest setting right off the bat (even though that is not what Breville recommends according to this video from Seattle Coffee Gear [...]So, there are certainly some drawbacks to this grinder but to be honest, given the price, this is a great deal deserving of 5 stars. I am very happy with this grinder.

I'm very happy with this grinder. It's quieter - much quieter than my old one and makes a very consistent grind without any powder that I can notice.This is purely subjective, but my old Cuisinart grinder (decent grinder for $45), was so loud, it would wake the dead, or at least anyone sleeping in the house. This grinder makes a whirring sound that is about the same noise level as a normal conversation.I'm using a setting of grind setting of 15 to use with my AeroPress - which works well for me. With the timer set to 10 seconds, this grinds 17g of coffee in about 8 seconds and allows 2 additional seconds for the grinder to clear itself. The unit is intended to provide an exact dose for an espresso machine, so it comes with bales that will hold various espresso machine porta cups. However, it also was designed to grind directly into a coffee filter basket. In that I use an Aeropress, I grind into a glass placed under the outlet and then pour that into the AeroPress; it works well with the best part being that I no longer have to deal with a mess; my old grinder had a plastic bin that the coffee grounds would electrostatically cling to and was a hassle. I like that I can scoop a set amount of beans into the hopper and grind an exact amount out with accuracy.Unlike some other reviews that claim the unit gets jammed up with oily beans, I find that it works very well with them. I use a dark sumatra blend, which is quite oily and I have no issue after about 3 pounds of grinding. My guess is that because I allowing the grinder to clear itself after use, which is what the manual recommends, prevents build up. Also, cleaning the burrs once in a while, also per the manual, will help prolong unit life and performance.I also noted other reviews stating it wasn't actually stainless steel, but after inspection of the unit, I can say with assurity that the burrs are stainless steel, which is what is claimed by Breville. There are plastic parts, such as the bean hopper, buttons and such, but the majority of the unit casing is stainless.I have nothing but good to say about the unit. It looks good, it's quiet, it performs very well at a fair price.

I've been using this for a week now. Once you get the instructions down, it's pretty easy to use and makes excellent espresso. The grinder has several grind levels to choose from. The hopper holds enough beans for several days. The smell of fresh ground coffee and the taste of the fresh espresso in my latte gives me a coffee shop at home.

If you're serious about pulling shots all day long, then you know this is a good price point as many burr style grinders are well north of a thousand dollars.The grind size adjustment is perfect but as with any grinder, you'll need to play with it when changing beans, oil content, etc. Timer is a nice feature, I set mine short and then just top it off with short bursts.As with any grinder, you'll get grinds on the counter, this does not take away ratings as it's to be expectedPROS:High qualityConsistent grindLooks very nice, not cheap lookingHeavy duty burr grindersCONS:There's always a low level humming sound coming from this thing that can be heard from around 3 feet away. Others have reported the same thing.Conclusion:I'm very happy with itRecommended Improvements:This machine needs a small LED light that shine on the basket area, even with under cabinet lighting, that part of the machine is dark and difficult to see clearly.