Ready to ditch your old coffee grinder? The Breville Smart Grinder Pro is a beautiful and functional burr grinder that works well for all brewing methods and coffee makers. This grinder uses dosing technology that will actually portion your coffee based on number of cups. If you are looking for gift ideas, this coffee gadget is an awesome choice and looks great in any coffee station. Check out this review on the Breville Smart Grinder Pro!
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The Breville Smart Grinder Pro
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro (view on Amazon) is a programmable conical burr grinder that works well as a multipurpose grinder. If you aren’t familiar with this type of grinder, you should check out my post explaining the basics. In short, this is the type of grinder you should be using for your coffee.
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro is available in 3 assorted colors and matches the styling of the other Breville products. The LCD display indicates grind size and dose as well as the different ranges for each brewing type.
Smart Grinder Display
The Smart Grinder features 60 precise grind settings and a dosing control that portions servings of coffee based on cups or shots. For example, the espresso range refers to numbers 1-30, the drip ranges from 31-48, and so on. The grind setting is controlled by a large dial on the right side of the machine. The Smart Grinder Pro can grind fine enough for mid-level espresso machines and coarse enough for a standard french press.
The Smart Grinder Pro is programmable in the sense that you can specify how long you want the machine to run (in increments of 0.2 seconds) for each brewing type. The machine will then calculate the correct run time depending on how many cups (1-12) you wish to brew and save the settings.
When grinding in the espresso range, Smart Grinder Pro prompts you to insert one of the included cradles for grinding into a portafilter. The dosing changes from cups to shots automatically and allows you to pause so that you can settle the grounds. For the purposes of this review, I used the Breville Barista Express (which has its own grinder already) and found the Smart Grinder Pro to be a solid companion to the Barista Express.
Read More: Best Beginner Espresso Machine
Using a Portafilter with the Smart Grinder Pro
Features of the Breville Smart Grinder Pro
- Grinding Mechanism: Stainless Steel conical burr grinder efficiently designed to minimize grinding heat and protect the essential oils in the coffee bean.
- Dosing IQ: Precision Digital Time allows you to adjust and program grind time in 0.2 second increments giving you total control and a perfect dose every time.
- Hands Free Operation: Grind directly into the portafilter, grind container, gold tone filter basket or paper filter.
- Bean Hopper Capacity: 18oz Coffee Bean Capacity
- Settings: 60 Precise Grind Settings from the finest espresso to the coarsest French Press Grind
Included Accessories
- Portafilter Cradle – Small 50-54mm
- Portafilter Cradle – Large 58mm
- Grinds Container with Lid and Sealing Cap
- Conical Burr Cleaning Brush
The Smart Grinder Pro comes with two cradles to support the different sized portafilters out there. The cradles attach firmly with a magnet and holds the portafilter in place perfectly. There is a small button located behind the cradle that allows you to push the portafilter back to start grinding. This feature is also found on the Barista Express espresso machine, and so it felt natural for me to use.
The coffee grinds container and tray also attach with a magnet and prevents excess particles from flying around. This has been a bit of an issue for me with other grinders and my coffee station has been difficult to keep clean until now.
Smart Grinder Tray
Things I Like About The Smart Grinder Pro
Breville’s styling and design is beautiful and sleek. The components feel substantial and durable. This brewer matches the clean stainless-steel elements of the other Breville products.
The Dosing IQ saves time and effort. The Smart Grinder allows you to save your grind time independently for each of the 4 basic coarseness settings. These settings include Press, Percolator, Drip, and Espresso. You can then select a number of cups or shots, depending on the setting, and the machine calculates the correct grind time.
The bean hopper allows you to change your coffee easily. This hopper holds over 1 pound of coffee and features a locking mechanism that closes off the bean flow. This allows you to remove the hopper and dump the beans out without making a mess. If you wish to change your coffee often, this grinder will accommodate.
The magnetic grind tray keeps makes cleanup a breeze. Excess coffee particles will be caught in the tray and can be dumped in the trash without moving the Smart Grinder. This convenience really helps keep your coffee station clean.
The power cord is long enough to reach the floor from standard counter height. I use the Smart Grinder Pro as part of a coffee bar setup and I require the cords to be long enough to reach a power strip on the floor behind the coffee bar. This is not possible with most other coffee pots, grinders, and many other devices I have tested due to very short power cords. This is true of many other Breville products as well.
What I Don’t Like About the Smart Grinder Pro
The lid on grinds container doesn’t fit perfectly in the open position. I am not sure if this an issue with my specific unit or not, but the lid on the grind catcher does not fit in the little indented spot when the catcher is attached to the machine. I just leave the lid open in whatever position allows it to fit in the grinder.
The grind on the coarse end of the range could be a bit coarser. This grinder does an adequate job for a french press, but sometimes I wish it was a bit coarser. The grind is very consistent, however.
The dial setting sometimes moves 1 unit or so while grinding. Sometimes the vibrations caused by the machine bump the grind setting a bit while running. Although this is not the only grinder that does this, I felt it was worth mentioning.
My Experience with the Breville Smart Grinder Pro
This is my main grinder and has been for the past several months. I have used it for many different brewing methods including espresso, drip, Chemex, AeroPress, and french press coffee. I find the range of grind settings to be adequate for all the most common brewing methods.
For many people, this machine is all that is really needed as far as far as coffee grinders go. This grinder does a great job at supporting (and visually matching) the other Breville coffee makers including the Barista Express and the Precision Brewer Thermal. Did I already mention that it looks awesome on my coffee bar?
I am somewhat of a Breville Fan.
The only negative that I noticed was that the coarsest grind setting wasn’t quite coarse enough. To remedy this, I adjusted the setting on the top burr to extend the range of the grind a bit coarser, which ended up working well. You can also use this adjustment to extend the range finer as well, although I found the grind to be more than fine enough for the espresso using the Barista Express.
Overhead View of Smart Grinder Burrs
Smart Grinder Burr Adjustment
If you are an espresso lover and only brew a few shots per day, the Smart Grinder Pro would work well for you, while allowing you access to other brewing capabilities. One thing to note is that this grinder may have trouble grinding dark oily beans in bulk. If you are a heavy espresso user and prefer dark oily beans, I might recommend something with a bit more power. High-end espresso machines typically require a grinder dedicated to the purpose, and this grinder is more of a multi-purpose grinder.
Dosing IQ
The Dosing IQ is the standout feature of this machine. Although I usually weigh my coffee before grinding, I have found myself using the dosing feature very frequently. This feature saves time and allows me to quickly measure coffee very precisely.
The way I usually go about using the dosing feature is to grind a bit of coffee at a certain coarseness setting until I have the desired amount for a 5 ounce cup. I use 5 ounce cups because it makes the math easier for measuring coffee and is also the cup size that the Breville Precision Brewer Thermal uses. You can decide for yourself what you want each “cup” to represent.
Read More: Precision Brewer Review
Once I have figured out how much time it takes to yield enough coffee for a single 5 ounce cup, I hold down the timing knob which programs the time for the coarseness setting. This way, I can select my preferred number of cups and the result is basically the same as if I were to measure it out each time with the scale. This is hands down my favorite feature of the Breville Smart Grinder Pro.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase of the Smart Grinder Pro. I have had no significant issues so far and intend to use this grinder for as long as it lasts. The Smart Grinder decreases time spent preparing coffee and helps me keep my coffee station looking clean.
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro has many more features than competing grinders and should be on the top of anyone’s list for a new grinder. If you are a coffee lover looking for a quality mid-range burr grinder, you should consider the Smart Grinder Pro. This grinder provides excellent value for your money.
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Happy Brewing!
Darrel
Thank you for your detailed analysis of this grinder. I typically use it for espresso and get consistent shot. However, my wife just got a single cup moccamaster, which calls for a much coarser grind. After one use, my espresso grinds weren’t as consistent as before. It took me a couple of purges to get it back to my previous shot preference.
I am wondering if the grinder just needs a purge to course-correct itself back to my usual grind settings because of the large variance in grind size. Thank you!
Joseph
I am happy to help! I usually also leave mine set to espresso. However, whenever the grinder stops, there are still partially crushed beans between and above the burrs. With such a large variance, I would imagine a small purge would be helpful. Perhaps you could try setting the grind to slightly finer than you prefer it when you purge, and then to your normal setting. You could even make this adjustment while “purging”.
Daphne J. Verardi
I have The Smart Grinder Pro and have usually use it for espresso machine or moka pot…also occasionally french press….. recently i have been using a chemex & struggling to find the perfect grind number (at the moment I’ve settled on 48) Do u have a preferred setting recommendation?
Joseph
Pinning down the number on the Smart Grinder Pro is sort of a moving target unless you always use the same coffee at the same roast level. That being said, I do use 40 or so for drip coffee and 48 for Chemex when I am making coffee for 1-2 people/servings. When I make more coffee, I go slightly coarser. I do tend to drink coffee at a city plus roast level (or slightly darker) and do everything I can to minimize bitterness, so coarser grinds and proper weights are my way of fine tuning. I should mention that my actual burr setting (on the inside) is set at the 5 position (out of 10). I find that french press coffee slightly suffers from this (and so I lower the extraction time) but I can nail espresso and everything in-between more reliably.
saad
I recently got a Breville dose control grinder which also has 60 grind settings just like the smart grinder pro. I’m using it with a moka pot but somehow I’m unable to find the right grind settings. My coffee tastes too sour. Do you have any suggestions for that?
Joseph
I will admit that I have less experience with the mokapot compared to other brewing methods, but in my experience, it was always at least somewhat bitter. The mokapot mixes well with steamed milk but on it’s own, I much prefer espresso. That being said, generally speaking, small grinds equals more bitterness, unless you compensate with less extraction time. Since the extraction time on a mokapot is not really adjustable, it would seem that the largest grinds needed to achieve the flavor you want is going to be best. Some bitterness might be inherent to the design.