My lovely wife upgraded my espresso machine for my bday earlier this year from a Breville ESP8XL (Cafe Roma) to The Infuser (BES840XL) and I find that I now need to upgrade my grinder to better suit the new machine, and the fact I'm preferring the single-walled filter. I can tell my grinds are too coarse on the finest setting on my modded Breville BCG450XL; my espresso shots flowing out too quickly and tend to be under-extracted. I usually do on average 1-2 espresso shots a day, more on weekends if I have friends over, and I also use my current grinder for drip or french press.

I have my sights on the Breville Smart Grinder Pro since I can get it for free through my Air Miles, all the review are good for what I need, but they do raise the question of durability on this unit.

Your thoughts appreciated, especially if anyone else owns one!

The BSGP is a fine, feature-packed grinder. I have it since less than a year so I can't comment on durability. I think it's the best electric grinder for the price. The closest competitor is probably the Baratza Vario (which I also owns), but now it's almost $100 more expensive. It's a bit sturdier but lacks several (if not most) of the BSGP's perks. Notably, the BSGP is more adjustable in the espresso range than the Virtuoso.

I guess the Baratza Preciso would be a better upgrade but it's almost double the price off the BSGP. Pricing is region-dependendtthough. But in Canada, for the new price of the Baratza Vario (which is more or less a standard or at least a sweet spot in quality-for-the-buck ratio), you can almost have three BSGPs for a Vario. So it's something to think about.

After using both the Breville Smart Grinder and Smart Grinder Pro I find that they are great grinders for the price. It offers really good electronic features for the prices which makes it very versatile.

neutro wrote: I guess the Baratza Preciso would be a better upgrade but it's almost double the price off the BSGP. Pricing is region-dependendtthough. But in Canada, for the new price of the Baratza Vario (which is more or less a standard or at least a sweet spot in quality-for-the-buck ratio), you can almost have three BSGPs for a Vario. So it's something to think about.

Between the BSGP and the Preciso, the Preciso has many more grind settings but the overal functionality of the BSGP takes the win for me.

How would you rate the smart grinder pro vs the dose control pro?

The electronic display and controls are worth the price difference in my opinion but I'm not very familiar with the internal construction of the Dose Control Pro.

I own the Smart Grinder Pro. I bought it because I was told by the vendor that it would work well making espresso on my Breville espresso machine. The problem is that with all of the descriptions of the different coffees being drank, I couldn't get the same results in the cup. So I just ordered a Baratza Vario this week.

The general consensus of many on this site that the Vario makes a cup of espresso on par with a Mazzer SJ. I will soon find out. I am expecting to be up and running by Monday and if you want to wait till then I can let you know if it is better.

I will say that generally speaking milk drinks were great and well liked. Even some espressos were good. I am hoping for better consistency and better tasting espressos. I have yet to see shots pouring like thick dark honey throughout the pull. You can check out my thread on the subject of upgrading. Lots of opinions and advice there.

Good luck

Well, from the research I've been doing all week on Breville grinders, I think I'm going to invest my time in looking at better grinders out there, ideally anything on the used market. I'm sure if I get a Breville grinder, I'll just end up upgrading at some point again, so I'd rather spend a few extra bucks now than later.

So far my attention has been drawn to the Rancilio Rocky Doserless, but we'll see what comes up on Kijiji or other classifieds.

elChupaKen wrote: So far my attention has been drawn to the Rancilio Rocky Doserless, but we'll see what comes up on Kijiji or other classifieds.

Poor choice for espresso and outdated, way better grinders out there. Using a Rocky today will make you want to bang your head against a wall vs other grinders.

It might be a bit old but it seems like it does the job. But if you can offer a suggestion for machines in that price range I'm open to suggestions.

elChupaKen wrote:So far my attention has been drawn to the Rancilio Rocky Doserless, but we'll see what comes up on Kijiji or other classifieds.

Had to login just to say *DON'T*!!! Been down that road and 6 months of frustrating hell before I sold it (and bought an HG1).