Breville Precision Brewer usage?

#1: Post by **sunnyderder** » June 27th, 2022, 8:27 pm

Hi everyone, new to this forum. I've noticed some discussion of the Breville Precision Brewer, which I recently acquired and have some issues with. Was wondering if anyone can recommend fixes.

I've been brewing 20oz (machine marking) of coffee. 34g of medium roast coffee, gold cup setting, cone basket, ground to medium-coarse (18 on a Baratza). The issue is that my coffee comes out weak and underextracted. If I brew a large amount using the flat bottom filter, it comes out great.

I'm wondering if any others who have the same machine can speak to their experiences with brewing small amounts of coffee with this brewer? Thanks in advance!

#2: Post by **rhtrevino** » June 27th, 2022, 9:06 pm

I would try bumping up your dose to 36g of coffee and grinding a bit finer. Go from there. At ~600g of water, 34g of coffee is about a 17.6:1 brew ratio. I would start around 16.67:1. For me, personally, I would bump that to 16:1 so 37.5g of coffee as I like my filter coffee a bit stronger. Let us know how you get on!

#3: Post by **GEGIJr** » June 29th, 2022, 10:18 am

Hi,
I just took delivery on a BDC455 yesterday, 06/28/22. I did the water hardness test (came up 2) and ran a flush as suggested by the manual. This is my first drip brewer in 10 years. Heretofore I've been using pourover, making French Press (my favorite) and using the Breville Infuser for espresso. During summers (I live in Midwest) I mostly do cold brew. However, my 10 year old Infuser quit working for second time, the 1st was back in Sept 2018, so I decided to get out of the espresso game. Okay that's quick and dirty background on my coffee journey. Now to your query.
I ran my first brew cycle this morning. Used 30g medium roast Tropicalia Pink Bourbon variety from Columbia, ground with Hario Skerton set at 4 notches. Used the single cup setting with cone basket, Melitta #2 brown paper filter (rinsed and should have use a #4 because noticed grounds were almost at top of paper after brew cycle). Brewer set on Gold with 20oz filtered water with the standard shower head adapter. I brewed into the warmed thermal carafe, just to use the carafe. I must say, even for me who is not a big fruity coffee fan, (the Tropicalia tasting flavors is Mandarin, Gulupa and Chamomile,) I thought the coffee tasted excellent. I am very hard to please when it comes to coffee and prefer a dark roast so this was an excellent first taste test.
As for the brewer's functionality, it seems a little loud for a drip coffee maker! I hope that's normal. My old drip makers back in the day made almost no sounds except for sound of water flowing through the head. Not sure the purpose of the "Since Brew" timer? I would rather see a timer for the brew cycle instead of just the progress bar at bottom of LCD.
Anyway, sorry for the long response.

June 29th, 2022, 11:17 pm

Glad to hear you had a good brew! Quick question - when you brew 20oz, did the brewer ask you to "Insert Cup" (i.e. instead of "Insert Carafe")? Mine does, and I think if I use the carafe it comes out weak because the water immediately drips through (instead of being held in the basket).

GEGIJr wrote:As for the brewer's functionality, it seems a little loud for a drip coffee maker! I hope that's normal.

Indeed it is. I believe its because of the PID/motor that the breville uses for precise temperature control.

#5: Post by **MikeTheBlueCow** » July 9th, 2022, 9:28 am

sunnyderder wrote:Glad to hear you had a good brew! Quick question - when you brew 20oz, did the brewer ask you to "Insert Cup" (i.e. instead of "Insert Carafe")? Mine does, and I think if I use the carafe it comes out weak because the water immediately drips through (instead of being held in the basket).

Hmm, I had this brewer awhile ago and no longer have it so I can't check, but I feel it should only be asking for the cup if you are in pour over mode (for use with the pour over adapter specifically). I don't know if that setting should effect anything other than the my brew mode. This mode effects the physical "dongle" that opens the draining on the bottom of the filter chamber. When this mode is activated, I believe the dongle rises to allow draining regardless of whether you have the carafe or a mug inserted.

My best brew results especially for smaller brews with this device were to preheat and prewet the filter by adding a cup of water and doing the Fast brew. This helps preheat the carafe too for better thermal management. Empty the carafe. Use the my brew setting and set for a longer bloom time and hottest water setting with slowest flow. This worked best for me anyways with brews <16oz.

#6: Post by **GEGIJr** » August 31st, 2022, 8:15 pm

Sorry I'm just now responding. Yes, it displayed "insert cup" in <= 20oz mode. In the <=20oz mode using the carafe make sure you have top in lock setting to prevent immediate release of coffee. Per page 12 of manual "7. NOTE Lock (pour not unlock) the carafe lid and place the carafe under the drip stop outlet."