Breville Grind Control Coffee Machine BDC650BSS

After reading many, many reviews this coffee maker ended up the winner to replace my fairly cheap machine that was showing age with electrical problems, and the Breville toaster works so well we just had to get another one of their creations.

First and foremost, I was not happy giving up cone filters for the basket type and it took a while for me to give in to that, but in the end it’s not that huge a deal. Aside from the horribly designed carafe that drips no matter how you pour it and has to be tipped upside down and shaken to try and get all the coffee or water out (when rinsing), my biggest issue is with the grind size. I have been using an old Braun coffee grinder for over 20 years and like my espresso roast coffee ground into a powder to use for my coffee (European style) and despite the adjustable grind control, this coffee maker just will not do a fine grind. My first attempt at using the default settings was pretty surprising as I couldn’t believe the amount of coffee it dumped in the basket for just half a pot. It was ridiculous. So I used the calibration feature which lets you weigh the amount of coffee ground in 10 seconds and input it into the settings (which disappear after each power fluctuation, just like the time) to reduce the amount it was grinding for each strength level. I also thought maybe there was a piece I could shim or adjust to get it finer, but cleaning the whole thing (it comes apart in many pieces for cleaning in a very clever manner) actually made it worse because I think I added more room for the larger grounds to fit through the teeth. Also, while cleaning out the grinder I noticed there were a lot of grounds that stay stuck in the chute each day so unless you disassemble everything and clean it every day, the first coffee that hits the basket is the stuff that was sitting there for around 24 hours getting stale.

Getting ready to brew is quick and easy, but cleaning up is a little annoying. The point where the basket meets the grinder is up under the top of the coffee maker so unless you have really tall counters, you have to bend over (maybe get some artificial lighting too) and get a cloth of some sort in there to wipe up the wet grounds. There’s also a cute shelf below the rotating disk that seals the grinder from the basket to catch grounds, and that shelf can be pulled out for cleaning. Then after getting rid of the grounds and rinsing out the lid (I use a little dishwashing liquid as well to get rid of the oil from the grounds) then it all has to be dried before putting together for the next run. Therein lies another of the issues I have with this coffee maker. All my previous coffee pots I could just leave half open or partially disassembled to dry, but this one goes together one way and one way only. So you either have to lay the pieces all over the counter or dry everything off with a paper towel — every day. One additional topic on cleaning has to do with the water reservoir. There is no access to where the water is stored and no way to see or clean it.

The convenience of this machine is great and like other Breville appliances it has great engineering and thought into the design, but for me a few key things keep it from being great. Bottom line, I expected more for a $300 coffee maker.

Pros
– No more ground coffee everywhere on the counter to clean up in the morning
– Awesome user interface to control making coffee
– Water tank can stay full and it only uses enough for the amount of coffee being made
– Works excellent for individually brewing almost any size cup
– Grinder disassembles nicely for cleaning
– Basket seals cleverly to allow coffee and water to enter with little mess
– Emits almost no steam during or after brewing (I’m not sure where it goes)

Cons
– Have to use a napkin or paper towel to clean up wet grounds off coffee maker and basket every morning
– Can’t pour coffee without dripping on the counter or down the carafe
– Custom settings disappear after each power fluctuation
– Time disappears after each power fluctuation (auto start time was saved though)
– No way to “open everything up” to dry
– Grind chute holds a lot of coffee which ends up sitting there getting stale
– Uses LOTS of coffee with default settings
– Requires more cleanup than any other coffee making system I have ever owned
– Takes up a lot of counter space

Pictures show awesome display and controls, finest grind possible, things inside (behind filter basket) that need to be cleaned.

Update:

After using this machine for a number of months now, I can definitely say this is going to be the next appliance replaced in our house. And I am downgrading it to one star.

Multiple times I have awoken with little to no coffee brewed in the morning for various reasons.
– Since the beans in the grinder feed only from the front, sometimes they don’t feed at all (see picture) and there is about 1 cups worth of beans ground into a 10 cup carafe of “coffee” (this has happened with all sorts of roasted types, oily and dry).
– Since the bean hopper is smoke colored its tough to see in there at night and occasionally it will just run out of beans (because it uses SO many beans) and I won’t find out until the next morning (when I’m running late of course and don’t have time to go through the whole cleaning process required to make another pot of coffee). So the result is I have to take the top off the hopper ALL THE TIME to see what is in there and to redistribute the beans to the front so they will grind properly, totally negating the reason for keeping beans out of the air for freshness (not that the lid is anywhere near airtight to keep beans fresh anyway).
– Sometimes a bean will jam the grinder and it just doesn’t grind. Of course I don’t find this out until I try and figure out what the issue was THIS TIME and possibly end up wasting beans to try and make it grind something.

I also noticed that the “grind control” knob (at least on mine) rattles like crazy while it is grinding and makes more noise than the grinder. If I put my finger on the knob while it is grinding, it’s amazing how much less noise it makes. I was actually going to put a piece of tape over it, but since you have to open the top of the hopper a couple times a day that would be even more annoying than the increased noise.

I still can’t get over how little control over the grind size you have and how much coffee this thing goes through to make a decent cup of coffee (see picture of massive amount of grounds in filter). I’m about ready to get my 30 year old Braun grinder back out and deal with cleaning it up instead of all the cleaning required for this coffee maker (the whole reason I got this coffee maker was to reduce the need to cleanup bean dust flying everywhere). Speaking of the cleaning, I have never washed coffee grounds down the drain before in my life (on a regular basis), and I am very uncomfortable with how much coffee you have to wash down the drain to clean this thing out on a daily basis (be prepared for at least an extra 10 minutes a day). Every other coffee maker I’ve had I would just crack the filter basket open on and let it dry out during the day so it could get composted, but there’s no way to do that with this machine.

Taking the hopper out and cleaning the grinder out is a mess. When it is all fresh and new it comes apart great and looks like it was really well thought out, but I don’t think any of the engineers actually use their own product. I went back and read through the instructions and started laughing when I realized they want you to use a vacuum cleaner and waste a handful of beans just to disassemble the grinder. I’ve been using a spoon to scoop out all the beans left under the hopper when it gets removed, and that takes quite a while, but coffee beans are like gold — you don’t just throw them away because its inconvenient to pick them up.

Finally, the carafe not being able to pour without dripping all over the place is driving me nuts. I was actually going to make a video of all the different ways you can try to pour to keep it from dripping and how the carafe still spills coffee either on the counter, down the front of the carafe, or in the coffee maker. I’m pretty close to just heating up a nail and forming a real spout on it.

This thing was certainly a waste of $300, maybe someone will be happy buying it at Goodwill.

UPDATE: Year 8… RIP to my Breville Grind Control Coffee Brewer which lasted 7 years, 10 months. Honestly I’d have been happy had it lasted 2 years when I first bought it considering I was going through 3-4 brewers per year for a few years prior to buying the Grind Control. The machine technically still worked when I retired it due to a tank leakage I’d neglected to acknowledge that led to a rust build-up on the bottom of the unit. More rust than I wanted to deal with removing. Also, it was looking rather worn after producing so many cups of coffee over so many years. In the nearly 8 years of using the Grind Control I also started drinking and making different coffee brew methods such as French Press, Moka, Pour Over and Espresso. With all those options I afforded myself the time to research and read reviews on other automatic coffee brewers before buying another machine. Nothing seemed to compare to the Grind Control features wise though. So I read the reviews here as well. Not sure where all the hate directed towards this machine comes from. So. Some people overstate how difficult the cleanup is. Cleaning the Grind Control is similar to cleaning an espresso machine. If you want good coffee but feel like maintaining a machine is to complicated, it’s probably best to buy your coffee somewhere. You can start cleaning the Grind Control as soon as the grinder stops moving – just unlock it, remove the hopper and as many beans as needed to be able to remove the grinder, remove the rest ov the beans and clean this area with a brush during the brewing cycle. Use a pipe cleaner to clear the 3 holes in both the top and bottom grinder sections. Once your coffee is ready, take a sip or two then put it on a warming plate while you take a few minutes to brush the grinding chute clean and wipe the entire machine clean with a damp microfiber cloth and wash the filter basket and all removable parts. Pat dry the spout where the water flows into the basket, just above the grinding chute as well since this area can acquire a mineral build-up that can affect the taste of your brew. After a few months of research and having no coffee from a drip machine, I bought my second Breville Grind Control 8 years and 2 months after the first. I’ve been using it for a month now and I’ve certainly missed this coffee. I’m maintaining the new machine better after each use than I did – some of the steps I listed I didn’t do before. The only time I ever disassembled the grinder mechanism on the first machine was during the descaling process. I do use very dark beans though, and since I’ve grown accustomed to deep cleaning an espresso machine after regular use, I’ve noticed details about cleaning this machine I neglected before that when done regularly, produce a better brew. Also with this new machine, I only use the included basket instead of paper filters. This method delivers a brew consistency closer to a French Press, which is sort of what the Grind Control is – an electric French Press…

… … … End of Year 8 Update… … ….

UPDATE: FIVE (5) Years Later… I Still use this machine daily, usually for at least 2 single serve cups of various size, depending on the mug I’m using that day. Occasionally I’ll brew a pot, either when I have guests, or the day after I run the Decalcification cycle, which I just ran today. The machine has a censor that tells when to clean, but rather than waiting, I prefer to clean every 6 weeks. In addition to the brush provided, I use a bamboo picnic knife to scrape inside of the chute to remove more grinds. Compressed Air is useful as well when doing a deep clean of the machine which I do twice a year ((OUTSIDE)). With the hopper removed (and excess beans) I spray the compressed air through the chute and the grinder (top half removed). Vinegar-soaked paper towels help remove ground coffee built up around the grinder and in the chute. Allow to air-dry, and reassemble. …(End of 5 Year UPDATE)…

The Breville Grind control is the best product with an electric cord I have ever purchased. I first saw it at the mall, and upon inspection it was clear it was designed for people who really enjoy coffee, by people who really enjoy coffee. The display model was the only one in stock, and the next store did not have it either. I logged onto Amazon when I got home, and 4 days later it arrived. The next morning, just over 2 weeks before my 42nd birthday, I tasted the coffee I always wanted but never was attainable.

The ability to brew as few as one to as many as 12 cups is awesome. Before work I only have time for one cup, usually 350 ml. On days off I fill the entire carafe, and after more than 3 hours, the last mug is still a very drinkable and tasty temperature. For a single cup, which I enjoy black, I use strength setting 8 (strongest), and grind setting 1 (finest). For a carafe I use 3 on the grind setting.

For after work, I found it quite easy to make an even stronger brew by starting the machine just long enough to grind beans for a 295 ml cup. Stop, open and close the brew basket door, adjust the grind for 235 ml cup, and within a few minutes I have a great base for whatever espresso type drink I have attempted to make. I purchased a separate milk frothing/steaming machine, so now when I visit the local Coffee House it is only to buy beans.

Clean up is easy. Barely 2 minutes of rinsing and wiping. The longer it sits, the tougher it is to wipe the release disk, but I’ve not been so lazy yet that it has been bothersome. This past weekend I performed the descale process for the first time. It was simple and the machine is programmed to allow plenty of deep cleaning time. The previous brewer I owned was a single cup grind and brew system. It made a decent cup of coffee, but was no where near as hot or good. Clean up was tougher as the actual grinders had to be rinsed and dried after each cup. After a few months, the pressure point on the lid of the grinder popped off, cracking the lid. I made it work for a few weeks until I found the Breville Grind Control.

Honestly, the coffee is so tasty I actually thank the machine as soon as the brew process is complete. The only downside? I work at a Diner and usually allow myself whatever coffee I can manage to sip until 10 a.m. I just can’t taste it anymore. It tastes vaguely like that sip of decaf I mistakenly had a couple years ago, and as such, leaves me asking, why? Why would anyone drink this? Well, I for one, am currently devising an iced coffee recipe for my Grind Control so I will no longer have to.

I paid full price for my Breville Grind Control, and have neither requested nor received compensation for my honest review. It has had no performance issues so far and I am extremely satisfied with the purchase.

The photos are of a latte macchiato, from start, to beginning of the end, made using the Grind Control and separate frothing machine. If you need a new coffee brewer and you really enjoy coffee, this is the machine you need.

This coffee maker produces the best coffee ever. Once you have your grind dialed in for the strength you like, you will not get a better cup of coffee. However, it is super finnicky. The grinder cloggs up if you do not clean it after every single grind. The steel disc gate get gumbed up and prevents the machine from working producing an error message. We loved this coffee pot so much we had it sent in for repairs three times, with it being returned from the company in the same condition as we sent it in. They eventually replaced the first one with a new one. Then that one started steaming hot water from all over the place not filling the pot. This one was replaced with another one that lasted only a few months. The company will not honor their warranty as they say it is outside of the original purchase date. This is an expensive coffee pot, supposed to last years. We were able to get maybe a year out of each one with the last one only hanging on for a few months. We have other Breville products and they too are shoddy with little problems. With their crappy customer service I would highly recommend you stay away from this pot. It makes great coffee, but you will be throwing your money away. Sorry Breville Control Grind, you have ruined our mornings for the last time.

Es una excelente cafetera con un muy bien valor, gracias a Amazon pude adquirir ya que no se encuentra en el mercado nacional.
La cafetera cuenta con molino de café integrado y configurable, además se puede programar la cantidad e intensidad a la que se desea.
El recipiente es térmico y mantiene el café caliente, y es de fácil acceso a la limpieza del filtro. Además de contar con temporizador para programar la hora de inicio.