What Are The Best Breville Smart Grinder Pro Settings For Different Coffee Brew Methods?
At the top of the screen on your Breville Smart Grinder Pro, you will see a scale. It ranges from “COARSER” to “FINER.” Underneath these words, four brew methods are displayed: plunger, filter, percolator and espresso. In total, there are 60 different grind size settings you can choose from! With such a large range, how you know what the best Breville Smart Grinder Pro settings are for your coffee? Different types of coffee preparation methods require different grind sizes. Keep reading to learn more about the best Breville Smart Grinder Pro settings for cold brew, aeropress, pour over and espresso brews.
Grind Settings Options
Different brew methods will require different coffee grind sizes for the best results. The Breville Smart Grinder user manual maps grind sizes to settings in the following way:
- Fine: 1-30
- Medium: 31-45
- Medium Coarse: 46-54
- Coarse: 55-60
Smart Grinder Setting For Espresso
When brewing espresso, you want to use coffee beans that are finely ground. The Breville Smart Grinder Pro has a pre-defined espresso brew method, with 30 different grind size settings to choose from. Breville recommends starting at grind size setting 12. You can then adjust the grind from there to achieve the optimal flow of espresso from your machine. You can also adjust the grind amount setting at the same time if needed. The 12 setting is just a recommended starting point. There is no one size fits all approach. The optimal settings can vary by bean and roast, among other factors.
The way to know if you need to adjust the Breville Smart Grinder setting is to extract a shot to see if you are achieving the correct flow for optimal taste. For a single shot, you want to grind setting that gives you 30 ml of espresso in 30 seconds. For a double shot, you want to grind size setting to yield a 60 ml shot in 30 seconds.
If your shot is being pulled too quickly, your beans are too coarsely ground and the espresso will lack both color and flavor. You’ll want to move the dial to a finer (lower) setting. If your shot is taking longer than 30 seconds, your beans are too finely ground or packed too tightly. The espresso will be very dark in color and bitter in taste. You should move the grind size dial to a coarser setting (higher) and try again.
Best Breville Smart Grinder Cold Brew Setting
To make your cold brew concentrate, you want to use coarse coffee grounds. Fine grinds will make a brew that won’t taste good because it will be too bitter. Unfortunately, some Breville Smart Grinder owners shared that even Breville itself acknowledges that this machine may be better suited for finer espresso grinds vs coarser cold brew grinds. I recommend trying it for yourself on the coarsest setting possible and see if you like the taste of the resulting brew. If not, you may need to invest in a coarse grinder.
Choose the “PLUNGER” brew method and turn turn the dial to the max 60 grind size setting. Then, you will also want to adjust the upper burr grinder manually. To do this, follow these steps:
- Unlock the hopper and hold the hopper over the container as you turn the dial all the way to unlock. This will release the beans into the container.
- Align the hopper and put it back into position. Run the grinder until the hopper is fully empty.
- Twist the upper burr in the “align” direction and pull up to remove it.
- Remove the wire handle from both sides of the burr.
- Move the adjustable top burr to the right, in the direction of “coarse.” Go all the way to 10 and align that number with the handle opening. Insert the wire handle from both sides of the burr.
- Insert the upper burr and push it into position. Turn it towards “lock” to lock it.
- Align the hopper and lock it into place.
What Breville Smart Grinder Setting To Use For Aeropress
You can use medium, fine or medium-fine coffee grounds in an Aeropress. However, you’ll need to adjust your brew time depending on the grind size you choose. The finer the grind, the less brew time required. Medium grinds should brew for at least 3 minutes, medium-fine for 2 minutes and fine grinds for 1 minute.
The optimal setting will vary from bag to bag of beans. However, you can start with the following Breville smart grinder setting depending on the brew time you prefer and adjust accordingly:
- 1 minute: Grind setting 12
- 2 minutes: Grind setting 30/31
- 3 minutes: start at grind size setting 38 and adjust from there, higher for medium-coarse and lower for medium-fine
As with other brew methods, finding the “best” grind setting to use with your Aeropress will take a bit of trial and error. Thoroughly understanding how to use the Aeropress to make the best coffee is key. I recommend watching this video from the Tim Wendelboe coffee shop in Oslo, Norway. They’ve perfected the use of the Aeropress and can help you better understand grind size options.
Pour Over Setting On Smart Grinder
The optimal grind setting for your pour over coffee will depend on what type of coffee maker you are using: Chemex or cone shaped pour over coffee makers. Try a medium-coarse grind, around 52, for a Chemex. For cone-shaped coffee makers, you can go with a slightly finer grind setting. Try starting with 50 and work your way down from there if you need to.
