Breville Grind Control Coffee Maker #BDC650BSS

Love fresh ground coffee brew

Love fresh ground coffee brew

I have owned this coffee maker for 8 years (repaired one time) and if it died today i would most likely buy it again. I love the coffee it makes, good temperature, fresh grind. I Love that i can set a timer and have the pot ready when i come done in the morning.
If you like to use whole beans but are time crunched in the morning and like to make a pot instead of a cups or don’t want to spend the $1000+ on an super auto espresso machine than this machine is for you.

All that being said it does have a few things that need to be managed
1. Use lighter to medium roasted beans. It does not love dark oily beans. That’s not to say you can’t put a bag of dark roast in, it just tends to clog the grind shoot mor frequently and required more cleaning.
2. Clean it frequently. The coffee shoot and rotating discs at the back (behind the filter) get grimed up with coffee over time unless you diligently clean it daily after every use (who has time for that). I try and descale it monthly (with vinegar) not because it needs a descale but because i find that combined with running water though it after helps clean behind the disc (which can’t be removed). Cleaning the shoot is straight forward and monthly is fine if you are using low oil beans.
3. I no longer make single cups. This is what broke the machine the first time (after about 2 years) which after some haggling, Breville repaired at their cost, I paid shipping. The reason i don’t make a single cup is fear of breaking it again and i think it is because disc and mechanism that lifts the spring that opens the bottom of the filter gets stuck and the machine faults which can’t be cleared and the disc is stuck. Brewing a pot is a simpler operation for the machine (fewer movements of parts) since the pot itself lifts the spring in the brew basket.
4. It is noisy. If everyone gets up at the same time its a nice alarm in the morning but if you have single early riser it can wake others up when making that first pot. I have mine in the basement now.

All that being said I would still buy this again. It’s a nice looking machine and makes a great pot.

I gave a one star review because it would not allow me to give no stars (I have a giant machine on my counter that does not make coffee so it is more a liability than anything). Manufacture told us that we werent using properly. We did all suggestions. Still wildly varying coffee result even if settings the same. From super strong to barely coloured water. We were told it was not their problem. We are long time coffee drinkers and I thought a grinder combo would be convenient. It was a very expensive mistake. Maybe we got a lemon but don't take the chance thinking the manufacturer will respond.

We sometimes get weak coffee because the beans don't go down in the hopper to the grinding area in the machine. we have to open the lid and move the beans into the front area of the hopper to make sure enough beans get ground to make a good cup of coffee. if we don't do this we often get a weak cup of coffee. Any suggestions?