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Breville's own BCG820 instruction book puts espresso on the Smart Grinder Pro at settings 1 to 30 and names 12 as the starting point for a single wall basket (30 if you use the dual wall baskets). From 12, go finer if the shot runs fast and sour, coarser if it chokes.
Breville Smart Grinder Pro grind settings by brew method
| Brew method | Breville Smart Grinder Pro setting |
|---|---|
| Espresso | 1 to 30, start at 12 (dual wall baskets: start at 30) [1] |
| Pour over | no published Breville number; the drip filter band next door is 31 to 48, so treat its fine half as the starting zone [1] |
| AeroPress | no published Breville number; between the espresso and drip bands depending on steep time |
| Moka pot | no published Breville number; Breville's manual covers stovetop percolators under its espresso section workflow |
| French press | 55 to 60; Breville's French press recipe uses 58 [1] |
| Cold brew | no published Breville number; the coarse 55 to 60 press band is the standard class [1] |
Every numbered range above was checked against the source in the footnote it carries; where a manufacturer publishes nothing for a method, the row says so instead of inventing a number. Ranges are windows, not verdicts. Beans, roast age, and dose move the right setting inside each window, which is why the dial-in ladder below matters more than any single number.
How the Breville Smart Grinder Pro adjustment works
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro uses 60 numbered settings, 1 finest to 60 coarsest, grouped by Breville into espresso, drip filter, percolator, and French press bands. Find your zero before trusting any chart: with the hopper empty, tighten toward fine until the burrs just touch, call that zero, and count from there. If your zero point is calibrated differently from the chart's, every range shifts by the difference, which explains most "the chart is wrong" complaints.
Dial it in from the chart in 3 steps
1. Set the middle of the espresso range above and brew once, changing nothing else. 2. Taste against the two failure directions: sour, thin, or fast means grind finer; bitter, harsh, or stalled means grind coarser. The full logic lives in why espresso runs sour and why it runs bitter. 3. Move in small steps, one variable at a time, and write each attempt down; the free dial-in logbook exists for exactly this, and the printable dial-in cheat sheet keeps the correction table next to the machine.
Get the grinder
The Breville Smart Grinder Pro is on Amazon: check the current Breville Smart Grinder Pro price. Prices move often enough that we link the search rather than quote a number that will be stale by Friday.
Related reading
FAQ
What is the best Breville Smart Grinder Pro setting for espresso? 1 to 30, start at 12 (dual wall baskets: start at 30). Treat the range as a window, start near its middle, and adjust on taste: coarser if the cup is bitter, finer if it is sour or weak.
Can the Breville Smart Grinder Pro grind for espresso? Espresso on the Breville Smart Grinder Pro: 1 to 30, start at 12 (dual wall baskets: start at 30). See the table on this page for every other method.
How do I read the Breville Smart Grinder Pro adjustment? The Breville Smart Grinder Pro uses 60 numbered settings, 1 finest to 60 coarsest, grouped by Breville into espresso, drip filter, percolator, and French press bands. Zero is with the burrs fully closed, and higher numbers or more clicks mean a coarser grind.
Sources
- [1] Breville's BCG820 instruction book: https://assets.breville.com/Instruction-Booklets/USCM/BCG820_USCM_IB_2020.pdf
Improving your brew? Browse our free coffee tools, print the brew ratio card, and try our method: the descending pour.