About a year in, had it on 4 internal an 1 external. At 2 i finally arrived at baldes touching. I guess it really depends on the machine

Fantastic :-0

😊

Thanks :-)

Yeah this is really what the internal setting is for, for adjusting as the burrs wear.

I also got mine 2nd hand and have the exact issue. I have to set internal to finest and the outer one to 2 for espresso.

Also know the burrs are available online on the sage/breville sites if u need to replace it due to wear and tear

@@Coffee_Kev does the regular dose control have internal settings??

I have a refurbished Sage Barista Pro and I had a very similar experience and now struggling to get it fine enough. Will just replacing the external burrs improve or are there other things to try first?

It's the main intention for the finer part of the range, so I'm told. I've actually never heard of anyone finding a reason to use any of the higher settings, and I've no clue what they're for to be honest.

I had to add to this. I was wrong. I am wrong. Wanted to check this out so I reset my inner burr to factory setting of 6. My dial is set to 7 I pulled 2 consecutive shots and they actually tasted better than what I was previously brewing😂😂. I know my beans are good ( I buy them from 2 different roasters here in SF Bay Area.) Maybe my tamping was not right before? I don’t know. Thanks Kev ! I am learning a lot from you and this channel.

Fabulous :-)

I have a Dose Control Pro and am on internal 3, external 5. I probably could get to internal 4 external 0/1, but wanted to avoid the faff and now have a bit of range to work with.

Even with both internal and external set to 1, I've had beans where that's not fine enough. Granted, they've been on the lighter roast side and are pretty dense beans, but still kinda crazy....

@@turkatronic I'm having this exact problem! My SGP is fresh out the box (in fact I returned one recently for not grinding fine enough straight out the box for espresso) and this replacement is the same. At internal 6 and external 1 it is still far too coarse to pull a shot. Am also using freshly roasted light - med (but still esp roast) beans, and to no avail. I kinda feel like I shouldn't have to adjust the burrs already, unless Sage have now made them so they'll be good out the box for older beans?

Very true, mine is 6 month and I am currently on 4 inner and 2 outter

I bought a 2 year old barista pro 2hand and I’m at internal 3 already and am down to 1 externally. So I should go to 2 internally but that doesn’t feel right ( hence I googled it and got to this video) I’m not sure what to do now. I’m new to manually making espresso’s so not sure what I’m doing wrong. I just know that the espressos go way to fast and don’t taste as nice. And it’s also pretty inconsistent Any help? 😊

Ooh! Were you getting the clicking noise when you tried to grind, is that why it was concluded that this was due to moisture? Were you using light roasted beans, by any chance? Cheers.

Hi @@Coffee_Kev I don't remember a clicking noise - the burrs were rotating, but there was no grinding going on. It was an espresso roast.

Hi Barry, Thanks for the update :-) Cheers Kev

I use the same settings and it is spot on! I use fresh beans from a Costa Rican coffee farm 😍

Do you make sure when u install back the inner burr, the wire is properly placed & when install it back, you need to make sure you rotate until it has click sound. Apart from that, try vacuum it first before installing it back. It happened to me too before because of these 3 factors. Now, i'm happy with inner burr 3 & grind size 10 for my fresh bean.

Thanks :-)

My sage smart grinder pro was 7 years old when I loaned it to someone (I don't think I'll get it back 😆 ) I'd used it a heck of a lot, and the burrs were absolutely fine.

On my Breville pro I'm down to 1 internally and 3 externally grind is s too coarse ( less than 12 months old 😢) any thoughts?

It could be that your burrs are slightly worn, going lower than 5 will make a difference with burrs that have seen some action. Cheers, Kev.

@@Coffee_Kev I only just got it. But take the point. Thanks.

Brand new

@@strikergamescallan hmm, interesting! Ta, Kev.

Hi. If you've set the internal and external to 1, you're probably grinding with the burrs locked together. I'd recommend setting the internal to 5, and start at about grind size 10, go from there. You're using the single wall baskets? What beans are you using? This video may be helpful: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ndRxZ5lo37vZdI0.html Ta, Kev.

@@Coffee_Kev I use a non-pressurized basket and 100% arabica coffee with a fresh roast and I bought my machine 3 months ago

@@Amateurbarista ok thanks. Try running your grinder empty from the most coarse to the finest setting and listen to the motor, do you hear it start to strain? If so, at what number? Cheers

Hi Charles, you don't need to shim the Barista pro, changing the internal adjustment does the same thing, it's basically an adjustable shim on a thread.

@@Coffee_Kev I adjusted it to 0 and still too coarse. I removed the end stop and at about -5 it started to grind fine enough. I can only assume the previous owner tried grinding concrete !

Hi Charles, so you changed the internal setting from 6, down to 5? This did the trick or you're still not able to grind fine enough? What kind of beans are you using, are they a light roast? Cheers, Kev.

@@Coffee_Kev no I changed it to minus 5. Or 5 past the end stop.

I don't know what the tolerance is in the manufacturing process, but I've seen that most people's internal setting differs greatly. I'll bet that, beyond the longevity benefits, this setting exists to help mitigate errors induced by the manufacturing tolerance. Within the first couple of weeks I've had to set my internal setting to 3 as well, even with medium roasts. I can now say, about a year later, it grinds as consistently as when it was new.

Just me being daft ;-). I was looking for a term to use to refer to my coffee loving friends, I don't like "coffee snobs", and none of the other terms "coffee geeks", "coffee nerds", etc., seemed right, so I came up with "coffee botherers".

Standard baskets? Have you looked on the top burr to see what the internal setting is set to? Ta, Kev.

@@Coffee_Kev Standard non-pressurised basket (it's a Barista Pro Portafilter as I like it over the Banbinos) The top Burr was standard at 6. It's an odd one as I do get decent results. 1 to 2 ratio and usually 25-30s manual.

Thanks :-)

I have the same issue, not a problem but its a bit annoying to have to grind twice to get the full 18g. My machine is about a month old. Could this issue be limited to new machines? -I've seen other video of breville barista all in ones and they could grind 18g in about 18 seconds or so...

Takes about 14 seconds on my new machine.

I may well have changed it to 4 on an earlier video, I've done a lot more testing with this recently and I can't see any benefit in taking it finer than 5. Not that setting it lower will cause any problem, it just appears to be that going any finer than 5 (with brand new burrs) doesn't have any positive impact, it just appears to push the zero point further up the range.

On my Barista Express Impress I set the internal setting to 4 and that works great in combo with an external setting of 6 for the beans I use.

Don't worry about it, if it's working for you at 4, that's great.

I did the same and it seems fine. How are your pucks looking after tamping? I find a lot of times some more coffee will fall on top before I take it out and it looks messy. So I started to take it out after the first tamp, use the lever once without anything in it and tamp the puck a second time. not sure if my machine has a little defect or it is meant to be like that.

@@krankenkassenwechselfrist7838 I notice that it grinds more than 9 GM of beans. For single cup filter. When I use the razor and remove any excess it says under dosed. Say I grind. And machine shows over dosed. I remove the extra with razor. Then machine says under dosed. The gap in the puck must be same as the depth of the razor I thought.

What version did you get. The new pros and touch are with baratza knives.

If it's a pressurised basket shot time doesn't matter. I wouldn't recommend putting the internal setting as low as three, most will be fine at 5, with pressurised baskets you should be fine at the factory preset of 6 internal, and around 10 external. Ta, Kev

@@Coffee_Kev I was using 03 internally, I'm going to switch back to 6 then, but with pressurized it's impossible to make espresso then? Because it flows water very quickly, you make 50ml in 12 seconds, then subtract the coffee and it becomes acidic. Should I let more water flow? I already ordered a depressurized one, which configuration do you recommend for it?

hey have gotten this problem solved? :)

moved internal to 3 and played around with external in the 1 range - but i think i hear metal clashing - its quite concerning and i don't want to wear the burrs out, well if that's what is happening??

ok upped it back to 5 internal, 3 external and increased the dose - and although it's not super fine (as in handgrinder's finest setting) it did fix the initial too fast run time, zero crema, and sourness issue. Conclusion: i'm a noob and shouldn't even comment here, but maybe there are others as dumb as me:)

​@@xav_B What espresso machine are you using, what dose size are you grinding, dual or single wall basket, how dark a bean roast? Generally I'd set ext to 1 then adjust internal down fine enough to block your portafilter with some month old beans then work up bit by bit to set your finest grind point, but in general I find my dose control pro I have to go really, really low ever since I got it (to work well with a Bambino Plus). Other thing is, are you sure you're getting a consistent amount out of the grinder? It can retain a fair amount of grounds, meaning you can easily end up 0.5g-1g out either way. I just tried grinding 1g less than usual (17g rather than 18g), and that alone radically speeds up the flow rate for me. There's a grinder mod on Etsy by Fusedline that's expensive (replacement hopper, bellows & weight) but I can't recommend it enough, it almost totally removes one inconsistency at least.

It's not that it can't, but lighter roasts can be a real challenge for any entry level espresso grinders, depending on the profile and also the bean, how pourous (or not) it is. Some high grown speciality coffee beans are rock hard, and a smart grinder pro for example (one of the newer machines, from the past couple of years, with a slipper clutch) will engage the clutch at finer grinds, as the torque required is just too much. On other grinders that don't have this failsafe, it could quite easily lead to stripped gears, so I'm not putting down the SGP for this, I just don't think it's the appropriate grinder for lighter roast speciality single origins especially if some of them will be less pourous, more dense, higher grown beans. Ta, Kev.

@@Coffee_Kev Hiya, are there any machines that you reccomend for this? I just got the SGP and we love single origin, light/medium roasts. I bought it just because we have the Sage duo temp machine and thought it would be a good idea to get a matching grinder for the machine! our SGP is second hand but allegedly only a couple of years old. tried it with medium roast beans from el salvador. heard lots of noise but nothing coming out the shute at all. Do you think it was in clutch the whole time?

Hi Jonny, please see my series on the Impress:kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ereZhd2Yu5OXl5c.html&pp=gAQBiAQB Happy viewing Cheers Kev

Hi, drop me an email kev@coffeeblog.co.uk and I will try and help you, Cheers Kev

@@Coffee_Kev i'm in the same position. I've had a smart grinder pro for around 7 months (1st hand). I moved the actual burr hoop pin adjustment to 1 (of 10), pretty much from purchase, because i didn't feel i was getting a sufficiently fine grind (and wanted to have plenty of adjustment available via the 60 step setting knob). NOTE: tbh i can't remember the exact details of why i changed from 6/10 to 1 but do recall wanting to have more +/- in the 60 step to play with. I'm now finding that i'm having to edge finer and finer on the 30 step control to hit 1:2 in approx 30s extraction. Have i worn my burrs out? EDIT: i did your 'run on empty' burr audio test and can hear a drop in machine note around knob step 10 (of 60). This is reproducible. I've no idea when i should be hearing this change in note i.e. which step setting. Have i damaged or prematurely worn the burrs?

Hi Matt. The dose being up and down, this is just when you're adjusting the grind, or even when staying at the same grind setting? Some of the issues you're having may be to do with keeping beans in the hopper. See: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e6uCZq2Kz6utpKM.html

@@Coffee_Kev i don’t change the setting until it under extracts. But it can still vary by a gram. I do fill the hooper up because I’m lazy but we do get through the hopper quickly. Channeling might be the actual issue more than anything which seems just luck of the draw. I also smooth and tamp again which seems to help a little

Wow I've never heard of that happening, where which part broke? If it's out of warranty you can get them here: coffeeclassics.co.uk/parts/

@@Coffee_Kev Yes, crazy, I actually just pulled it out to clean and dry, before trying a new bean, then when I started the grind it just started literally "screaming" like a sound a gear would make if all the teeth were stripped, although these are not visibly, and it has never worked again. I had to replace it. Breville said tough luck....user error....

@@Coffee_Kev By the way, that link only shows spare parts for main machines, Ihave the dual boiler with separate grinder. They do not offer parts for the grinder anywhere I can find, they made me purchase the whole thing again - dissaponted in Breville.

Thanks Adam :-). Going to setting 5 should allow you to grind slightly finer, whether it'll stop the issue you're seeing in the shot, not sure, but only one way to find out 🙂. Cheers, Kev.

Sounds like you need to refine your tamping skills. perhaps. Just a thought as I have also been using a bottomless portafilter with a coffee distributor and a tamper and have hardly any random spraying.