# Barista express grinder



## Iris (Oct 29, 2018)

Ok I have had my barista express around 2 months and never used the grinder as I have the smart grinder pro.

I did however have a look at the upper burr tonight on the intergrated grinder of the barista express..... well I actually discovered it has the adjustable upper burr that's numbered to make grinding adjustments, just like the smart grinder pro.

Just posting incase some people were unaware, it doesn't even detail it in the manual. My barista express is the newest model the one with the temp control milk jug included.

Just putting it out there as I have a read alot about people not likeing the barista express as it doesn't have a good enough range.

Think I will be selling my smart grinder pro make some space on the counter.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

Iris said:


> Ok I have had my barista express around 2 months and never used the grinder as I have the smart grinder pro.
> 
> I did however have a look at the upper burr tonight on the intergrated grinder of the barista express..... well I actually discovered it has the adjustable upper burr that's numbered to make grinding adjustments, just like the smart grinder pro.
> 
> ...


The BE grinder is very similar to the SGP. Don't think it goes as course but then, why would you want it to considering it's been designed to be used with the espresso machine?


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## Iris (Oct 29, 2018)

ashcroc said:


> The BE grinder is very similar to the SGP. Don't think it goes as course but then, why would you want it to considering it's been designed to be used with the espresso machine?


yep seems very similar to the smart grinder pro, the only coffee I drink is espresso so I am going to sell my smart grinder pro make some space on the counter, and get abit of money back for more coffee accessories


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

There are only minor differences between it and the SGP. Not so minor performance wise though IMHO. It's far better at producing fluffy grinds than the SGP all down to how the grinds exit the grind chamber under the burrs. It is possible to weigh beans in on both of them but eventually things choke up and what goes in eventually doesn't come out. That happens while the permanent retention builds up as well.

There are some really stupid comments about on adjusting Sage grinders such as set the burrs to their finest setting and all was ok and crap before. This is highly unlikely to be needed. All adjustments do anyway is shift the "numbers" for the same size of grind. My SGP was set too fine. I set it to one and ran it empty. The burrs were rubbing so hard that the motor would have stalled if I hadn't switched it off quickly - fortunately I did start it up in manual mode. I adjusted the burrs so that the motor just sounded a little busy at a setting of one and ran clear at a setting of 2 or 3. Later I checked the BE and found it was set up with the burrs rubbing gently at 1. In use I had never used it below 4 and that was with some rather strange beans where grinder adjustments didn't make as much difference as they usually did.

Sounds a bit busy? Motor running a little slower than when the grinder is completely empty and the burrs are clear but not as slowly as usual when grinding beans. The variation in speed when grinding beans is just down to the use of brushed rather than pure AC motors. Some people seem to think it's signs of the motor struggling.

Many grinders are adjusted by turning by hand. Suspect that the Sage could be done the same way but the gearing back to the motor means that rotating the burr this way takes rather a lot of effort. Suppose it could be done this way as grinding at that setting should not be needed at that setting. Even the setting I used will wear the burrs if run like that for a long time.

I'd also suggest only making large adjustments finer with the grinder running. Just one step at a time without. There is a need to waste a few grams of beans every time the setting is changed anyway.

John

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## jonf (Nov 17, 2018)

One difference I've found between the SGP (2017?) and BE grinder (2012?) is the amount of retention space. The SGP has a small recession around the upper burr which traps a non-negligible amount old, partially crushed beans, whereas the BE does not.

I haven't compared the overall retention, but last time I did a fairly decent job of cleaning out the BE grinder I dumped out about 10g of grinds. From my last SGP clean-out, it appears as though it retains less ground coffee internally, though I'd want to check again to make sure.


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## oracleuser (Sep 26, 2018)

One big difference is that the express grinder has only 15 steps and the Pro has ~ 45. With 15 it could be hard to find a proper setting


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## parxuk (Dec 8, 2011)

How are you supposed to use that setting on the top burr? As you say its not detailed in the manual.

Thanks


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## RufusA (Sep 28, 2017)

parxuk said:


> How are you supposed to use that setting on the top burr?


Assuming it's the same as the SGP, Seattle Coffee cover it off on their YouTube video:





 at around the 2:30 mark.

Though as they clarify in a later video it should only be adjusted a bit to move the grind point if it becomes difficult to get a fine enough grind due to burr wear!

Rufus.


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## Iris (Oct 29, 2018)

turn the dial on the grinder to the highest setting think its 18, this will help you remove the top burr.

Once you have taken the top burr out remove the silver handle, then turn the dial on the burr from the factory setting of 6 down to 5 to make a slight adjustment to grind finer. Only adjust be one setting at time, like don't move it down by like 3 numbers in one go.

The above video posted by another forum member will show you how to adjust it as the burr is the same as the one on the sage smart grinder.


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## Bibbleq (Aug 16, 2016)

Just had a look on my 2.5 year old BES870UK model and it doens't have that adjustment on the top burr, I assume they changed that with the BES875UK minor upgrade?

From browsing the "spares" website I think this is the one I have:

https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0001580.html

I wonder if I buy the other version if it would work for me in the older machine?

https://www.sageappliances.com/uk/en/parts-accessories/parts/sp0020426.html

Does that adjustment help much, if I'm using "fresh" beans I can get a good extraction with grind 5-2 but when practicing with supermarket beans I can't even get half decent extraction on 1?


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## oracleuser (Sep 26, 2018)

Bibbleq said:


> but when practicing with supermarket beans I can't even get half decent extraction on 1?


That is normal







99% of the supermarket beans are too worse for a portafilter machine.

And practising with them does only makes little sense because maybe you get very inconsistent results (my shots varied about 20-30ml (!) with supermarket beans)

However, if you "need" them, then use Lavazza. They are the only supermarket beans which work on normal grind settings


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## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

Yes this was an upgrade, Not sure when. I think it came about when there was a release of SGP's that could need shims to grind fine enough for espresso.

The burr setting on my BE was just about perfect as it arrived. When run clean at the finest setting it reduced the motor speed a touch. The setting of my SGP more or less stalled it so I set that coarser. There is no point what so ever in going past the point where the burrs are just touching.

The person that mentioned SGP steps against BE steps needs to read one of the previous posts. Retention is also pretty low on both grinders - carry over from one bean to another is likely to be gone by the time 20g of the new bean has been ground. Taste wise it's only likely to be really noticeable on the first shot. Some is trapped permanently but that for a conical grinder is very low.

John

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## oracleuser (Sep 26, 2018)

ajohn said:


> Retention is also pretty low on both grinders - carry over from one bean to another is likely to be gone by the time 20g of the new bean has been ground. Taste wise it's only likely to be really noticeable on the first shot. Some is trapped permanently but that for a conical grinder is very low.
> 
> -


What do you mean with that?


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## Iris (Oct 29, 2018)

Bibbleq said:


> Just had a look on my 2.5 year old BES870UK model and it doens't have that adjustment on the top burr, I assume they changed that with the BES875UK minor upgrade?
> 
> From browsing the "spares" website I think this is the one I have:
> 
> ...


best thing to do would be to phone sage customer services and ask if the adjustable burr would be ok for your older model barista express, I would think it would be but just to be sure before wasting your money, phone and ask.


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## Lydso (Apr 7, 2019)

Bibbleq said:


> Just had a look on my 2.5 year old BES870UK model and it doens't have that adjustment on the top burr, I assume they changed that with the BES875UK minor upgrade?
> 
> From browsing the "spares" website I think this is the one I have:
> 
> ...


Did you find out if the newer adjustable upper burr from BES875UK fits the older BES870UK? I have just ordered it hoping it fits, if not I guess I'll just return it.


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## FranSanchez (Mar 18, 2021)

Lydso said:


> Did you find out if the newer adjustable upper burr from BES875UK fits the older BES870UK? I have just ordered it hoping it fits, if not I guess I'll just return it.


 I know this is quite old, but I have exactly the same question. Did anyone find out?


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