I wanted to buy a Breville with a built in grinder, like Barista Pro or Express Impress or Touch Impress or Oracle.
However I want to sometimes drink French Press or Cold Brew.
Question is, can i use this grinder to grind for that, or must I buy something extra?
I am not too fussy with quality as long as it works.
You can change settings on the grinder and grind into any container, no problem.
Will depend on the machine, for example the Oracle can't do that.
Sorry was referring to Barista Express.
So the barista express can grind very coarse that is enough for french press?
Because if too fine, can’t press hahah
@Frankensnore: I just realised what a french press is and yes it will work fine. My mother only drinks 'plunger coffee' and when she comes over/stays at our place, I use the coarsest setting on the Breville and it plunges fine/she likes the taste.
You can grind for another device using the Oracle (at least the Touch version, but presumably the same) but it’s a little complicated. You have to remove the tamper (just reach up a grab it; it’s just held with a magnet) and then grind into the portafilter (it won’t grind unless it senses its presence). The machine won’t stop grinding without the tamper (presumably it can’t sense the grind volume) so be aware of that too.
You can grind for another device using the Oracle (at least the Touch version
The non-touch Oracle grinder works the same way as the touch version.
but it’s a little complicated
LOL a little complicated is an understatement. Basically you are tricking the machine to grind, and can only grind one portafilter volume at a time, so not really what it was 'meant' to do and certainly a bit of a PIA.
The machine won’t stop grinding without the tamper
Correct, the machine uses a pressure sensor on the tamper pushing down to work out when the portafilter is full. So without the tamper head on the shaft, it won't be triggered.
You also run the risk of grinding too much and clogging the grinder up if your not careful.
As an owner of a Oracle myself, I honestly would not recommend doing any of this to get grind coffee on a regular basis. But a grinder.
I dont know how fine or coarse the grind for the things you mention are but I doubt they are finer than espresso (2-3)
Espresso is pretty much the smallest grind size possible. Any other method uses coarser settings :)
Seeing as a built in grinder in an espresso machine (I would imagine) would be an espresso-focused grinder, which don't usually go that coarse in the grand scheme. Cold Brew works best with really coarse grind. Eg. I have a Fellow Opus, which is an all-round grinder, (works well for both espresso and filter, around $300) espresso range is around 1-2, whereas cold brew is as coarse as it can go (I do around 10.5)
Yup that’s why i ask if someone who has this can confirm.
Such a waste of space to buy separate grinder
so i have a barista express and can confirm that it is very much espresso focused. The coarsest setting is still very fine compared to my smart grinder pro (yes i have 2 grinders)
I have the Smart grinder and can control the grind to the degree I like for whatever process I am using. I pair this with the Bambino Plus for the espresso experience, but can also grind beans to take away for camping and use a filter or French Press method if I want… can't speak about the inbuilt grinders, I avoided those models for the reasons most people have stated - only really grinds to suit the machine attached to it…
I would go the separate Smart Grind Pro grinder for any volume grinding. I have the Oracle machine and it just doesn't have the range of grinds that the SGP does. I can also tell you the Oracle and certain all in one machines can be quite pricey to service. A SMP or similar can be obtained on the classifieds for a hundred bucks. The callout alone for servicing your built in grinder would be close to that. Yes, it is a little annoying having 2 grinders in the house but from an economical stand point and grind control level you just can go past that separate machine. Also, and this may be a lesser issue.
If you're going away on a trip and want to fill a container with, say, 10 cups of grinds, the SGP can be set to do that, and at a larger grind size that won't slip thru the mesh grill in the cold brew filter. It might have around 40 to 60 different grind size settings (I'm just trying to remember the exact number as it's slipped my mind, I know it's quite a lot!).
You can change settings on the grinder and grind into any container, no problem.
I dont know how fine or coarse the grind for the things you mention are but I doubt they are finer than espresso (2-3) and the settings range from 1-15 I think. 15 is very coarse.