Every recommendation site should tell you how it decides. Here is ours, including the parts that are unflattering.
1. Where the recommendations come from. Machine and grinder pairings are a structured synthesis of long-standing consensus in the r/espresso and Home-Barista communities, read across the whole market rather than one retailer’s range. Where those communities have argued the same question for years and landed somewhere, that is what Dialed reflects.
2. Where the compatibility data comes from. The Accessory Fit Finder is different in kind: portafilter, basket and tamper sizes are verifiable facts, not opinions. Each figure is taken from manufacturer documentation or established retailers, and every source is listed on the page so you can check it yourself.
3. What we do when sources disagree. We do not average them and we do not pick the convenient one. The machine is either left out, or published with the conflict stated plainly on the page. The Breville Barista Touch currently carries such a note.
4. What we do not do — the important part. Dialed does not own these machines. There is no first-hand testing, no shot-by-shot comparison, no teardown, no measurement with calipers. Nothing here is a hands-on review, and we will not imply otherwise. If you want someone who has actually lived with a machine for months, seek out reviewers who own it — several are linked from our pages.
5. Why we show no prices. Amazon only permits price display when the data comes live from their API. We do not have that access, so rather than publish figures that quietly go stale, we publish none and send you to check the current price yourself.
6. How the affiliate link affects the recommendation. It does not. The pairing logic is fixed, identical for every visitor, and written before any link is attached. Dialed stocks nothing, so there is no house brand to favour. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
7. Corrections. If a size or a pairing here is wrong, it is a defect, not a difference of opinion — and it will be corrected.