Pre-heating with a behmor

West Village

Do users of the behmor or other home roasting devices preheat before roasting?

Would it make much of a difference in the cup or are they designed to roast from cold and compensate for that in some way?

Brett H

I always pre-heat or at the very least do a stabilising cycle on much reduced heat. I've found that this makes my roasts more even.  As for the taste I couldn't tell you.  Happy Easter!

West Village

Happy Easter to you and all members also! Yes I used to also but recently have swapped back as I couldn't notice any major difference in taste ( that's my poor palate for you). I have been trying to target 12-13 min roast times to acentuate a bit more sweetness and acidity and have just reduced batch sizes (200g)to achieve this. A pre heat wouldn't hurt but I figured by the time I have fluffed around with getting the drum in I have let out so much of the heat is there any point? Working in a commercial kitchen in a previous life taught me that opening the oven door briefly you would let out at least 20 deg C . Trying to get a drum in id probably be letting out more. I've heard people doing a preheat with beans in ? That doesn't sound right to my idea of a preheat as that is part of the roasting/drying process surely?

askthecoffeeguy

i dont bother with a preheat i just ramp on P5 till first crack and then adjust down from there might reconsider if i lived in a cool climate though  :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: P

LeroyC

I got my Behmor just over 15 months ago and have done over 100 roasts on it now. I spent the first few months of last year getting to know the machine and it's basic operation. I also did a lot of reading online to gather ideas on how to use it best. About this time last year I started experimenting with the main variables of manual control, preheating, batch size and cooling method. What I found is that the thing that makes the biggest difference to the quality of the roast is getting the correct batch size and using the correct batch size and profile settings. Most of my successful roasts for quite some time were 250g batches using the 200g setting with either P1, P2 or P3 auto settings depending on what coffee I was roasting. I experimented lots with manual control and found that you actually have more chance of success by choosing the right auto setting than by going crazy with manual control. Most of my roasts these days are on auto until close to 1C. I always at least lower the heat at 1C, but sometimes I increase it for a minute or so before 1C too if required. I always increase drum speed when I go into manual mode too, just for a minute or two. I found that preheating and cooling method make a difference as well. Because the Behmor is so small with not much thermal mass it's greatly affected by ambient temperature. Living in a relatively cool climate that can experience fairly large temperature variation I found that preheating added some consistency, and I was able to confirm this through profiling my roasts using a Heatsnob. So if you're ambient temp is consistent enough without preheating it's probably not necessary. I tried all the different methods and settled on preheating with tray and drum out with the beans loaded in the drum ready to go. I preheat to a set temp (usually between 80-100deg 'B' temp) then load as fast as I can. Cooling is kind of the same in that what ever you do it's about being consistent. I found that cooling in the machine was difficult as I was struggling to work out when to stop the roast to allow for a bit more roasting to occur due to the amount of heat still in the machine. So now I cool externally in a sieve and fan setup that I've put together. Again I'm aiming for consistency and what works for me won't necessarily work in other situations. Hope this very long winded explanation helps a little.

West Village

Great tips guys and I'll certainly consider all your points. My ambient temp roasting indoors in an apartment is always around 18-23 degs. Rarely does it move outside of that range. But I can see the logic in using a preheat to get beans to FC that little bit quicker. Behmors are never going to reach the same temps as commercial roasters so I guess it probably needs all the help it can in getting close. So I might bring back the preheat into the mix. Unfortunately I don't have any logging software ( except roastmaster app on my phone, but that's more for timings cos I don't have probes) My other thinking with the preheat (please correct me if I'm wrong), will a lack of a preheat extend the drying and maillard phase slightly? As the behmor  takes longer to reach temps. Extending the drying/maillard phase would have an effect on the cup also and is something I'm trying to achieve. Am I going about it the wrong way in the above assumption? I'm due to cup my results of batch size reduction ( like you leroyC I tend to auto P1 till about 30 sec before Fc where I drop to 50% power then @ FC drop further to 25% to end the roast when DT hits that 20-25% mark. I tend to open door as soon as she finishes as my only consistent way of a cooling procedure goes. Most times I'll chuck a box fan in there.

askthecoffeeguy

I nearly always do 500g in my behmor and push out the roast  time using the manual controls and I don't have any problems  getting the roast up to  temperature I pretty much ramp on P5 to end of first crack then hit P1 and cost for 2mins or thereabouts It's not full proof but it is my go to profile under most circumstances and I'm usually pretty happy with the.results P

West Village

I'm due to cup results of my 200g batch experiments shortly after which I'll try your 500g batch method. You mentioned coasting for 2mins at 25% power toward the end of FC . After pulling that do you cool externally or leave the door open or closed in the behmor when cooling?

askthecoffeeguy

on 1492592779:

I'm due to cup results of my 200g batch experiments shortly after which I'll try your 500g batch method. You mentioned coasting for 2mins at 25% power toward the end of FC . After pulling that do you cool externally or leave the door open or closed in the behmor when cooling?

I leave the door open when cooling you get an initial puff of chaff but I just vacuum this up afterwards - ive tried cooling externally but i havent noticed any tangable benefit p