Behmor 1600 plus - tips and tricks ?

askthecoffeeguy

I really enjoyed using my gene cafe but I found that the glass walked drum could cause tipping or scolding of the beans - I did manage to get around this a bit by doing a relatively low temperature ramp to first crack, followed by coasting for a minute or two after that Love my coretto set up and I get great results every time - but it's definitely an outdoor activity and during Melbourne winter that's not always as enticing as it sounds Looking forward to firing up the Behmor ! P

DrD

Hi Patrick I have the old version but installed the "plus" control panel upgrade. I think the improvements are well worth it, especially when you have to contend with cold weather. In days gone by I sometimes struggled to reach 2nd crack within the normal roast time (300 g batch using 1 lb/400 g setting), especially if I was roasting outside on a chilly day. However the plus version allows you to extend the roast time indefinitely; by pressing the C button you get an additional 3 min 10 s roasting time. As for making use of the manual setting of roast power, I've pretty much stuck to the 1 lb-P1 profile using 300 g of beans. If left to its own devices, the P1 profile is supposed to be 100% power for the entire roast period. When my roasts reach rolling 1st crack, I press the P4 button and this reduces power to 75%. I let it run at this level till start of 2nd crack and then cool. I have heard of others dropping power to 50% or lower at 1st crack, but haven't tried this lately with the cold weather (worried about stalling the roast). I'm not on top of the science behind it all, however I read that dropping the roast power this way allows you to stretch the roast time between 1st and 2nd crack. With the previous version some achieved this by propping open the door for a period of time. Being able to alter the roast power in the plus version seems a great improvement. Good luck! Dan

askthecoffeeguy

Oh great advice, thanks Dan I'm expecting my roaster to arrive tomorrow or Thursday latest - so I look forward to putting it through its paces Best, Pat

GaryatGala

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

I really enjoyed using my gene cafe but I found that the glass walked drum could cause tipping or scolding of the beans - I did manage to get around this a bit by doing a relatively low temperature ramp to first crack, followed by coasting for a minute or two after that Love my coretto set up and I get great results every time - but it's definitely an outdoor activity and during Melbourne winter that's not always as enticing as it sounds Looking forward to firing up the Behmor ! P

You,ve had a go roasting on the Behmor, how do you find the quality in the cup compared to the coretto?

askthecoffeeguy

Look the quality is very similar - what I like about the coretto is that you can back off on the heat until the colour change in the beans kicks in, and then ramp it up a bit without scolding the beans - and it's a good, industrial heat source which gets lovely flavours out of the roast ! I love the Behmor Plus as well and I know it's capable of making great coffee - but I still think it's a bit over designed for my liking What I would like to see is manual time and temperature settings coz that's all I really need to roast - but I'm also mindful of the fact that I'm just getting started on the Behmor, and that it's capable of getting really great results Plus it's a complete all in one application with no fiddly bits - and I'm getting great results with no preheat and using the built in cool down cycle - so that's definitely a plus And I can use it inside in a well ventilated space on a rainy day - but that's not really an option with the coretto - which for me at least is really only an outside option

GaryatGala

Thanks Pat. Was thinking of adding the Behmor to the roasting collection but was told enough is enough by the minister of finance, even though I pointed out that there is enough space on the bench to sit next to the twin corettos, FZRR700 baby roaster sampler and the KKTO. Happy roasting [emoji106]

askthecoffeeguy

Hi Gary, I sold my Gene Cafe then for an extra $70 I managed to pick up the Behmor Plus - and Im very happy with the roast results - very even and great for espresso, which is something I struggled with at times on the Gene Cafe Four days post roast and my PNG Organic Naturals, and India Elephant Hills AA are drinking a treat! P

petenank

Seeing that this thread started a while ago ... I'm wondering what your extended experience of the Behmor+ is ? The comment was made about it being particularly good for espresso, what about filter coffee?? I've started to come around to the idea of getting one in the near future, but I'm not quite convinced .... yet!

Brett_H

Hi mate, I have the Behmor V1 and as a roaster for starting out it s fantastic. I can only imagine that the plus is even better for tweak ability as your experience grows.

askthecoffeeguy

I think you just need to keep a constant eye on all the variables and log what you're doing to get very repeatable results and yes filter roast not a problem! Even colour and consistency of roast is very readily achievable with the plus especially on the manual settings !