I wanted to catalog my impressions after more than two years of roasting coffee on the Behmor 1600 and now 1600+, hence the following missive. Hopefully, there will be some good points for the Behmor roaster that will be gleaned.
The advantages of home roasting are, beside the fun of creating your own product, the freshness of the coffee, the great variety of quality beans, the ability to tailor the roast to your exact specifications, and the cost savings. At a quality bean store such as Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders, green beans cost between $4 and $6 per pound with weekly specials and savings offered. There are dozens of types of quality green beans offered—I once counted 37 different Guatemalan coffees from one store alone.
The advantage of the Behmor 1600+ over the Behmor 1600 is better control of roast temperature and drum speed at the end of the roast, as well as the ability to roast longer and well into second crack for darker roasts. When first learning to roast, I would probably disregard the manual options provided by the 1600+ and concentrate on simpler roasts. Behmor sells his product for about $369 and some stores throw in a few pounds of beans with a purchase. It is a drum roaster, the least expensive commercial roaster that will roast a full pound.
When comparing the Behmor to commercial roasters, the big difference is roast time—it takes over 20 minutes to roast a pound on the Behmor, 8-12 minutes for a commercial roaster. There is also no sampling during a roast on the Behmor. There are roast workarounds and, ultimately, the Behmor delivers an outstanding roast as good—or better—than one can buy.
In addition to the roaster purchase, buy Simple Green for cleaning the roaster every 5 roasts, a good quality hand vacuum for vacuuming the chaff during and after a roast, and a good quality scale for weighing product before the roast. Record the parameters of each roast so that when the roast is excellent, it will be reproducible. Record the type of bean, initial weight of roast, roast settings, and time of roast. Sweet Maria sells reusable plastic coffee storage bags with one way valves; I bought the one pound size and have used them over and over with success to limit oxygen exposure to the roasted beans.
Before roasting, spend plenty of time reading the Behmor literature and referring to the web site information that it offers; Sweet Maria has a roast forum that offers excellent information, troubleshooting, and general roast tips. Do not use an extension cord, as the power delivered to the roaster will be attenuated, negatively impacting roasting times and quality. The literature provides other insights as well.
Roasting outside has two advantages, the ability to open the door at the end of the roast for quicker cooling and avoidance of “coasting” beyond the desired roast level and avoiding the smell of roasting coffee which in the commercial world can lead to lung disease, so-called “popcorn lung,” irreversible lung damage. Coffee brewing smells wonderful; roasting coffee does not, so roasting outside will be appreciated by all the home denizens.
Typically, I roast on the 1 lb setting, as it allows a longer roast time, but measure out only 400-420 grams of green coffee, 454 grams being a pound. I place the room temperature beans in the drum and turn it on at P1 (the hottest setting) and 1 lb, which sets the timer to 18:00 automatically. At 16:00 I turn it off, then restart the same settings, but hit the + button which allows one to extend the roast to 20:30. This in essence “cheats” the machine by allowing a 2:00 preheat or extension of the roast time. If one lets the preheat go much beyond the 16:00 remaining time, the roaster will be too hot to restart and the roast will not continue until the machine cools, defeating the preheat intent.
With the roast set at 20:30, I set my iPhone timer to 13:00, so that it alerts me when the roaster hits 7:30, giving me 60 seconds to “save the roast,” and avoid the automatic shutoff that occurs when one does not again hit “start” before 6:30. Failure to hit this “safety” button terminates the roast and ruins the beans.
When my timer signals, I run to the machine and hit start during the 30 second window where the time is blinking; there are then about 6 and a half minutes left on the roast. I set the iPhone timer to 5 minutes so that I am back in front of the machine with about 1:30 remaining on the roast. At that point, first crack has usually started, as I typically use high altitude Central American beans that require a higher temperature and a bit longer roast. One can use visual cues by looking through the window to assess roast, but as the machine is used, despite cleaning, the bulb cover gets dirty and the roast will look darker than it actually is, as the lighting is not adequate. I use sound and smell more than sight, personally preferring a roast at the end of first crack, as the cracks get less frequent.
First crack is louder than second crack; sometimes there is a quiet time between the two and sometimes the two cracks overlap. First crack can be as loud as popcorn and sometimes quite soft, dependent on the bean type. Second crack sounds like Rice Krispies in a bowl of milk, very subtle. As second crack starts, the Behmor smokes a bit more and the smell change is often evident. First crack builds, then slows, usually having a start, middle, and an end, allowing precise audible roast control. Every bean type behaves a bit differently, though can be grouped into high altitude and lower altitude beans, Central American representing the former.
The chaff collector is useful indoors where the roaster door is kept closed even during cooling. Outside, where one can open the door for quicker cooling, the chaff collector is not needed. What I do is open the roaster door a few seconds before I start cooling, vacuum the neat pile of chaff under the drum, and then touch the cool button. Some chaff blows out during the subsequent cooling cycle, but disperses quickly. As noted, the advantage of opening the door is avoiding roast coast to a darker level than desired.
If one weighs a full ½ lb of coffee and uses the ½ lb setting, or a full pound and the one pound setting, the roasts take a little longer and one risks the lack of full development, though the + features are helpful in this situation. It is far better to roast a little less quantity and reach the desired roast level than to gain an extra ounce and under-roast.
About 10-15% of the weight of the beans is lost during roasting, as the chaff can be considerable and there is dehydration. Interestingly, the volume increases—the 13 to 14 remaining ounces from a one pound roast occupy more volume than the initial beans did.
After the roast is complete, I remove the drum, stand outside over flowers and plants, and shake the drum until the significant remaining chaff is gone. I sometimes stop it with a few minutes left on the cool cycle, as the drum temperature is cool enough to hold the drum without worry. You will be surprised by the amount of chaff remaining. Allegedly, chaff has no taste, but I find it aesthetically negative and prefer to shake it out.
After the roast, I put the beans in a large bowl and use a spoon to turn them over and over, looking for under-roasted beans or defective beans, usually finding a few in each roast, and discarding them. Generally, though, the roast evenness is quite good when quality beans are used in the Behmor.
The coffee tastes best a few days after roasting; carbon dioxide blows off and the “grassiness” of a fresh roast dissipates. Everyone has his own preference, and I have often happily brewed a coffee just roasted.
During a typical roast, the P1 profile delivers the most heat; there are web sites that graph the temperatures of the various P profiles, as the heat delivered is not constant. Those graphs are worth reviewing to gain more insight into the roast mechanics. Near the end of the roast, one has the option of using the + profiles, extending the roast and doubling the drum turning rate. The latter option keeps the beans closer to the heating element during the end of the roast, which may or may not be advantageous. Use C and D buttons to enter this “extra inning” time frame.
When the + settings are used, P5 becomes the hottest setting, P1 the least hot, backward from the initial roast. Extra time can be added again by hitting the proper button, but one risks an error message and roast termination, the drum will stop, and the beans will be ruined if the machine senses that it is too hot. Have a pair of oven mitts available to remove the hot drum if this happens; this may allow salvage of an otherwise ruined roast. Using an initial lesser weight of beans helps prevent this, as roast times are shortened.
After each 5 roasts, clean the cool roaster with Simple Green, avoiding the sensors on the right, then run a dry roast on the ¼ lb setting, as the Behmor instructions indicate. Keeping the roaster clean is important. Every 6 months or 100 roasts, take the back and right panels off carefully and clean the roaster, also explained in the Behmor literature. It is recommended that one wait an hour between roasts for ample machine cooling, but I have roasted successfully with 20 to 30 minute times between roasts; I have seen no machine or roast deterioration as a result.
When you find a bean you like, be aware that quantity is finite, much like wine. Buy 10 or 20 pounds, as the green beans keep at least a year without deterioration when kept in a cool environment. I personally like Guatemalan beans best, mainly from the Huehuetenango area. I have had as many as 20 Guatemalan bean types from different farms, just like one could have 20 different wines from Vosne Romanée in Burgundy. There are differences to each and one can blend or preserve the unique flavor of a particular farm. There is also vintage variation—next year’s beans from the same farm will be different due to the climactic differences year to year.