Corey, African beans, particularly natural process, have a lot of chaff. Also that darker roast is going to lose a lot of the nuance of those beans. I think drip does too.
Thanks Michael. I generally prefer Central American beans, which means P1 on the Behmor. At this point, I probably have 20lbs of beans to go through (maybe 7 or so varieties) and no Africans in sight.
I’m another one who has long eyed the Behmor but not bit yet. Space concerns in the kitchen are probably the biggest problem. it would be a long-term money saver as I currently buy high quality beans which means about $16+ per 12 oz in my market (though that will get me a range of high quality beans roasted locally and from the big national names).
I used to roast in a very old popcorn popper though which was excellent, but the newer poppers don’t work as well and are way too much trouble. I always found that the African coffees had so much chaff. But if you find a good say Ethiopean and roast to a relatively light-medium you get excellent results. I think that can be hard for a home roaster though to get the timing right.
spacewise, the Behmor is the least of my problems–fits nicely in the pantry. Finding space for the 30+ pounds of beans I now have is a different story. I may need a burro and sombrero soon.
I did 20 plus the preheat. So, one minute longer than you did.
that is cool. Just read a lot about it. Very interactive. What can you tell me–how is it?
Mark, what is the learning curve like on the Huky 500? Also, what about smoke? I was not familiar with this until reading your post. I went online and looked at them and watched a couple of YouTube clips on the product. The ability to roast one pound to whatever degree I wish and to do roasts back to back is appealing.
I have had a Behmor for about 5 years and one can’t really do a one pound roast into second crack. I have the new upgrade panel on its way and I’m hoping that will allow me to get one pound into second crack.
Thanks in advance for your input.
I am also curious re the Huky. Regarding the new Behmor panel, are there other advantages beside a darker roast?–answered my own question–measures temperatures also–available w free shipping for $49.95 from roastmasters that has a nice review/explanation. I ordered one.
Well …you will need to take my comments with the understanding I just started roasting.
I don’t find it difficult to use at all really. It took me 3-4 practice sessions before I more or less got the control issues down to a reasonable level.
I bought a variac for my fan control and have the outdoor vent set up. I also bought the seperate cooling fan.
I roast in c as that’s just happened to be what mr li sets his profiles up in and I still do it since I have it more or less memorized.
I like smaller batches. So a typical 250g roast goes like this
Preheat to a bt (bean temp) of 200.
(Note on temp control…using the fan typically lowers et(environmental temp) but raises bt ( but then et catches up very quickly)
I use roast master to track the temps as I roast
So back to roasting.
Drop beans at 200c
Watch the temps and try and shoot for a turn around of 100 in about 1:40 time. Adjust heat slightly to facilitate this. Usually I just leave heat on half here.
Aim for bt of 160 at 7 minutes. I adjust heat and use my fan to watch the curve being drawn to try and hit this target. It’s not all that much work…usually means running temp between half and 3/4. With hitting the fan on 10-15 seconds out of every minute.
At 160 I increase my heat to 3/4 or 7/8. (Depending on where I was) till I hit 180c. At 180c I close my bean canister damper and go full heat to fc.
At fc I drop my heat to 1/10 and go full fan for 1 minute. I try and prolong first crack. After that I go half heat till done and use the fan as required to remove smoke…most often that means setting the fan on about 40% and just letting it run.
I usually pull most beans at 220 and go into the cooling fan tray.
Every now and again I will get into sc but not often.
Sounds like more than it is…it’s fun and makes the time fly by. Will be the quickest 12 minutes of your life when you are trying to remeber all this the first few times.
I have done one pound roast and back to back roast.
To me the two advantages have been stated in our posts: You can get a darker (likely really dark roast if you wish on 10-14 oz roasts) and it would seem as though I can get 16 oz of beans to second crack. I don’t like french roast dark, but I do like, on occasion, what some describe, I think, as Vienna roast.
I think that those that get more sophisticated and complex with their roasts would think there are other advantages…but I wouldn’t know what they are. That’s above my head and interest.
Oh I think it has the heat to turn a pound into ash if thats what you want…
I have dropped a pound at 300 C with no issue getting there.
How long/dark are you roasting this Alan? I plan on trying to roast some Las Rosas this weekend.
400 gm. 2 min preheat. P2 on one pound setting for 19 min 30 seconds, sometimes just 19:00. Gets to what I think is full city. Better w a couple days rest. Let me know.
Thanks Alan. I may go on P1 because I tend to like it better, but I’ll report back in any case.
I went 23 minutes on the Brazilian and it turned out great.
Does anyone have a good place to purchase bags with valves?
Join green coffee buying club. They do all sorts of group buys. I was able to purchase 25 1lb and 25 8oz valves bags from one very cheap and I didn’t have to buy the 100 of each the i et vendors charge.
Just joined.
FYI, the Colombian geisha roasted to FC. Actually overshot slightly, but first crack was still going on just before I stopped it.
Sweet Marias as well. I think they have a $15 minimum order, but you can mix and match the bags. Another option anyway.
just bought 9 one lb. bags and a pound of their Guatemala Huehuetenango to round up to $15.
Going to roast a little lighter–more nuances and coffee character than the FC+ I have been doing.
On Tuesday I received my Behmor 1600 Plus panel, installed it yesterday, roasted with it today.
Installation: Under 30 minutes for me and I am the antithesis of mechanically inclined. The only issue I had with the instructions that came from roastmaster.com is that they were black and white and the instructions referred to colors. Not a biggy. If I can do it, anybody can.
Roasting: It appears that I achieved my goal and intent behind getting the panel. I roasted a pound slightly into second crack with 4:50 or more left. I did the recommended (for first time) P5/100% power and I did not remember until 10 minutes into the roast to toggle to the faster drum rotation which, if I understand it correctly, keeps the beans closer to the heating element more.
It appears that the manual mode offers many options that I’m not sure I’ll explore. Too complex for me. However, I think I will experiment with the P4 75% and the drum rotation more.
I really applaud Behmor for offering a 49.95 way to upgrade a $300 machine when so many businesses would have pushed customers to spend 300.
Now…we will have to see how the beans taste. Tanzanian Peaberry.