Behmor 1600....

[joel]

Showed up this afternoon, which was a nice "pick me up" after a miserable day of jury duty. Set it up in the "Man Room" and gave it a whirl. I don't know why it has a reputation of not being able to create a dark roast a fair amount past second crack... I sure didn't seem to have any issues (see pics below).

Really stunning how easy this machine is to use.... literally like a microwave. We'll see how the coffee tastes in a few days, but it sure looks/smells lovely.

Drawer #1...

Drawer #2...

My first victim...

4 oz, 1/2lb setting P4, D - -

Greenies on top of the roasted coffee for comparo...

Before and after - pretty wild expansion...

 

[Austin]

Nice microwave Joel.

 

[thanks]

Whoa, that's dark!

Next time you roast some up, try a FC+ roast where you basically stop the roast as the beans enter second crack. I found this roast to be a chocolate bomb with that particular coffee.

 

[mouscacha]

dang! That's not fair! How'd you get such a dark roast!?

 

[Tanksfurnutin]

Congrats, I've had mine for almost two years now. You can definitely get a dark roast as long as you don't roast a large amount. I have found that a little over 10 oz. on the pound setting is the max for getting a dark roast in the Behmor.

Enjoy.

 

[Jasonian]

dang! That's not fair! How'd you get such a dark roast!?

By using 4oz. of coffee for a setting intended for 8oz.

 

[mouscacha]

Wow! I guess I'll try that. Haven't had french roast since I started roasting. Should be interesting.

 

[joel]

Wow! I guess I'll try that. Haven't had french roast since I started roasting. Should be interesting.

This is a true French roast, this morning when I took a look at the beans and they had developed a nice oily sheen. My intention was to try to get a full French for chuckles and grins.

Can't wait to actually try the coffee....

 

[StillShaving]

Agree, the Behmor 1600 is easy to use and a fine choice. It may not offer as much control as the more expensive units, but I think the final result can be as good or better, since it is simple to get things dialed-in. Just experiment with weight, time, and profile for a given coffee origin to find what roast suits you best. I am still somewhat a newbie with my Behmor, but I like the results.

Looks like your initial roast was a success. My first roast was under-roasted, more fit for cupping than brewing. Yours looks a little dark, I expect the oils will really break out by day 2 or 3, but it still should make a good drip or espresso. Have fun.

 

[thanks]

Just a word of warning that when you do get into the lighter roasts such as city and city+, the Behmor starts to show it's weaknesses unless you're roasting dense beans. I'm struggling with exothermic reactions at the moment to nail light African roasts that aren't Kenyan.

 

[waitasecun]

looks very dark to me....did it smoke very much?

 

[Thebigspendur]

Another thing to consider is that with many of these units like the behmor and the Cafe gene which I have is that if you roast on a regular basis and make very dark roasts you are beating the hell out of these machines and shortening their lifespan. If you really do heavy duty roasting you are probably better off saving your pennies for something like a hottop.

 

[KenS]

Congrats!
I bought a Behmor when they first started selling them at SM's, and consider it one of my all time best purchases.
Ken

 

[mouscacha]

Congrats!
I bought a Behmor when they first started selling them at SM's, and consider it one of my all time best purchases.
Ken

How's it holding up for you? Replace anythign yet?

 

[KenS]

How's it holding up for you? Replace anythign yet?

So far it's holding up just fine. That's after roasting once or twice a week for ?? Long enough that I don't remember just when I did buy the Behmor.

Ken

 

[StillShaving]

Another thing to consider is that with many of these units like the behmor and the Cafe gene which I have is that if you roast on a regular basis and make very dark roasts you are beating the hell out of these machines and shortening their lifespan. If you really do heavy duty roasting you are probably better off saving your pennies for something like a hottop.

I don't know about the premise that the lifespan is shortened just because of a dark roast. The high heat is not friendly to the electrical components, so a darker roast exposes them longer but if they were that sensitive they would fail after a few uses. The extra roast time is not that significant over a lighter roast.

These are consumer machines, not meant to roast pounds of coffee each day, but I don't know what the expected lifespan is. From what I've read, it seems than keeping them clean is very important. In the case of Behmor that means occasionally taking the cover off and cleaning chaff than somehow makes it way inside the unit.

 

[mouscacha]

Taking the cover off? I think I better do this.

 

[AJMiami]

this one is on my shopping list..(if I ever take control of my brush buying disorder)

I've been using a stir crazy with a supentown top for years

 

[Jasonian]

I don't know about the premise that the lifespan is shortened just because of a dark roast. The high heat is not friendly to the electrical components, so a darker roast exposes them longer but if they were that sensitive they would fail after a few uses. The extra roast time is not that significant over a lighter roast.

These are consumer machines, not meant to roast pounds of coffee each day, but I don't know what the expected lifespan is. From what I've read, it seems than keeping them clean is very important. In the case of Behmor that means occasionally taking the cover off and cleaning chaff than somehow makes it way inside the unit.

I've seen home roasters die prematurely due to exclusive dark roasting.

Darker roasts also result in higher emissions. There is more to the life of a roaster than the heat.

 

[Jasonian]

this one is on my shopping list..(if I ever take control of my brush buying disorder)

I've been using a stir crazy with a supentown top for years

Honestly, I think the TurboCrazy can result in better coffee. It's not as convenient. Convenience is about the only real benefit that the Behmor would have for you.

Just my opinion, of course.