Coffee Roasting Question

[Newfie]

I use a Behmor 1600, the settings won't apply to the roaster you use if you have another roaster, but maybe the absence of 1st crack is something you've seen.

My normal roast had these settings:

1 lb / P2 / C + 0.00 with a charge of 270 - 300 gms, depending on ambient in the garage and incoming voltage.

Now with warm weather coming I've been increasing the charge weight a little, with the last few roasts having 320 gms, and adding 1:00 to the start time.

With these new settings, the beans never get to first crack before 2nd stage where the temperature drops, and even then, only a few snaps, NEVER rolling C-1.

Second crack usually starts somewhere around the 1:10 - 1:20 mark.

First time I saw this, I thought the roast was screwed because 1st crack never really happened. The results were good so I tried to replicate it a few times, and it's been quite repeatable.

Espresso and Americanos are much smoother, and a Cappuccino has a faint but strangely strong (hard to describe) dark chocolate flavour.

FWIW, my roasts are usually a blend of 40 gms each of Kenya, Nicaruaga and Guatamala, and 100 gms each of Peru and Costa Rica.

Anyone else ever come across this?

 

[Jim]

My Gene' and my roasting are slow and gentle right up to before 2nd crack. Having the coffee hang in the 340-370 zone develops much sweetness and a heavy mouthfeel. I get no audible crack unless I let it go to 2nd.

Alas..... I toasted my heater this week and am waiting for a new element.

 

[Newfie]

SNIP<<< I get no audible crack unless I let it go to 2nd.

Alas..... I toasted my heater this week and am waiting for a new element.

Interesting. I don't remember ever reading about that before. Most write-ups I've read always talks about when 1st ck is and runs timing from that.

How often do you bring it to 2nd, and how far into it?

Sorry to hear about the element. How long 'till you get it?

 

[Jim]

Interesting. I don't remember ever reading about that before. Most write-ups I've read always talks about when 1st ck is and runs timing from that.

How often do you bring it to 2nd, and how far into it?

Sorry to hear about the element. How long 'till you get it?

I "try" to pull it just before 2nd crack, but often I do go to the very first snaps of 2nd.

The heater element should be here in a week or so.

 

[Scotto]

I don't know anything about the Behmor, so it is hard to say. I personally would be very wary of relying on the "ultra-gentle" approach with any electric-powered roaster. I speak as someone who tried 2 dozen+ roasts of various styles this way. It is possible to get a great cup this way, but it is very hit or miss since it is too easy to stall the roast due to the lag times with electric roasters. I know people like Tom at SM use this sort of roast, but they are using high-powered gas roasters. I think the sort of prosumer machines we are using don't have enough control, and lend themselves better to other roast profiles.

The conventional wisdom, such as it is, says that after keeping the beans below 300 degrees or so for 3-5 minutes of drying, you should ramp as quickly as possible to 1st crack. Jim seems to be getting results he really likes with a slower approach, but on my Hottop that produces some really baked, flat roasts. I like a lot of snap to my coffee, so I am very sensitive to that defect. Other people like more of the woody/toasted/caramel notes that a slower approach can yield.

The bottom line is that if you like the taste, it is sort of irrelevant how you got there. Don't let any "experts" tell you what to do

 

[echelon3]

A number of people are having improvements in Behmor roasts by pre-heating the roaster. I can't remember where I saw a thread about this, but it's out there. It amounts to firing up the roaster for a minute or so, then shutting it off and loading.

We bought one for my sister-in-law and she experienced the same as you, at least with certain hard beans. Playing with her's, I found that first crack was easily noticeable when roasting espresso with soft Brazilians as an ingredient, less so with Africans.

If hitting a city or city+ roast is your goal, Joe has timed a number of roasts and claims that rolling 1st hits around 2:30 BEFORE 2nd. If you're hitting second with 1:10-1:20 try hitting "cool" around 3:30 or so.

HTH.

 

[Newfie]

SNIP<<< you should ramp as quickly as possible to 1st crack. >>>>SNIP

Basically, the P-2 profile on the Behmor does exactly that. It's a quick ramp-up to temperature, and holds there to ~ 8:30 left in a total program cycle of 21:30 when it drops down to the lower temperature of stage 2 of the roast cycle. With a charge of 300 gms (with reasonable voltage and ambient), that is right about where 1st crack happens, maybe about 20 seconds after 1st crack.

Now, with the extra 20 gms, when I DO HEAR the very few snaps of 1st, it's 20 - 40 seconds after the 2nd stage starts.

A number of people are having improvements in Behmor roasts by pre-heating the roaster.

<<<<SNIP>>>>


If hitting a city or city+ roast is your goal, Joe has timed a number of roasts and claims that rolling 1st hits around 2:30 BEFORE 2nd. If you're hitting second with 1:10-1:20 try hitting "cool" around 3:30 or so.

HTH.

I've seen those posts as well, and have tried it occasionally, but not often.

As for the timing between 1st and 2nd, the program mentioned above gives me as much as 6-7 minutes between, depending on the beans.

I won't pretend to know anything about the chemistry and physics of bean roasting, but I have read roasts that the extended time between 1st and 2nd cracks makes subtle differences. I like the results of that profile.

Some of the worst roasts I've done have 1st and 2nd running together, and I hate the taste of the beans when that happens.

 

[echelon3]

As for the timing between 1st and 2nd, the program mentioned above gives me as much as 6-7 minutes between, depending on the beans.

As long as they aren't baking, that should really develop some underlying flavor.
Nice.
I've never been able to stretch out the roast that far in my s-in-l's machine.

 

[Newfie]

SNIP<<
I've never been able to stretch out the roast that far in my s-in-l's machine.

I take from a post further above you bought your sister-in-law a Behmor?

If so, try the program details I put in the first post in this thread.

Like everyone says, taste is a subjective thing, and just because I like it doesn't mean you will. Worth a try though.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I have ~ 130 roasts logged and my wife laughs at me when I go back to look for something I did before.

 

[Scotto]

6-7 minutes between cracks is a long time, but of course it depends on how you are measuring it (beginning of first, after first, etc.). I find 10 degrees/minute is a good target. On the Hottop bean probe, 1st typically starts around 380 degrees and second around 430, so for a Full City roast it is about 5 minutes.

I should have mentioned before that the loudness of the cracks is a function of bean moisture. Back in the day when I was using the Gene, I found that pre-heating the machine pre-roast made a big difference in how loud the cracks were. On slower roasts, the cracks are definitely quieter since there is more drying before first crack.

 

[echelon3]

I take from a post further above you bought your sister-in-law a Behmor?

If so, try the program details I put in the first post in this thread.

Like everyone says, taste is a subjective thing, and just because I like it doesn't mean you will. Worth a try though.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I have ~ 130 roasts logged and my wife laughs at me when I go back to look for something I did before.

Thanks! I will.

 

[Newfie]

SNIP<<<
I should have mentioned before that the loudness of the cracks is a function of bean moisture. Back in the day when I was using the Gene, I found that pre-heating the machine pre-roast made a big difference in how loud the cracks were. On slower roasts, the cracks are definitely quieter since there is more drying before first crack.

Previous to my "accidental" discovery that prompted me to post this, 1st snap was relatively loud. Now, what snaps of 1st I do hear have a totally different sound, much softer and somewhat longer (if that makes sense).