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Coffee Roasting with Behmor 1600+

Roaster and beans were delivered today. Unboxed, ran burn in roast them attempted first roast. I'm not sure I was hearing the cracks like I thought I would. I didn't want to think I was missing it and go to long do I stopped it after I thought I heard crackling like 2nd crack. I now believe I was only slightly into first crack.

This was 1/4 lb Columbian Supremo on P1. Stopped with about a min to go. Here are some pics. Guess I'll see how it looks in the morning but I think it's still too green.
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They might be a little grassy tasting. About 2 minutes short of city (or so it looks to me).

The "magic" is to press the "C" button when you first here the beans cracking, then just sit back and wait for it to finish.

You did get the 1600+ model? If you didn't, you may not have the rosetta stone program and C won't do its magic for you
 
They might be a little grassy tasting. About 2 minutes short of city (or so it looks to me).

The "magic" is to press the "C" button when you first here the beans cracking, then just sit back and wait for it to finish.

You did get the 1600+ model? If you didn't, you may not have the rosetta stone program and C won't do its magic for you
I did get the plus model as they explained the Rosetta function in the manual and Amazon listing says plus. I have a feeling I was just not sure if what to listen for with first crack. From a few videos I watched it should be much louder than what I was hearing.

I have family in town this weekend and they all seem interested in this process so I'm sure I'll get lots of practice tomorrow. Will at least do a cupping of tonight's roast to see what it's like.

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Grind up some and give us your opinion on the taste.

You should have much better tasting coffee than you have experienced before with a slight acid taste.

It looks like you ended up between cinnamon and city but it is hard to tell from a pic online
 
Smell and taste was very green. It was extremely hard to grind since I was using the hario skerton.

I did a 2nd batch this morning which turned out much better. I could tell it went through first crack and was actually roasted. I let it rest for a few hours then did a cupping with both roasts and another roasted coffee I had in hand.

The first roast didn't even form a crust to break. The 2nd batch turned out great. I picked out a nice citrus smell/taste. The third bean was an Ethiopian from Crimson Cup. It had a berry note that was very prominent.

After the cupping I served the second batch as pour over for 8 family members. All enjoyed it and drank it black. A few mentioned typically adding milk/cream or sugar and not needing any.

I feel the citrus note in the Columbian Supremo leans toward lime. It is easy to detect but not sour. Coffee was not bitter at all. I was very impressed with my 2nd attempt.
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Finished up roast 3, took it through to what seemed like the start of 2nd crack. Here is a comparison of my 2nd (left) and 3rd (right) batches.
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Brewing a cup now...
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Definitely less citrus but it is still there. It has more body and is a bit sweeter at the end. Still very smooth and not bitter. Interested to see what 2nd crack brings [emoji1]

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wait till you start blending your roasts.

Most coffee you have been used to drinking is a blend of some sort.

Here is one I enjoy. Dark Brazilian which has an almost chocolate taste, A little lighter Sumatran (city +) with an earthy taste, and a light city roast Ethiopian which is high in citrus notes.

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Roasted a 1/4 lb Columbian decaf last night. Wanted to try for full city as that was the recommendation on the bag. Got it to start second crack and stopped as soon as I realized that's what it was. Since I was roasting outside I opened the door immediately. Seems I got closer to Vienna or full city plus by the time it cooled down.

I mixed it for a half caff blend with the Columbian I roasted yesterday. Seemed to produced a "normal" coffee flavor. I could taste the roast more and less of the actual bean flavor. It was a hot with the family though. I now realize how I've gotten used to light roasts and single origins.

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I should have mentioned that decaf will roast completely differently than non decaf.

It starts out dryer so does not take as much dry down time (start of the roast) and gets to 1st crack faster.

I've never mastered roasting decaf using any of my coffee roasters and I always use SWP decaf which is supposed to be the better decaffeination method.

For decaf I might suggest stopping just at 1st crack or 30 seconds before as your roaster will continue running after it tell it to stop as it has no way to get the beans our of the hot roasting chamber which is why I use forging gauntlets and remove the basket right as the roast is finished.

The more you use your Behmor the better you will get at gauging when to stop your roasts so that they "slide" into where you want them. You have to "anticipate" where the roast will end up so that you can stop it early enough to hit your target. Stopping too early and you will get hard grassy beans as in your first roast.
 
Looks like you are having success with your new roaster @jhadsell1883.

I got a big smile reading about your first roasting effort, as I had a similar issue with my first attempt and under roasted the coffee. In my case, first crack had started strong and when I cracked open the door so much smoke came out that I panicked and hit the cool down button. It tasted like coffee but was so grassy that it was not enjoyable. The coffee would have probably been drinkable if blended into a darker roast at a small ratio but I did not try it. I was cleaning out my coffee cabinet last weekend and found a small jar of that first roast. I have been tempted to try it since it is now 7 years later and should have mellowed quite a bit. :) Attached a photo of the seven year old coffee below.

I have only roasted decaf a few times but as @turtle noted it takes a different approach. The last batch I roasted rolled from 1st crack directly into 2nd crack without the usual quiet period in between. So one must stay on top of it.
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I will have to admit that I did one rock hard roast when I was not paying attention and did not whack the control panel to tell my Behmor I was still alive and it stopped the roast just after dry down.

Even the Forte BG would not crack those beans.

I had to throw them out.

It happens to everyone at one point or another.

Even on my SF-1... I thought I was going for the tryer to look at the bean development and grabbed the birds head and dumped the entire roast in to the cooling basket.

Luckily I was able to pour them back into the still running roaster.

Not the greatest roast but it was drinkable and blended well :a7:
 
I already threw out that first batch...I was tempted to keep it as a reminder of how I started but figured it wasn't worth it.
Tonight I roasted 2 half pound batches. One of each Columbian Supremo and Columbian decaf.

Here's my starter roast log. Not sure what else I should be tracking but thought this was a good start. So far I've been using P1 as it seems to be working well.

1/2 lb CS
1C @ 12, cool @14:20 at 2C

1/2 lb CD
1C @ 10:20, cool @10:50 during 1C

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Tried the decaf last night and it had a much better flavor. Tasted less like roasted coffee and more like the flavor notes describe. Nice chocolate flavor but was kind of subdued, not sure if that is just the difference of decaf or the beans.
The Columbian Supremo was today's coffee. It was much more lively of a cup. Nice brightness that was almost too much by the time it cooled. Not sure if that means I need to roast a bit darker?

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Tried the decaf last night and it had a much better flavor. Tasted less like roasted coffee and more like the flavor notes describe. Nice chocolate flavor but was kind of subdued, not sure if that is just the difference of decaf or the beans.
The Columbian Supremo was today's coffee. It was much more lively of a cup. Nice brightness that was almost too much by the time it cooled. Not sure if that means I need to roast a bit darker?

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You're probably used to blended coffee.

It takes a bit to get used to single origin coffee.

Since you have 2 roasts (1 decaf) run 30% decaf with 70% coffee).

See if the meld of tastes is what you are looking for.
 
You're probably used to blended coffee.

It takes a bit to get used to single origin coffee.

Since you have 2 roasts (1 decaf) run 30% decaf with 70% coffee).

See if the meld of tastes is what you are looking for.
I've been drinking Lavazza grand espresso or super crema for espresso mostly. Pour over has been single origin but more similar to the Columbian Supremo I have.

Don't really drink decaf much but blending it for my in-laws is the goal. I was wanting to try it to compare to the much darker roasted results from this weekend. It is better but does not compare to regular. Will have to try a blend tonight.

I'm enjoying roasting but wondering if I need to tweak my roasting style to get different results. Either stretching out time between 1st crack and finishing our a different profile


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Behmor does not allow for "tweaking" easily. There are a few things you can do but those are mostly extending the roast at the end.

It has pre-programmed profiles you can run

It is similar to how the Hottop P model works.

Pick a profile and just watch.
 
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