by Chris Arnold

In my final article, I wrote my first impression of the Behmor 1600, previously often known as the Joe Roaster, the brainchild of Joe Behm. After spending a number of extra weeks with it, I’ve discovered extra about it, and I hope that will help you get essentially the most out of your Behmor 1600 Espresso Roaster. If you’re too lazy to learn the complete article, I’ll say that at a avenue value of round $300, I can suggest this roaster. However there are some caveats, and to get essentially the most from the Behmor roaster, you have to to learn on.

Behmor Espresso Roaster

Batch Dimension

First issues first. After lots of experimenting, I discovered the optimum batch measurement to be about 9 ounces, particularly for my typical voltage of 115 AC. Smaller batches have been extra erratic, and bigger batches generally by no means reached 2nd crack, even once I maxed out the entire roast time to 23:00 minutes. Persist with 8-10 ounces, and you’ll have the perfect outcomes.

Voltage

Just about all the electrical roasters of the patron caliber are delicate to swings in voltage. Utilizing your voltage monitor of selection (I like to make use of a Kill a Watt), you possibly can probably alter your batch measurement up or down a bit and maybe use a roughly aggressive profile. That is one thing that may take trial and error, however when you safe a number of kilos of the identical bean and hold an excellent roasting log, you need to be getting repeatable outcomes very quickly – and giving freely lots of espresso.

Profiles and Settings

There are 5 Roasting Profile Curves which can be pre-defined. You can not create your individual, or customise the present ones. Nevertheless, you should utilize the graphs introduced within the guide to assist choose the right profile to your bean and voltage on the time. Profile 2 might be essentially the most fascinating. Check out the guide, and you will notice what I imply.

Sometimes although I used P3 or P4, relying on the bean and voltage. The others simply didn’t work for me (crack issues talked about under) and have been in all probability because of my low-ish voltage. The totally different pound settings (1/4lb, 1/2lb, 1lb) will permit you extra max time, however in addition they change the totally different segments a bit. I all the time use the 1 pound setting, that means I can have as a lot or as little time as I want. Experimentation is required on this space. If you wish to see certainly one of my pattern profiles, scroll down.

Roasting

The roast is even, and it appears to be a really regular, slower roast normally, which is according to the revealed profile graphs. The agitation is fairly good, and I’m certain that contributed to the even roasting. What I discovered when experimenting was that generally the primary crack and the second crack ran collectively, different occasions it by no means arrived. As soon as I used to be dialed in, 1st crack and 2nd crack have been about 2-3 minutes aside, with a complete roast time of about 18-20 minutes; precisely what I used to be in search of.

Dumping and Cooling

The cooling cycle of the Behmor, if left to its personal gadgets, is about 13 minutes. Most seasoned espresso roasters like to observe their roast, and when the specified roast stage is achieved, cease the roast and funky the beans ASAP. ASAP means 30 seconds, 1 minute, mainly as rapidly as doable. You will get near that with the Behmor. The trick is to permit the cooling cycle to kick in, and after 2 minutes, open the door (the two minutes permits the electronics and such to chill down, prolonging the machine’s life).

At this level, you possibly can let it proceed with the door open. On this case, the beans will probably be fully cool in about 3-4 extra minutes (5-6 minutes complete). This implies you have to to cease the roast considerably earlier and guess how the roast will “coast” to your required roast stage. The opposite choice is to easily pull the drum after 2 minutes with gloves on and dump them into a giant colander over a fan (or no matter your cooling technique of selection is). I’m lazy, and have been doing the previous, however will quickly be doing the latter.

Behmor 1600

Cleansing and Upkeep

The chaff collector works effectively, and there may be normally a small handful of chaff remaining contained in the machine. I counsel shopping for a large paintbrush from Residence Depot or your native ironmongery store. The chaff will be swept into the chaff collector, which by the way, suits very snugly into the entrance door as soon as pulled out. This makes for nearly seamless sweeping from contained in the chamber to the collector. As advisable within the guide, after 5 roasts, run an empty cycle. This can hold oils and particles to a minimal and hold your roaster in tip-top form.

Additionally, examine the drum. You can find that with smaller or inconsistent beans (like lots of Ethiopians I used, or Yemenis, for that matter), there will probably be a number of that get caught within the holes of the drum. Apparently, the inventory drum supplied with my unit will not be actually meant for the smaller or inconsistent bean varieties. In case you do have to make use of the inventory drum with these “odd” beans and so they do get caught, the one option to get them out is to frivolously faucet them with a heavy object like a small hammer. This forces them to the within of the drum and breaks them aside, which permits for simple disposal of the fragments. It ought to be famous that one other drawback is that small beans can fall by means of the drum into the underside of the roaster, which may improve the smoke early on.

For sure, the producer doesn’t suggest utilizing the smaller beans with the inventory drum. It seems to be like there will probably be a second drum choice to deal with these points. One partial workaround is to spin the drum by hand over a bowl or one thing and permit any of the small beans to fall by means of earlier than placing the drum within the machine and beginning the roast.

Lastly, wipe the within of the glass window ceaselessly. Generally, oils can fog up the window, making it onerous to see the beans as they roast.

Taste

I’ve roasted Brazilian, Ethiopian, and Island coffees, all with good outcomes. This machine actually works effectively for espresso. As with many drum-like profiles, the flavors are barely extra rounded off and candy, which is nice for espresso. For drip or French Press, it nonetheless does an excellent job, however I like a brighter roast for these preparations. The Contemporary Roast is the right companion for that job.

Suggestions

1. Monitor voltage utilizing a Kill-A-Watt. This can allow you to choose the perfect profile and time.
2. When roasting inside, you would possibly need to begin out below the oven hood with the fan on excessive. Relying on the profiles you employ, the bean choice, and the diploma of roast you select, it’s possible you’ll or could not expertise seen smoke. This roaster is designed with an afterburner, makes an attempt to attenuate smoke as a lot as doable, and does an admirable job.
3. To assist with inserting the drum, which generally is a bit tough, begin by turning the sunshine on. Now, begin inserting the drum inside and hug the highest of the roof. Now tilt the suitable facet down in order that the keyed shaft slides in, after which drop the un-keyed left facet down, and you might be finished.
4. Experiment! Get plenty of the identical bean (5 kilos or extra), a KillaWatt, and hold an excellent roast log. That will probably be your finest probability of success.

Chris’ Pattern Profile

• 9 ounces Brazil Daterra Yellow Bourbon
• 115VAC With no load (dropping to about 111 or 112 volts when the heating ingredient kicked in)
• 1 pound setting (set to twenty minutes)
• 1st crack at 16:00, 2nd crack at about 18:30
• I began watching Roast across the 15-minute mark, and hit the cool button at about 19 minutes.
• Very Candy Espresso as a Single Origin Shot

Conclusion

The Behmor Roaster is constructed very effectively. It’s priced effectively under its nearest competitors – The GeneCafe and the Hottop. I personally will hold one thing like an iRoast or Contemporary Roast in my arsenal for these occasions I desire a brighter roast, and the Behmor will probably be my predominant espresso roaster.

Assets

Behmor 1600 Espresso Roaster – First Impression – INeedCoffee article.

Hottop KN-8828P Espresso Bean Roaster First Look – INeedCoffee article.

Printed on September 24, 2013