Behmor

[Lasanmarcomelb]

Behmor

I've got the temp probe in my behmor and there is a big difference in just opening the door during cooling and pulling the tray out and pointing a pedestal fan into it. It's a cheap way to cool the beans fast.

[Cicarda]

Behmor roasting

Cooler weather on its way means more coffee drinking, requires more coffee roasting. The behmor is getting a workout! Now over 20 roasts have passed through the grinder. Just thought I would share some details of recent roasts.
Have moved the roaster out to the under cover BBQ area (no more smoke alarms) also opening the door now allows for faster cooling (some chaff escapes but no big deal)
Started roasting 200g 1/2 lb P2 A but found I had to roast too often so now have converted to 300 to 330g at a time. If u use 313g this will allow for 8 roasts from a 2.5g bag and approx 333g roasts allows for 3 roasts per Kg. also delivers well over 260g of roasted coffee. For me this equals over 10 days of coffee drinking!
For all of these roasts I have used 1lb P2 C which gives a roast time of 21min 30sec. I use Roasterthing to keep track of my roasts. I just add the C1 and C2 times in after I have roasted. I have included a copy of the profile log.
I have found all of my roasts are hitting C1 close to the drop in temp and C1 has been rolling on for approx 2min and then all quiet till C2 after another 2 min. Roast is usually stopped just before C2 or just into C2 depending on the roast I am after. I have been cracking the door to help cooling of beans.
Roasted beans range between CS8 to CS10. Have been trying blends of Peru and Ethiopian beans. Love the experimenting!
This is what is working for me.

[turion]

Well I just completed my first ever roast in my new Behmor. I must say, I am really impressed at how easy it is to use.
The stats:
100g India Elephant Hills AA Grade (using the 1/4 setting)
P4 D -10 secs initially
1st crack at 2:15 to go then reduced time remaining by 20s
2nd crack at 0:25 to go
Cool pressed at 0:23 to go
I also used the preheat and open door cooling variations.
Beans came out at about CS9 with a little smoke when cooling cycle started. I tried eating one of the roasted beans, and there are definitely some chocolatey flavours there, though also tasted a little burnt. I'm curious to see how it comes out as an espresso, (probably have first tasting this weekend). I think next time I might try without the preheat and see what difference that makes.

[fruity]

I get 248V down to 243V when all the elements are on. This does vary according to the time of day though, and hot days seem to have a lower voltage (probably people using their AC). Alright, I'll give a full 1lb a go. I use P3 and P2, so I'll just go with the longest on each and see what happens.

[CafeLotta]

I was wondering guys, if you set your Behmor to a lower voltage (say 220 or 230) and you have 240V mains, is that likely to shorten roast times? If so, does that mean you could potentially bump up your batch size to 500g or a full pound? Has anyone successfully roasted batches larger than say 350g?

I'd check the voltage at the power point and set your Behmor to the closest voltage of the 3 available. Last time I checked I was receiving 237V so I set to 240V.

Have never had a problem roasting a true 1lb (454gms) on 1lb-P2-B. Usually end up hitting cool before the roast cycle reaches 0:00. If you are coming up short you could try the "C" setting or add time at the end of your roast cycle.

[fruity]

I was wondering guys, if you set your Behmor to a lower voltage (say 220 or 230) and you have 240V mains, is that likely to shorten roast times? If so, does that mean you could potentially bump up your batch size to 500g or a full pound? Has anyone successfully roasted batches larger than say 350g?

[Unclegoggles]

Thanks fruity, I'll check it out.

[fruity]

Behmor

Hi there All, do any of the Australian Behmor users have the actual times using P2 at which the heat profile dips then increases for each weight of roast. Do the heat profile timing points vary from machine to machine? From observations with my machine on P2 using a half pound roast, the heat drops off with about 5 minutes 30 seconds to go then ramps up with a minute ten seconds to go.

Without checking that sounds about right. Download RoasterThing (formerly BehmorThing) which will let you track your roasts and shows you the profile graphs with times. Makes it a lot easier.

[Unclegoggles]

Hi there All, do any of the Australian Behmor users have the actual times using P2 at which the heat profile dips then increases for each weight of roast. Do the heat profile timing points vary from machine to machine? From observations with my machine on P2 using a half pound roast, the heat drops off with about 5 minutes 30 seconds to go then ramps up with a minute ten seconds to go.

[brettreaby]

Divey- we never doubted you!

you could take time/date stamped pics with your camera as a record when you go to bat arguing with the power company.

Tell em it aint good enough.

[Divey]

Here ya go, how exciting is this................ not!

[fruity]

Behmor

I think I scored mine from Catch and it has a much larger readout than the Jaycar one, and is programmable with cost as well (so you can see how much a particular appliance costs over a set period). IIRC, they were original part of a QLD government scheme and were then sold off to Catch?

Anyway, there a few different models out there, and some include remote monitoring. Seek and ye shall find!

[robusto]

That Jaycar meter is a neat gadget. I have one, which will measure volts, amps, and watts, and cumulative watts used by an appliance. I like plugging my big-screen tvs in to it, and watching how the watts go up when the screen lightens. But I digress...

The one big issue with the gadget is the tiny, tiny, tiny readout. I need a magnifying glass to see whether I am looking at watts, volts or amps. Ridiculously small to the point I rarely use it.

Hate to be a nanny, but exercise extreme caution sticking multimeter probes into live ac circuits. And holding them there.

[Hildy]

A voltmeter will do its best to give you a rough average out the waveform. An RMS meter will give you a more accurate reading after sampling the wave over time.

The temperature dataloggers should be able to do RMS voltage readings.

[brettreaby]

actually Divey - 254.6 is ABOVE 230+10% so definitely worth calling them. And as robusta says, the true test will be with an RMS meter which is too expensive to buy unless you need one.

Would that have anything to do with me recording 254.6 volts at the power point ???