Roast: Testing Behmor

[cksyd]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Whilst in that 70% power cycle, if i add time, will it extend that 70% portion?

That I am not sure of and I previously read reams of stuff on overseas sites where that question was thrown up. I dont think there was a definitive answer, though most seemed to feel time added during a roast only adds to the end phase.

Even Joe Behm couldnt answer that one.....

[WSullivan]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Ok, had a fair amount of success today, with some interesting findings too,

I use, as many of you do "Behmor Thing" its a great tool for the behmor, with plenty of space for notes, a great stock tool and blend builder, with hints on the horizon of a Roast monitor type live monitor, should be good, so 4 roasts today..... 3 of my current blend "sullys blend No. 3 for espresso and 1 of Brazil Santos Mogiana for aeropress/plunger.

Roast one - Sullys Blend No. 3
375g
1:30 P1 Preheat
P2 B 1lb
fc 11:30
sc 17:00
Dumped 17:05 CS9
Good roast wanted the fc to hit a little closer to the drop in power though

Roast two - Sullys Blend No. 3
375g
1:30 P1 Preheat
P2 B 1lb
fc 12:30
sc 16:00
Dumped 16:35 - CS9
Another good one, although would prefer closer to 12:00 for fc

Roast three - Sullys Blend No. 3
375g
1:30 P1 Preheat
P2 B 1lb
fc 11:50
sc 16:30
Dumped 16:35 CS9
This is what i was after, fc JUST prior to the drop in power, and ran it out for 5 mins to first snaps of sc - happy with this

Roast four - Brazil Santos Mogiana
With this one i wanted to ramp it up to fc and dump light for plunger....ha ha, didnt work ran straight into rolling sc
325g
No Preheat
P1 A 1lb
fc 13:35
Dumped 15:00 rolling sc CS10
Unfortunately didnt work the way i wanted it to, used P1 and a lighter load of 325 because i wanted it to get to fc quick then dump it, fc went forever, havent roasted this bean for a while and forgot that little idioyncrocy :

I toyed with opening the door during and after fc, just for very short periods which extended the gap between fc and sc well

So yeah, very happy with the behmor, great little roaster! very easy to use and while you cant change the power setting for profile creation......yet, its still quite tweakable

[cksyd]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Well done mate,

Interesting variances with the same base input. I get the same thing here.

You have come to terms with the work arounds very quickly.

Roasts 1, 2 and 3 must be looking good.

Which one goes off for a nice lunch and which 2 are up for elimination?

...oops too much Masterchef

Enjoy

Chris

[WSullivan]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Well done mate,

Interesting variances with the same base input. I get the same thing here.

You have come to terms with the work arounds very quickly.

Roasts 1, 2 and 3 must be looking good.

Which one goes off for a nice lunch and which 2 are up for elimination?

...oops too much Masterchef

Enjoy

Chris

Thanks mate
Yeah very happy with the roaster, roast 1 2 and 3 look really good, ive been roasting that blend in the TO for about a year, so im very keen to taste test it from the behmor, also, with roast 4, the one i thought id stuffed.......beautiful in the aeropress tonight, beautiful love that bean in manual process brewers, not a fan as espresso though.....

Cheers
warren

[Pavoniboy]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

That I am not sure of and I previously read reams of stuff on overseas sites where that question was thrown up. I dont think there was a definitive answer, though most seemed to feel time added during a roast only adds to the end phase.

Even Joe Behm couldnt answer that one.....

Joe Behm didnt answer that one rather than couldnt. We can all answer that one - run the machine with the door open and nothing in it and watch when each cycle begins/ends - its right there in front of your eyes. Time adding/subtracting only effects the end of the roast, not each leg proportionately.

[Pavoniboy]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Just went back to that thread and read some more. Joe Behm did finally admit it doesnt do what the manual states it does...it just took an awfully long time for him to admit it.

[WSullivan]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

have you got a link to it? would be interesting reading :-?

[WSullivan]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/machinemods/458011?Page=1

25 page forum post......i guess its upset a few people

That is pretty full on, very bi#chy forum topic, with still no answer, i personally feel for joe, i personally believe that the roaster was designed with the manuals stated tweakability, lost in translation i suppose was the fault of the american co. and the Chinese engineers :

[andreasb]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Has anyone had any results with the Indian Robusta, I did a roast last night and I either missed the first crack or it was very quiet, cause I ended up with a rather dark roast.

Not oily at all however. There was surprisingly very little chaff compared to other beans.

My last three roasts with 3 different beans have been awful 2 dumps as they were too far gone and then this one. Grrr.

[phrostyboi]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Ive had decent results with it so far, 250g on either P2 / C with 1.5 mins added or P2 / D with 30 secs added

Hits first crack but no second (its damn cold here atm so reaching 2nd is a bit tough), but after the customary couple of weeks for a robusta its blended easily with several of my beans, most notable for me the monsooned

[Pavoniboy]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

P2 / D

Are you sure? Mine wont allow D with P2 program. Only A,B or C with P2. I can hit D but no change is made.

Manual states that this should be the case - different programs only allow some of the time tweaks, not all.

[phrostyboi]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Ahhh yes sorry I stand corrected, it would have been P2 / B and P2 / C respectively

Ive actually found the robusta as a straight long black or shot to be better than some places normal coffee...

[robsal]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Just some observations that might be interesting for other newbies (like me) as Im learning more about my roasting...

Over the last 3 months, Ive done about 25 roasts of various 500g (1.1lb) batches of green beans on the 1lb P2B setting (20 min cycle).  I was roasting a larger quantity so I could yield 2 x 200g bags of roasted beans which I could then give/sell to friends/relos.

Generally, I was hitting 1C between the 4 & 3 min remaining mark (16-17min into the cycle) and would then hit "Cool" when 2C starts between 50 sec and 20 sec remaining (19.10m to 19.40m into the cycle).  More often than not, there wouldnt be a distinct break between 1C & 2C (where there was no cracking) and Id find that the end of 1C would roll into 2C, leaving me trying to distinguish the different crack sounds.  Id always be in doubt about the right time to stop the roast.

After reading this thread, it was clear people were roasting smaller quantities and trying to avoid the final ramp up in power on the P2B cycle.

So, this morning, aiming for a yield of 250g per batch, I roasted 2 single origin batches of 320g to the beginning of 2C which gets me to my preferred level of CS 10-11.  I roasted on the same P2B 20min cycle.  Although I havent tasted yet, the beans look more evenly roasted & there was less smoke.  Also, the beans didnt continue into 2C for the same length of time because the roaster hadnt hit the last 100% burst in power.  I assume that this also resulted in faster cooling, which is good for me because I dont want to start invading the roaster during the cooling cycle to pull out the cylinder and cool by some other method - too much mess of chaff flying everywhere, and potential burns.

Anyway, the reason Im posting is because there was a much clearer gap between 1C and 2C, and I think Im better able to distinguish the different sounds of 1C (deeper pops) and 2C (more snappy, higher pitched).  Anyone agree with this description of 1C and 2C, or am I still off the track?

Probably stupid to throw in a 2nd variable, but I roasted single origin today to reduce the confusing possibility of different beans in a blend hitting 1C and 2C at different times.  Do many people combine different beans before roasting?  Or is it more normal to roast each bean separately & combine afterwards?

Probably even more stupid to throw in a 3rd variable, but I roasted the 1st batch after a 1.20 min roaster pre-heat.  I forgot to pre-heat for the 2nd batch, but it followed fairly close (5-10min) after the 1st batch.  Do people find the pre-heat reduces the time to 1C & 2C?

For what its worth:
P2B 1lb 20min cycle:  320g Ethiopia Gambella Sundried. 1C 8.20m remaining, 2C & cool 5.30m remaining.  1.20min pre-heat
P2B 1lb 20min cycle:  320g Brail Daterra. 1C 7.25m remaining, 2C & cool 4.10m remaining.  No warm-up, but short-ish break between roasts (5-10min).

Ill post again in the next week if the taste is significantly better than my results over the last few months.

[robsal]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

In my post above, "Brail" shouldve been "Brazil".

[Ash]

Re: Roast: Testing Behmor

Robsal, your descriptions of 1C and 2C sound about right. I always think of the cracks as popcorn and matchsticks. C sounds like popcorn popping, and 2C sounds like matchsticks getting snapped.

My sweetspot for this roaster is in the 300-330 gram area with a P2/B/1lb profile, but I pull the roasts around start of 2C and externally cool with a fan and a couple of seives. This generally gives me a roast of somewhere between CS8 - 10. Still got to dial in on a couple of beans yet though. I havent managed to get the Harrar to where Id like it, as I keep on roasting it a little too dark for my liking. :-?

So far I havent mixed beans prior to roasting, at least intentionally! To my way of thinking you wouldnt be able to get the best result you can for a particular bean by pre mixing.  :-/