Behmor v Hottop

[cappas]

Hi all

Im looking to move on from popper roasting (its been fun, but looking for better depth of flavour in my espresso) & am thinking that the Behmor is a good next step.

Although, albeit a little indulgently, Im considering the Hottop too. Given the significant difference in price, Im guessing that the quality of roast from the HT is far superior to the Behmor?  Or is this a bit like achieving a quality espresso, more a matter of the operator of the machine?

Would appreciate any thoughts from users of either of these machines on the pros & cons to help guide my choice.

Cheers

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: Behmor v Hottop


It really depends on the volume that you want to roast
Figure that out and you are half way there

KK

[Andy]

Re: Behmor v Hottop

There are plenty of threads in the roasting section that will give you an idea of the features of both and what owners think.

The biggest plus with the Hottop is the external cooling. Its the only domestic roaster that drops the beans in a cooling tray at the end of the roast (the Behmor, Gene Cafe, iRoast etc all cool in the device). External cooling lets you stop a roast with more accuracy.

Having said that, all the other devices will do a good job of roasting coffee and as long as you learn the device and what the "overrun" will be.

Without writting a novel, my pros and cons would look something like...

Hottop
Pros: Very pretty, Great cooling, good roasting
Cons: consumable paper filter, initial purchase price

Behmor1600
Pros: Price, low smoke, biggest volume
Cons: only pre-programed profiles, slower cooling

[Randy_G.]

Re: Behmor v Hottop

A factor that needs to be considered is the level of control that the Hottop KN-8828B offers. If you are a hands-on person, and are looking for the very best roast that manual control can give, then consider the Hottop "B" model.

[Javaphile]

Re: Behmor v Hottop

A factor that needs to be considered is the level of control that the Hottop KN-8828B offers. If you are a hands-on person, and are looking for the very best roast that manual control can give, then consider the Hottop "B" model.

When such a relationship is not obvious in the spirit of full and open disclosure when endorsing a product with whose manufacturer you are affiliated with and/or receive compensation/pay from you should state so openly when extolling its virtues to avoid any potential accusations of promoting a product under false pretenses.


Java "Openness is a good thing!" phile

[rival81]

Re: Behmor v Hottop

I have thought about going to behmor or hottop from the corretto but there are a few things which have held me back from doing so:

- no thermoprobe on the behmor, this is a deal breaker for me as every bean is different and on the corretto i have precise control of temperature every second of the roast
- long cooling phase (again, only the behmor)
- price of the hottop and the price of the filters

Of course, there are advantages:

- closed roaster, more like drum style, so less heat loss means less chance of singeing the beans on the outside as youre not having to constantly pump heat in at high temp like on a corretto

- looks nice

- chaff is collected rather than allowed to settle on the floor!

[cappas]

Re: Behmor v Hottop

It really depends on the volume that you want to roast
Figure that out and you are half way there

250g lots will suit me fine at the moment.

My main concern is to get a high quality end product. If the Behmor (despite the lack of control/external cooling) can deliver that it may be worth a try...

[gregpullman]

Re: Behmor

hi in reply hottop. I have 2004 model with second generation control which gives a good result on all types of beans, the simple reality with roasting is you have to be in final control of the second crack and end of cycle. Im still trying to master Behmor 1600, but what is hard to live with is the inability to prevent ongoing second crack, as beans are trapped in drum and you cant evacuate beans from roast chamber, so consistancy is a real problem.The great advantage of Hottop is being able to dump beans to cooling tray and hitting beans with fan at same time to quench heat out of beans. Ive installed thermocouple and digi meter to monitor Behmor chamber temperature, not as accurate as hottop temp monitoring. I think after looking at latest model Hottop the P model is the way to go, I may end up selling my Behmor!! they are certainly cheap but if you want far greater control over end result of roast the hottop will give the best result, only in smaller batches, doing 500 gms in Behmor takes nearly as much time as doing 2 x roasts x 275 gms in hottop and just as much cleaning up of chaff etc. I feel after roasting since 2004 with hottop aand comparing the 12 roasts Ive done so far with Behmor, the hottop turns out a far better roast result.
my friends are pleased with free supply of fresh roasted beans, but we only drink espresso so the roast result is the crucial thing.
hope this info is of help, the hottop is more expensive but it will last for years, I havnt had any problems with mine. plus there is a great spare parts back up for hottop.
I think the cupping  result from hottop roasts are better than what Ive sampled so from Behmor  roasts. So the experiment goes ON !!
good luck Roasterk

Um, this appears to say the exact opposite to what you mentioned in your previous post, roasterK! Which are you actually saying you prefer??  :-?

With the ongoing SC, thats an issue in any roaster that cools internally, the Gene Cafe is exactly the same. The trick is to stop the roast a bit before you think its going to reach SC. Its a bit hit and miss especially if theres no temperature readout but its all you can do. But its definitely better to get the beans out of that hot environment and cool them externally. Many CSers using a Gene Cafe or Behmor like to achieve that by stopping the roast, pulling the beans and use an external bean cooler. Unfortunately this isnt how the units have been designed and the Behmors manual at least specifically warns against this (Part 5 of manual, point 7, sorry manual has no page numbers).

The Behmors large roasts at least do take a while. Program C is 14 minutes for 225g and 21:30 for 450g. IMHO it would have been better to increase the heater power to compensate for the larger load and keep the roast time the same, to ensure the flavours are the same regardless of batch size.

FWIW while both Hottops are programmable, the Hottop B is actually the one which gives you the most control over the roast, not the P.

Greg

[Randy_G.]

Re: Behmor

..

FWIW while both Hottops are programmable, the Hottop B is actually the one which gives you the most control over the roast, not the P.

Greg

Technically, only the "P" model is programmable. The "B" model can be controlled manually throughout the roast, and at the end of the cooling cycle the profile you created during the roast by the changes of the heat and fan parameters can be saved to one of three memory locations.

[gregpullman]

Re: Behmor

Technically true, though I think the sense that most people understand programmable is that the user can drive it the way they want to, rather than the unit dictating the profiles / settings etc. In that sense both are programmable - the P upfront and the B as you go.

[>pullman]

Re: Behmor v Hottop

There are plenty of threads in the roasting section that will give you an idea of the features of both and what owners think.

The biggest plus with the Hottop is the external cooling.  Its the only domestic roaster that drops the beans in a cooling tray at the end of the roast (the Behmor, Gene Cafe, iRoast etc all cool in the device). External cooling lets you stop a roast with more accuracy.

Having said that, all the other devices will do a good job of roasting coffee and as long as you learn the device and what the "overrun" will be.

Without writting a novel, my pros and cons would look something like...

Hottop
Pros: Very pretty, Great cooling, good roasting
Cons: consumable paper filter, initial purchase price

Behmor1600
Pros: Price, low smoke, biggest volume
Cons: only pre-programed profiles, slower cooling

+1. Theyre both good units but with very different characteristics so neither are going to suit everyone.