Behmor or I-Coffee?

[sorrentina]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

Ok- I was planning to sit on the sidelines- but now Andy is in- I am too- with the same caveat

I have both machines and use both. These days I use my I-coffee(s) more than the Behmor but if I need to roast a larger batch/blend I use the Behmor (and I-coffee) and can easily do up to 500 grams in Behmor. This is the Behmors greatest strength in my opinion- for the price it is a large(ish) capacity roaster.

With the icoffee I roast in the kitchen and it doesnt set of my smoke alarm. Also it hardly makes any chaff mess- the catcher does work very well. I think with a larger batch the Behmor would possibly set off the smoke alarm- and it does make more chaff mess. For this reason I roast outdoors with Behmor...

For me: I never played with the profiles of the Behmor and always used the same setting. I am not the type of person to keep detailed records of my roasts, set up probes and use a laptop to monitor my profiles... I like to just start the roast and then determine when to end it by the bean colour and crack sounds. I did find this methodology a little more tricky with the Behmor than with the I-Coffee- as it can be harder to stop the Behmor exactly where you want it. I dont like removing the beans from the Behmor for manual cooling as it is tricky and hot! So I instead use the method of starting the cool cycle and opening the door. This requires that you judge how much further the beans will roast during the cooling cycle- and I found it could be hard to get exactly the colour you want: but in general all roasts were great anyway...

The I-Coffee has a real advantage in this department: you can see the beans clearly and stop them pretty much exactly where you want them. It is the simpletons roaster and this is its great strength.

To wrap up: both machines are great roasters (I think)- each has strengths and limitations. I believe you would be happy with either or both- I know I am! If you just cant decide: get both! I certainly enjoy having two I-coffees and the Behmor all going together for those big 1KG+ blend days. With all three going I can roast 2 Kgs over an hour and a half with 6 varieties roasted and blended!

[oldbeamer2]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

The iCoffee is perfectly suited for using in the kitchen. Im not sure why you say it isnt Andy. It produces no smoke while operating. f its opened to take the beans out while its running then the smoke comes out BUT it this is done under a range hood it doesnt smoke up the kitchen.

Chaff is very well contained in the catcher and if youre in the kitchen it goes into the sink where water washes it down the drain.

Capacity is an issue but (dont tell Jack from Sorrentina Coffee) Ive been doing roasts back to back without cooling and its worked fine. Can get three in in an hour for 550 gm worth of roasteds.

[Steffen]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

Capacity is an issue but (dont tell Jack from Sorrentina Coffee) Ive been doing roasts back to back without cooling and its worked fine. Can get three in in an hour for 550 gm worth of roasteds.

This remark got my attention. With the popper Im normally doing six 100g batches in a row, the only cool down time the popper gets is the 3 minutes it takes to cool the beans and measure the next batch.

Is this not recommended practice with the I-Coffee?

Oh, and thanks everybody for chiming in, much appreciated!

Cheers
Steffen.

[Kafine]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

I always do two back to back roasts with my I Coffee must have around 100 roasts or more under my belt and never a problem. I use the cooler a lot only when i roast very dark do i use the colander method. If the Behmor makes the coffee taste better i will have to try one out because the I coffee amazes me with the astounding coffee i now make each day. I was going to buy one but the I coffee was released and i like Jack prefer simple. I am sure you cant go wrong with either

[dabbler]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

Steffen -reading this thread two things stand out to me.

Firstly, you asked about roasters and smoke detectors. Its worth considering where your detectors are and what it takes to set them off. It may never be an issue for you.

The one I have go off occasionally while roasting/external cooling can be triggered by any number of things including my orbital sander when the door between garage and house is ajar and Ive neglected to correctly orient the dust extractors intake. Or I try to do BBQ on the stovetop instead of using the real barbie.

My point is - some detectors are ultrasensitive by design, cheaper manufacture, just due to lousy placement or all three (like mine). Those people whose roasts trigger false alarms may have detectors something like mine. If yours or others are never falsely triggered by anything then a home coffee roaster may never trigger them unless you really stuff up your roast.


Secondly, on the topic of back to back roasts, one big reason I chose a Behmor was to gain consistency from a single roast event compared to lots of smaller popper roasts. With several smaller roasts done successively *everything* needs to be identical. Ive no experience with the i-coffee so I dont know how easily this is achieved. Id be interested to hear whether the back to back i-coffee users mix  their roasts or bag and consume one roast at a time.or if theres any discernable difference.

[Kafine]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

Dabbler, I think you will find that most I-Coffee users are more into the ease of use than ultra consistency. Some have put temp probes into the machine and find that the roasts are fairly constant anyway but for most of us its sight and sound that determines the depth of each roast.
I mix my roasts all the time. I dont even weigh the beans but instead have a container that holds around 150gms and i do back to back Roasts that give me around 250gms of Roasted beans which for me is enough for a week as i only have one sometimes two cups day. For anyone wanting to have total control of profiles the I-Coffee is not for them. I am like Jack keep no records of Roasts just purely go by the colour of the bean as i go. Every Roast i do will be slightly different but for me i cant taste the difference anyway. I do know i can do my weekly Roast in under an hour and then just enjoy the taste of fresh coffee that is better than any i used to buy from a shop.

[dabbler]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

Thanks Kafine. I understand the desire for simplicity. The same logic applies to my regular espresso routine. Most of the time I just want a good coffee. Occasionally if bean or visitors warrant, I go all out to try for an extra special brew. Then I check and measure every little detail. Buts thats extraction not roasting....

I  ask about mixing batches because I was wondering about other peoples methods.

I usually do large roasts (for two plus in the household). But every couple of weeks Ill do a couple of smaller roasts. A preroast blend and then one or two SO.  Other times Ill dump a small portion of large roasts at several stages between first crack and end to get the same bean for plunger and espresso. I plan these as seperate so dont mix and store. I thought the i-coffee would lend itself to playing with smaller batches of different roasts.

I dont keep detailed records either. Just record the bean, date, behmor settings and any variation on a sticky label then I bag.  Later if I especially like it then I keep the info.

[Yelta]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

For those of you able to roast outside or in a garage dont forget the many advantages of the humble Coretto.
Cheap to set up, if you shop around you can be up and running for well under $200.
Easy to use, my hearing is far from perfect but Im easily able to hear 1st crack and visually monitor the progress of my roast.
Large capacity (comparatively speaking) my weekly roast in a single loaf Breville bread maker is 725grams of green, first crack approx 12 mins, FC to completion approx 6 or 7 mins, depends on how dark you want to take it, my preference is for quite dark but not oily.
For what its worth Ive been roasting weekly with a Coretto for about three years now and have NEVER had a failure.

[sorrentina]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

"With several smaller roasts done successively *everything* needs to be identical. Ive no experience with the i-coffee so I dont know how easily this is achieved. Id be interested to hear whether the back to back i-coffee users mix their roasts or bag and consume one roast at a time.or if theres any discernable difference."

I often roast 3 or 4 varieties in a session @250 grams per batch. Sometimes I deliberately let them be at different roast levels- but mostly I like to go just into 2nd crack - this seems to be my own sweet spot. I find that it is quite easy to get 4 varieties all roasted and looking very even in roast colour/level. Roasting the same variety in several roasts when I blend them together it looks like one big even roast.

[Steffen]

Re: Behmor or I-Coffee?

Ok, I think this settles it then. If back to back roasts arent a problem and the roaster can be used indoors it seem to be what Im looking for.

The smoke alarm in my kitchen is of the photoelectric type, it wont be set off by a funny smell like the ionising types. So I guess this should be alright.

Next thing to do is slipping my wife the online order link for my upcoming birthday

Cheers
Steffen.