Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[Andy]

Seems the cat is out of the bag!

At the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) show in Seattle last week the owner of the company "spilt the beans" that there was a new version of the very popular roaster planned for release soon. Within hours the Internet was abuzz with noise and speculation about the new roaster and it's features. So I'm assuming that my Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is now open for discussion... so here it is.


We are lucky enough that the world's first build of the new roaster is the 220v/240v Australian model. The roasters have been built and are on the water and I hope that they will land and clear customs and will be shipping out to anxious customers before the end of May.

Behmor 1600 Plus

The "Plus" model contains the exact same functionality of the original roaster with the popular inbuilt automatic roast profiles and now has the addition of some great new features that the home roasting community has been requesting:

Original Features:

• Easy to use
• User Selectable Auto Profiles
• 220v, 230v, 240v
• Great results

PLUS

New Features:

• Manual Control
  • 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% selectable element power.
  • Variable drum speed 8 RPM / 16 RPM
  
  
• View Temperatures during a roast
  • Chamber wall
  • Exhaust channel
  
  
• "Rosetta Stone"
  • Press "C" at First Crack to reset time remaining

• Unattended Safety Feature
  • At 75% of the roast "un30" will countdown, press [Start] to continue
  • Failure to press start Press [Start] at First Crack will result in the cooling cycle starting

• New Metric front panel.
  • 100g, 200g, 400g (instead of pounds)
  • (the 120v USA model will remain pounds and fahrenheit)

When the new roasters land they will be available in BeanBay:


For existing owners of the original Behmor 1600 roaster you can purchase a replacement front panel assembly which will add all the new features. This will also be available in BeanBay:


I'll update this thread as needed.

I've been running the new roaster for a few months and it's really great to get the extra control.
Any questions feel free to fire away and I'll do my best to answer them.

[amellor]

I think this is just what I need to get me into roasting

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Hi Andy,

I presume it is still possible/practical to install a temperature probe for linking through the DMM to the Roast Monitor software?

Cheers
BOSW

[robsal]

Interesting... After leaving a roast unattended in Oct-12, I think I killed something above the drum which extracts the smoke (Is there an element up there?). I didn't bother replacing it because I'm still roasting OK, but I don't think Behmor is getting up to the same temps as it used to, and, on average it's taking longer to reach 2nd crack. I've done over 300 roasts, so this is sounding like a good opportunity for a service and upgrade. Is there someone who can do this? I'm in Sydney.

Thanks,
Rob

[Andy]

I presume it is still possible/practical to install a temperature probe for linking through the DMM to the Roast Monitor software?

Sure!
The temperature readings on the new panel are only active after 54C (it treats everything under 54C as 54C). It does that because under that temperature the probes are not as accurate and besides, it doesn't really matter as nothing roasts at that temperature.

You certainly could use the CS meter and Roast Monitor software, the beauty now is that you would be monitoring profiles that you can fiddle with manually. With Roast Monitor you could do a manual roast, save the profile, load it up again later and manually adjust to duplicate the roast.

Roast Monitor makes more sense with this model of Behmor.

[Andy]

Interesting... After leaving a roast unattended in Oct-12, I think I killed something above the drum which extracts the smoke (Is there an element up there?). I didn't bother replacing it because I'm still roasting OK, but I don't think Behmor is getting up to the same temps as it used to, and, on average it's taking longer to reach 2nd crack. I've done over 300 roasts,

This post is a little off topic for this thread about the new roaster...
but it sounds like you burnt out the afterburner when you left the roaster unattended (red elements in the ceiling of the roaster). You can test the afterburner easy, plug the roaster in, hit cool and the afterburner should come on for the first couple of minutes of the cooling cycle.

If you do want to purchase a replacement afterburner for your 4+ year old roaster, contact me off-line before buying the upgrade kit.

so this is sounding like a good opportunity for a service and upgrade. Is there someone who can do this? I'm in Sydney.

The "Behmor Plus" upgrade panel is a fairly easy replacement. 15 minutes and a couple of philips-head screwdrivers is all it takes. I'll post up an installation "cheat sheet" when they land so people can follow it... but the installation is pretty intuitive.

[javabeen]

So Andy the price remains the same? I'll be even more keen to get one if it does, I've been holding off for a while.

[Claudio]

Hi Andy, I'm Claudio and I live in Italy. I have a Behmor 1600 and I need a replacement front panel.. Maybe is possible to send in Italy or you know where I can purchase it? Thanks for all and sorry for my bad english language.... ps I've seen now is "out of stock"...

[kutis]

The roasters have been built and are on the water and I hope that they will land and clear customs and will be shipping out to anxious customers before the end of May.

O man... will they arrive during MICE?

[Dragunov21]

So Andy the price remains the same? I'll be even more keen to get one if it does, I've been holding off for a while.

Doubt it; the Plus will be $500 in the US (compared to $300 for the standard, which I believe will continue to be available there).

[TC]

Andy has set the price: CoffeeSnobs - BeanBay - Other Stuff - Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[Jonathon]

This is definitely great news, and the $60 price for the upgrade kit seems very good value for adding fantastic functionality.

Reading the (admittedly very high level) instructions on the upgrade page on Beanbay, it doesn't mention anything about installing temp probes, so does this mean the original 1600 has temperature probes already installed? Or are the side wall and exhaust temperature probes part of the upgrade kit?

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Sure!
The temperature readings on the new panel are only active after 54C (it treats everything under 54C as 54C). It does that because under that temperature the probes are not as accurate and besides, it doesn't really matter as nothing roasts at that temperature.

You certainly could use the CS meter and Roast Monitor software, the beauty now is that you would be monitoring profiles that you can fiddle with manually. With Roast Monitor you could do a manual roast, save the profile, load it up again later and manually adjust to duplicate the roast.

Roast Monitor makes more sense with this model of Behmor.

Thanks Andy. That sounds great.

[Javaphile]

This is definitely great news, and the $50 price for the upgrade kit seems very good value for adding fantastic functionality.

Reading the (admittedly very high level) instructions on the upgrade page on Beanbay, it doesn't mention anything about installing temp probes, so does this mean the original 1600 has temperature probes already installed? Or are the side wall and exhaust temperature probes part of the upgrade kit?

The chamber wall and exhaust channel temperature probes are already in the roaster, including the original model. The new control panel simply allows you to see what their readings are.


Java "Gotta love a new toy!" phile

[chokkidog]

Hi Andy, I'm Claudio and I live in Italy. I have a Behmor 1600 and I need a replacement front panel.. Maybe is possible to send in Italy or you know where I can purchase it? Thanks for all and sorry for my bad english language.... ps I've seen now is "out of stock"...

Hi Claudio, and welcome to CoffeeSnobs!

Keep an eye on the front panel availability in Bean Bay, when you see them in stock contact Andy
directly via the 'contact us' function at the very bottom right of each page.

Bean Bay is not set up to deal directly with overseas customers.

You will also have to check if the new panel will work with your voltage supply in Italy or if you have to wait
for one to be manufactured.

You could also try contacting Behmor customer service direct?

p.s. Your English is fine!!