Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[Andy]

... because Joseph Behm calls it that:


1. Key Tip - Rosetta Stone:

To better anticipate a roast hitting 2nd
crack (2C) and for superior roast control ALWAYS use the following
time guides and tip.
Once you hear the “first” cracking sound of 1C adjust times as close to the following using the + or –
buttons This allows you to more accurately control and understand where you are in a roast, especially in
cases where you have a bean type that migrates from 1C to 2C seamlessly. This also helps to prevent you
from over-roasting your beans.
a. ¼ lb - 1:30 minutes
b. ½ lb - 2:10 minutes
c. 1 lb – 3:10 minutes

The times shown are approximately the time it takes from start of the very first snap of 1st
crack to the start of 2nd crack for regular coffee.

Above cut and pasted from:http://www.behmor.com/docs/uscan120v-quickguide.pdf

On the Behmor 1600 Plus.... Button "C" = crack as in 1st crack (easy to remember)

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

I guess it makes more sense than calling it 'Random Shot in the Dark'

[flynnaus]

Dumb question....but....why is the function called the 'Rosetta Stone'? I'm familiar with the historic Rosetta Stone.

I figured it must be some analogy with history. Strictly speaking THE Rosetta Stone is about language translation.

Another explanation was that the Rosetta stone was part of a stele that contained a decree written in 3 languages that re-established the rule of the Ptolemaic kings over Egypt. This seems like an obscure but more likely explanation, even though it's conjecture.

[kutis]

I figured it must be some analogy with history. Strictly speaking THE Rosetta Stone is about language translation.

Another explanation was that the Rosetta stone was part of a stele that contained a decree written in 3 languages that re-established the rule of the Ptolemaic kings over Egypt. This seems like an obscure but more likely explanation, even though it's conjecture.

Both are true. Because the stone contains the same information in 3 languages, it then becomes the guide to translate other scripts.

I often wonder about the long roast times of the Behmor and sacrificing the more vibrant flavours quicker roasts are said to produce.

Compared to other roasters, The 1600+ has 2 drawbacks, hot charging and coasting. Coasting can be (kinda) solved by thinking 20 secs ahead. Now, I wonder anyone has ever try this, do a 200g batch, press 400 at 100% start without the drum and chaff bin outside. Then at a quarter or a third of the total time, put in the drum and the chaff collector while the machine is running. Scary as heck, but has anyone ever attempt that?

[hamo]

After sitting in transit for 7 days my roaster finally arrived today.

Yeeha... had a day off so I have been having fun. I compliantly followed the instructions for learning to roast (dry roast/100g...) before trying to experiment a bit.

After reading the manuals and feeling a bit overwhelmed with info, I found this youtube clip helpful in getting me up and running. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnI9PGs8OAs

Having used a Coretto for 9 years I have a handle on the basic concept, so its now just a case of working out how to use this baby. The first 'auto' roasts came up light/medium and then I did some manual playing around with 300g and got quite a dark roast.

I want to get around 300-400g in a roasting session if possible, so the clip I mentioned above seems to give the route to those larger roasts. I had about 6 minutes left on the clock when I hit 'cool' and it was a dark roast, so I think there is definitely hope for getting 400g roasted well.

I was impressed that the cooling cycle actually made the chaff tray and the barrel cool enough to be removed without a glove. As an 'outdoor roaster' (ie in the shed) I found it hard to see the time display clearly but I think its just a matter of roasting in the evenings when its easier to see.

Overall the unit seems pretty well made and I'm very happy.

[Andy]

After sitting in transit for 7 days my roaster finally arrived today.

I'm happy it arrived ok, 7 days is longer than I would expect and I guess it just missed the Friday delivery (which would have been 5 days). The other thing you didnt mention is that you are 3500km from here so it was always going to be on the long side of short!

I found this youtube clip helpful in getting me up and running.

I'm also happy you found that clip useful but please be aware that is a different model and different voltage (please see post #103 above)

It's an easy roaster to use, and you will have no trouble roasting your 300-400g. Have another look at the "Cheat Sheet" that was included in with the roaster, that one page should get you up and going pretty quickly.

I agree the manual is a little overwhelming, we need to create an Aussie one with less of the legalities and maybe some YouTube clips as well. I'll see if we can get something together one day to help others in the future.

Enjoy the continuation of your roasting journey!

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Can I just confirm that 'OFF' = 'STOP'? The 'First Use Guide', when describing the preheat function suggests that one should 'press stop'....but such a button doesn't seem to exist??

[Andy]

Can I just confirm that 'OFF' = 'STOP'? The 'First Use Guide', when describing the preheat function suggests that one should 'press stop'....but such a button doesn't seem to exist??

Took me a while to find what you were talking about...

Preheat:
We’ve found through testing, a more robust roast can be achieved by doing a 2 minute preheat** of the
system. Press any weight, start and allow to run for 2 minutes. Press stop, insert roasting drum, tray and
start your roast. Remember use caution while working around hot surfaces.
from: http://www.behmor.com/docs/uscan120v-quickguide.pdf

Yeah, it's talking about pressing "OFF".... but because it's red and it stops the roaster someone has written stop
;-)

I'm not a fan of the preheat, I really don't think its necessary and is mostly a hangover from the USA roaster and their lower voltages. My kids happily roast in the Behmor without ever needing a preheat but if you think it improves your coffee in the cup then go for it.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Thanks Andy.

[PhilMac]

Jealous....I decided to wait for the metric version of the upgrade panel.
Looking forward to a bit of tinkering. Interesting to read about the different drums. I have the original square mesh and my Yemeni beans fall straight through...I still do them in a Breadmaker

[flynnaus]

Interesting to read about the different drums. I have the original square mesh and my Yemeni beans fall straight through...I still do them in a Breadmaker

Did you see this:

Roasting Drum --
I wish the manual didn't mention the original USA drum. In the USA they had a steel drum chromed, it had larger holes and gave a few people some grief with small beans so they released a second drum with a smaller grid as an option. In Australia we only ever had the full stainless drum with small grid pattern.... the drum has changed little over the years and the previous build (2013) and this one (2014) use the exact same drum... stainless steel "diamond" mesh with a simple clip at the top. (thanks for the link to that previous post Chokkidog). May no one ever ask me about a purchasing a small mesh drum again

[cjhfield]

I doubt the accuracy of that quote. The drum on mine has square holes not diamond like the latest pictures. I love Yemen beans but lose too many to roast with the square hole drum. I suspect the diamond pattern drum has a smaller effective hole size. I will eventually replace the drum as it is on its last legs.

Chris

[Andy]

I doubt the accuracy of that quote.

Doubt the accuracy of my quote?
Really? Might be your roaster was built earlier than you think.

Again for clarity...
The AU/NZ Behmor 1600 plus and the previous build of the Behmor 1600 (2013) both have the exact same drum which I call the pressed "diamond" shape which is as far as I can see is pretty much the same size holes as the previous wire grid "square" hole drums but has a different construction and a different, simpler closing mechanism.

Rough timeline...
2006 - Pre production model roaster takes SCAA Best New Product.
2007 - 120v roaster released in the USA using a large hole, chromed steel drum.
2008 - 120v roaster gets an optional small hole drum (chromed steel)
2009 - 220v roasters released into Europe with a stainless wire drum (stainless wire, square hole)
2009 - We landed a few pallets of the European roasters in Australia (stainless wire, square hole)
2010 - We landed the first Australian build of the roaster (stainless wire, square hole)
2011 - We landed another container of Australian roasters (stainless wire, square hole)
2012 - We landed another container of Australian roasters (stainless wire, square hole)
2013 - We landed another container of Australian roasters (stainless mesh. diamond shaped hole)
2014 - World first landing of the Behmor Plus roasters (stainless mesh. diamond shaped hole)

[cjhfield]

Of course you are right Andy. I took your statement to mean there has only been one drum type in Australia when there has been two, the square pattern and the "diamond" pattern. Not having seen the diamond pattern myself I assumed wrongly that the holes were rhombus shaped and thus effectively smaller but looking at the pictures they are just squares rotated 45 degrees. The mesh size looks the same so practically speaking the two drums look different but perform the same. Its a shame they didnt use a slightly smaller mesh as I do like the Yemen Bani Ismali.

Chris

[Andy]

There is a fair amount of science in the drum.. making the holes smaller mean there is more mass, more mass means that the drum takes more available heat and changes the way the roaster works.
Rule of thumb on the drum design is least amount of material without making it flimsy will yield the best results in the roaster.

I too love Yemen (favourite) and you can roast it ok on the Behmor and other holed drum roasters. Simply add the beans to the drum and shake it well over a tray, anything that was going to fall out will and you can roast those little ones in something else (popper or heatgun maybe?). There are other threads that explore this topic of roasting oddly small sized beans in the home roasting section (from memory).