Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[JojoS]

Why can't we get this kind of amazing service in HK?

[Andy]

Why can't we get this kind of amazing service in HK?

...because I live in Australia? :-)

Are there any particular ways in which I can blow it up or will it just not work if I get a connection wrong?

I can guarantee that you will blow it up if you get it wrong... electronics work like that.

Take lots of pictures, scribble a diagram or do whatever you need to get it EXACTLY right.

The only real trick is the spade clips have a locking pin in the middle of them, use pointy-nosed pliers or similar to depress the locking pin and they will come off easily. Once you have done the first one and can see it... it will make more sense. If you get stuck email me or use the "contact us" (instead of hoping I see another post on the forum).

Good luck.

[Oli]

Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

My 1600 Plus arrived just before Christmas and I'm hooked! Really easy. Nice, even roasts and plenty of customisation available. Cheers Andy!

Was definitely worth reading this thread in full before starting...though the manual wasn't as bad as some online reviews make out. Perhaps the instructions for this 220-240V version are improved?

Now...to cart this beast back to Europe

[Oli]

200g - first attempt at a 'light' roast

[frede10]

Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

Nevermind.. found a way to contact Andy regarding international shipping.

[Oli]

For anyone interested, this Australian model WORKS in Europe with a (quality) power converter that delivers sufficient amperage.

I've noticed zero changes in roast times compared to when I used it in Australia...which is weird given the massive differences in ambient temperature.

This thing is awesome. Massive upgrade from using a popcorn popper. Essential to do a long pre-heat though, and to use the manual mode to play with power levels. I've even had luck roasting my first 400g batch, and was surprised to see it roast evenly.

Thanks again, Andy

[Andy]

Glad it got there okay.

We ship a lot of roasters into the UK, Europe and Scandinavia and everyone is happily roasting away.

Essential to do a long pre-heat though

NO NO NO.
40C+ in parts of Australia at the moment and you certainly DON'T need to preheat, blanket statements in a forum can lead to lots of people following blindly then wondering why their roasts are "toasts".

Pre-heat might be important in very cold ambient temperatures but even so, you are potentially better off just adjusting the start weight and using a room temperature roaster. The thing I don't like about pre-heat is that it can add another random variable unless you are diligent in pre-heating exactly the same each time and even then, having the door open longer will result in a vast starting change.

Repeatability is the real key to great roasting.

Get the roaster and the beans to room temperature and go from there. Take lots of notes and you should have some great base-lines to start all roasts on.

[kaboose]

Hi Andy Im thinking about buying a Behmor 1600 to go along with my newly purchased Lelit mara, was also going to add some green beans to the order and the prices seem really cheap, Ive seen other green bean sellers with similar named beans to yours and some are about $8 or $9 a kg more expensive, I am missing something here?

[Andy]

You can't always really compare name for name but I would be surprised if even at $9/kg more theirs are as good as ours!

I've seen plenty of other people sell rubbish for 3 times the price they should have, makes me angry so I tend not to look any more.

We sell greens and freight at about our actual landed costs, site sponsorship pays the margin that you could have paid and if you support site sponsors when you make your next purchase the world goes around and around. It's an odd model (that my accountant hates) but it's worked well for more than 12 years!

[kaboose]

You can't always really compare name for name but I would be surprised if even at $9/kg more theirs are as good as ours!

I've seen plenty of other people sell rubbish for 3 times the price they should have, makes me angry so I tend not to look any more.

We sell greens and freight at about our actual landed costs, site sponsorship pays the margin that you could have paid and if you support site sponsors when you make your next purchase the world goes around and around. It's an odd model (that my accountant hates) but it's worked well for more than 12 years!

Thanks Andy will place an order tomorrow!

[kaboose]

Got my Behmor 1600 today and was about to trial some 100g roasts. In the instructions it says preheating the machine by pressing any weight, then start, run for 1min 45 sec then press stop, but theres no stop button on it?

[shrubbface]

Got my Behmor 1600 today and was about to trial some 100g roasts. In the instructions it says preheating the machine by pressing any weight, then start, run for 1min 45 sec then press stop, but theres no stop button on it?

Just hit stop, and then you are good to go with your roast. I find the easiest method is to remove the drum and load the beans into it whilst the Behmor is preheating, then its just a matter of reinstalling the drum once the preheat is completed. The drum itself has minimal thermal mass compared to the rest of the roaster and does require much in the way of preheating.

[kaboose]

Thanks, I just read into this thread a bit more and have seen that Andy said you dont have to preheat.

I did try my first ever roast though with 100g of beans, heard a crack at about 3min left to go on the original 8min 30 setting so i thought I heard a different crack at 1.30 so pressed cool there. Beans came out a light brown with only about 10% loss and virtually no coffee aroma as well, I'm guessing I didn't roast long enough?

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Thanks, I just read into this thread a bit more and have seen that Andy said you dont have to preheat.

I did try my first ever roast though with 100g of beans, heard a crack at about 3min left to go on the original 8min 30 setting so i thought I heard a different crack at 1.30 so pressed cool there. Beans came out a light brown with only about 10% loss and virtually no coffee aroma as well, I'm guessing I didn't roast long enough?

My advice is to never determine first crack by a single 'pop'. Wait till you hear a couple of pops close together. I find that this gives very consistent timings b/w first and 2nd crack (assuming I'm applying the same profile)....though I tend to roast in batches b/w 370g and 400g depending on ambient temperature (which varies quite a bit on the back porch in Canberra).

[LeroyC]

Thanks, I just read into this thread a bit more and have seen that Andy said you dont have to preheat.

I did try my first ever roast though with 100g of beans, heard a crack at about 3min left to go on the original 8min 30 setting so i thought I heard a different crack at 1.30 so pressed cool there. Beans came out a light brown with only about 10% loss and virtually no coffee aroma as well, I'm guessing I didn't roast long enough?

Why did you press cool? When you're doing roasts using the auto profiles you simply choose a profile then let it run until the end and the machine will go into cooling mode itself once first crack has well and truly finished. The only button you need to press during the roast will be the 'start' button. This is to avoid the safety shut down feature at 3/4 of the way through. This is indicated by the display flashing.

The panel on the machine isn't really very intuitive and the manual is badly written so you'll take a few goes to get things happening and understand the process. Just keep going and read the manual lots as you go. I think I'd read the manual 5 or 6 times before it all started to click.