Behmor 1600 Plus - Coffee Roaster

[Claudio]

Thanks for your email, Andy.

[kutis]

First, Thanks for emailing the invoice Andy.


From the manual it said: 'Press "C" at First Crack to reset time remaining'

Question: when exactly is first crack? the first couple pops? or in the mids of the roll?

On my first batch (freebie Peru greens), 100g, P1, auto. Then after the first few pops of 1C, I can't stop myself from pressing C then drop to 25%. About a minute after 1C, I heard a couple snaps of 2C and immediately hit cool. Using v60, brewed immediately: bland and boring (as expected), day 1: good. day 2 (today): great, it has that spices aroma. I think I could do better on the next batch, but even with this result, it's already better than most served at the expo. The Behmor, it's either a great machine or the beans are easy to roast (probably both).

[greg34]

hello, I am French and I had to idea of buying a Behmor, but between the problem of voltage and the new "Plus" version I'll wait. In France this brand is not sold, there is only Gene coffee. Do you know when the Behmor 1600 will be more available for sale?

Thanks

[Andy]

hello, I am French and I had to idea of buying a Behmor, but between the problem of voltage and the new "Plus" version I'll wait. In France this brand is not sold, there is only Gene coffee. Do you know when the Behmor 1600 will be more available for sale?

Thanks

Hello Greg, welcome to CoffeeSnobs.

I removed Claudio's reply as it was quoting the rough arrival date of the USA roaster, not the 220/240V roaster that you will need.
We will be landing the 220/240v roaster soon but via this site we only sell within Australia. Drop me an email (andy@coff...) and I'll let you know when you can get one in France.

[Andy]

First, Thanks for emailing the invoice Andy.


From the manual it said: 'Press "C" at First Crack to reset time remaining'

Question: when exactly is first crack? the first couple pops? or in the mids of the roll?

On my first batch (freebie Peru greens), 100g, P1, auto. Then after the first few pops of 1C, I can't stop myself from pressing C then drop to 25%. About a minute after 1C, I heard a couple snaps of 2C and immediately hit cool. Using v60, brewed immediately: bland and boring (as expected), day 1: good. day 2 (today): great, it has that spices aroma. I think I could do better on the next batch, but even with this result, it's already better than most served at the expo. The Behmor, it's either a great machine or the beans are easy to roast (probably both).

ANSWER: Dunno!

Please don't get too hung-up on "exactly" or "specific" or "accuracy to the 5th decimal place". Coffee roasting isn't like that. It's a mixture of art and science, the start of first crack can be where ever you like... just keep it the same so you get some consistency.

There are always a couple of beans that "jump early" that can be ignored I would suggest you call the start of first crack when you get 3 or 5 cracks together.

The Behmor, it's either a great machine or the beans are easy to roast (probably both)

Definitely both!

Enjoy the roasting journey.

[javabeen]

Andy

How do I override Err7? I've been caught out a couple of times staring at the beans, mesmerised watching them tumbling around in there and forgotten to press start to let the roaster know I'm still there and then unable to restart a roast even after powering down. This has resulted in the batch having to be dumped

[kutis]

How do I override Err7?

Set a timer for sometime before 75% of the allotted time? Or depending on your profile preference, if you're not going for a dark roast with big batch size, increase the time before start, and aim to finish the roast around 75% mark.

Never got bitten by that before, but last time I have about 10 sec left before the dead man switch kick in. IMHO, it's a good feature to have, but it needs a low volume beep. I'm looking at the temp a lot more than the time. But no fast drum in auto mode bugs me more than anything so far.

[Andy]

Andy

How do I override Err7? I've been caught out a couple of times staring at the beans, mesmerised watching them tumbling around in there and forgotten to press start to let the roaster know I'm still there and then unable to restart a roast even after powering down. This has resulted in the batch having to be dumped

Excellent news!
Is that an angry smiley or an embarrassed one at the end of your post?

It's working exactly as intended. If you are distracted, "mesmerised" or just not in front of the roaster then it's doing just what it should, turn off the power to the elements and start the cooling cycle.

This is by far the safest way to roast, the "un30 countdown" protected your roaster (beans are cheap!) and potentially protected the environment around your roaster too.

It will flash the screen for 30 seconds, plenty of time to see it really.

Set a timer for sometime before

No... that would encourage people to leave the roaster unattended, which it clearly states in the manual and printed on top of the roaster to NEVER do. Please just press [Start] when the roaster screen flashes. It's really not a big burden and similar to wearing a seatbelt when you get in a car

but it needs a low volume beep

Having a beep wasn't an option without a very long-winded redesign of the hardware. The roaster currently has nothing in it that goes "beep" (thankfully too I think). High pitched electronics gear squawking at you every step of the way would certainly become annoying to most of us that enjoy how quiet the Behmor roasts.

[Dimal]

Hiya Andy...

The updated Behmor package looks to be a fantastic upgrade. About the only thing it can't do now is load the beans and dump them after cooling...

A real beaut for sure...

Mal.

[javabeen]

Its definitely an angry/mad at having to throw out the beans for not remembering to press start. I see that features purpose, it was just frustrating since I'm always watching the roast and not the timer as I keep my own timer that counts up. I've never found count down timers any use as proven by the one on the gene cafe I've owned and used for many many years.

I've been roasting coffee for what seems an eternity, I've never had a fire/left a roast unattended and in light of my roasting history that feature just annoyed the crap out of me. I don't speak for everyone though and I understand the reason for Err7. I'm now use to it so not a big deal, just one thing to keep an eye out for future owners of this version of the roaster. I did a couple of roasts today and just remembered to glance at the timer now and then.

Agree beans are inexpensive and not a big deal. The question was simply how to restart the roaster after Err7 and I guess the answer is you can't till the roaster has completely cooled down/run a complete cooling cycle/exhaust temp reaches 54°.

Happy roasting
Javabeen.

[Andy]

Yeah Mal, the new features and functionality are cool.

At MICE we smashed out roasts solidly for 4 days and tipped them on the counter as we finished each one. They looked awesome and we had commercial roasters even ask "what were these beans roasted on?"

Most of those demo roasts were "auto profile" P1 or P2 and when 1st crack started went into manual mode using 0% or 25% element power to extend the first crack and the time to second crack. It was a great demo of the capabilities as well as being easy enough to do in a noisy, crowded public space while talking non-stop and not concentrating so well.

I look forward to seeing how creative the CoffeeSnobs community get in building their own techniques with a mixture of auto and manual overrides. I'm sure there are some great methods to get even better results that I've yet to discover.

The real shipment isn't too far away now... I'll be sending an email to the list as soon as they are released.

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Could I just ask, with regard to cleaning, which 'Simple Green' product is advised? When I went to Bunnings a few months back there were 4 or 5 products similarly named.

MODS: Not sure whether I should ask this in the old / new Behmor threads...so kindly move if needed.

[Cicarda]

Barry - the one I use is called Simple Green "All purpose Cleaner" purchased from Bunnings and yes it is green in colour Seems to cut through the coffee oils if used on a regular basis.
Cicarda

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Thanks very much Circarda.

[Andy]

Last week while Joseph Behm and I were commuting to MICE I mentioned that he should be getting a commision from Simple Green and Bunnings as without his roaster sales of the product would be zero in this country. I'm sure there is a bean counter at Bunnings scratching his head as to why an item hidden in the cleaning section is selling so well.

I've never seen it for sale anywhere in Australia except Bunnings but the product is available everywhere in the USA. The original formulation (and the one that the Behmor manual mentions) was the General Purpose GREEN coloured one, they have since released a few different colours that all seem to work the same... the last one I bought was an orange one, it smells nicer and seems to do the same job. Its a great cleaner for the roaster, I also use it on stainless benches and any hard surface in the Snobbery. Biodegradable and non-toxic, good for any food prep areas too.

Interestingly, it was originally developed as a coffee roaster cleaner:

The Simple Green® story began over thirty years ago, long before "environmentally friendly" products were mandated by law. Bruce FaBrizio and his father developed a safer alternative to the toxic cleaners then being used to remove tannic acid, a by-product of coffee roasting, from roasting machinery. It took three years to perfect the biodegradable, not-toxic, non-flammable, non-abrasive formula. After its initial success, Bruce began selling Simple Green to automotive and industrial customers in 55-gallon drums; which he delivered in his van, for use as a cleaner on equipment and floors.
from: Simple Green Our History

The surprising thing is that not only does it do a great job it's good value too at about $6 litre in a spray bottle and $5 a litre as a concentrate in bulk. Far cheaper than most all the similar cleaners in the supermarket.