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I just thought I'd mention I've read the manual for the Behmor and although it's a pretty dry read I did laugh when I read a section that discusses square pegs not fitting into round holes :-) (it's when they talk about inserting the drum basket into the machine).
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Wait til you get to the bit that says 'There's no smoke without fire'. Or in the later manual 'You can't start a fire without a spark'.Originally posted by YeastNCaffeine View PostComment
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Not meaning to hijack another thread, but I'm currently in the same boat considering these (behmor, genecafe, possibly kaffelogic).
My question is on what experience people have trying to roast light to medium roasts (for aeropress/filter). Love a good yirg, and want to cut down a proper on regular expenditure Happy to pay upfront for a roaster if it means regular cost for buying beans is less.Comment
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Has probably been mentioned before, but those of us who started out making our own coffees because we thought we'd save money buying them and then onto roasting our own because we wanted to save money rather than buy them inevitably find that we don't save very much (if any) money from these. The reason is because we find as we make our own coffees (which then applies to roasting too), we suddenly discover that we only stumbled onto the tip of the iceberg and that our coffee can get so much better with different equipment (ie. grinders, machines etc..). You may have started out with a basic home setup, say a Sunbeam grinder and Gaggia classic. Shortly after you might find the sunbeam grinder doesn't quite cut it so onto a Compak K3. Then you start entertaining friends (pre-COVID) and the Gaggia Classic can barely keep up if you need to make 6 lattes in a hurry. In comes an E61 blink and out goes $2k-3k.Originally posted by Whorl View Post
Then you discover roasting. One thing about home roasting, the Behmor makes it easier but refinement and getting good consistent results still takes experience and lots of practice whereas if you have been buying beans from Andy, you'll have benefitted from his vast experience and get top shelf coffee from the start.
In short, a few things to consider before home roasting. But saving money isn't really one of them. This tends to apply to a lot of other hobbies and interests as well eg. someone buys a boat because he doesn't want to keep paying professional charters to take him out fishing... big money pit, that one!Comment
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Awesome, that's what I was looking for! It seems the decision is between behmor with the readily available and user serviceable parts, genecafe with no user serviceable parts (correct me if I'm wrong!), and the kaffelogic with fully automated repeatable roasts (and a pricetag to match).
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Consider yourself corrected Whorl
Gene Cafe and Behmor parts in BeanBay (landed with the roasters)
https://beanbay.coffeesnobs.com.au/V...coffee-brewers
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If the budget permits:
1) Get a behmor to start off with to learn the basics and familiarise yourself with the entire roasting process. The behmor is a great first roaster that is incredibly capable of holding its own. Its strenghts lean to giving the user a simple interface with less mucking around so that you can learn about roasting your own beans
2) Once you are comfortable and have a upgrade itch to scratch, put the behmor up for sale on the very active FS section here and look to get a Gene then. The gene has great control over time and temperature whereas the behmor controls temperature by set power outputs in 25% increments
If I did not learn and understand the roasting process whilst using the behmor before I moved on to the gene I'd say that my experience and a first time roaster would not be the same at all. This is of course just my opinion having used both the Behmor for many years and more recently the GeneComment
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Just about to place an order for the Behmor as an entry into the foray of coffee roasting!
it seems very hard to beat this machine without spending heaps more and conclude despite a few negative reviews I can have some fun.
But happy to be guided by more experienced people on this forum if there’s an alternative I should consider.
From what I have read the Hottop is a better design - but 3-5 times the price and basically out of stock.
And even better the Garanti machines - but $10k can disappear fast!
Advice appreciated.
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Advice? Read less and just do it, you won't look back but you will wonder why you procrastinated for so long to start roasting.
As for negative reviews on anything, select your source well. The Behmor is a good example where the USA roaster looks the same, but is a totally different machine using a different voltage and has it's own quirks because of it. You'll find very few complaints in Australia about the roaster ever but easy to find 1000's of CoffeeSnobs here having a ball and producing coffee better than most local cafes.
Yes we import and distribute both the Gene Cafe and the Behmor roasters and we would carry other roasters too if we thought they were reasonable value (but we obviously don't). We rarely "pimp stuff" so don't expect a sale pitch from me but we do have them available in BeanBay for those that want one.
Grab some green beans, buy a $20 popcorn popper and have some fun. You'll learn if you want to roast for a total investment of $50 odd and if you don't kill the popper you can still use it for popcorn when you replace it with a bigger roaster.
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Ditto to what the bloke in post 22 said.....
In addition to the obvious reasons for roasting (much better tasting coffee, money saved etc) it is a great hobby and probably one that is more healthier than making your own home brew or salami (also loads of fun with rewards that I also recommend )
Both the Behmor and Gene are Gene are very simple to use. When you see and taste the fruits of your minimal labour you sometimes give yourself a bit of a self indulgent pat on the back and a “I made that!”
Only other observation I have is that a fellow Coffesnobber mate of mine roasts on a Hottop (I use a Gene). With all due respect to his great roasting skills I fail to see or taste any difference between his Hottop roasts compared to my Genes. We both use Snobs beans.
Yes the simple advice is “Go for it!”Comment
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After roasting on a Behmor for 5 years, I don’t think you will be disappointed. I roast at least 3 times a week and still haven’t outgrown the “limited” manual controls. I can’t comment on the gene, but do have limited experience with a hot top. They are a lovely little drum roaster with a lot more bells and whistles, but as said earlier, well executed behmor roasts can hold their own. I agree with Andy, pick one and get into it
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Finally landed on a decision and ordered the Gene Cafe. Seeing them both in action via the 'tube, decided that it was probably the one that most closely matches what I want to achieve and how to do it.
Order placed and can't wait for it to arrive now! Thanks Andy and everyone else who contributed!
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Hi All,
Long time watcher, first time poster.
I'm looking for my first roaster sub $1000 just to get started.
What are the differences and pros and cons between the Behmor and gene cafe machines?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Comment
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Don't discount a 2nd hand Hottop. I picked up one for about 1000
This topic was addressed in August here https://coffeesnobs.com.au/forum/equ...-cafe-or-other
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I am very happy with my 2nd Hand Hottop I bought here from another member. Cost me $800.Comment
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I've had a good experience with Gene Cafe but it broke down on me (most likely electrical or element) and I can't find anywhere to get it repaired. Grateful for advice.Comment
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