Author Topic: Behmor 1600 Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks  (Read 93311 times)

Offline tahoejoe

  • Standard User
  • **
  • Posts: 136
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #45 on: November 21, 2007, 11:05:26 AM »
Marlyece .....P3..

I'm huge fan of that profile.. P2 many others like but I find it a tad sneaky on how it migrates from 1st to 2nd..

reminder ... Newest manual revision 3.3 http://www.behmor.com/manual.html

Parts IV and V...
« Last Edit: November 21, 2007, 11:08:01 AM by tahoejoe »

Offline tahoejoe

  • Standard User
  • **
  • Posts: 136
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #46 on: November 23, 2007, 11:23:07 AM »
A chemist friend did a a quick test on the effects of acetone to clean the goo left from the sticker..

His conclusion.........................

DO NOT USE acetone or nail polish remover on the control panel or digital display to remove the stickum... the panel showed no real negative effect but he felt the display took on a cloudy look...

While I've personally not used WD-40, some state it does a great job whereas I know goo be gone works really well.

My sincerest apologies for the extra effort required to remove the ugghhh..

Gatewood

  • Guest
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #47 on: November 23, 2007, 01:06:09 PM »
Anybody tried decaf yet? I'm familiar with decaf in my FreshRoast things. I have a nephew who has requested decaf for Christmas, and it would be nice to do a whole pound. I'll take any suggestions as to profile. I have a Mexican decaf and a Honduran. Both last year's, but hey! He wants decaf, gave me preground coffee once, and I don't think it will matter to him if it's from 1925.
 ;)
Gatewood

Offline 187

  • Standard User
  • ***
  • Posts: 302
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #48 on: November 23, 2007, 01:15:07 PM »
I roasted my first decafe today,Sumatra it was 4 years old .Used P3 C    1C came and went on schedule and it appears just fine. I don't think any adjustments will have to be made for decafe
Eat more lamb, drink more coffee.

Offline Curtis

  • Standard User
  • *****
  • Posts: 1038
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #49 on: November 23, 2007, 04:39:45 PM »
A chemist friend did a a quick test on the effects of acetone to clean the goo left from the sticker..

His conclusion.........................

DO NOT USE acetone or nail polish remover on the control panel or digital display to remove the stickum... the panel showed no real negative effect but he felt the display took on a cloudy look...

While I've personally not used WD-40, some state it does a great job whereas I know goo be gone works really well.

My sincerest apologies for the extra effort required to remove the ugghhh..

Try that handy little bottle of hand sanitizer you bought for traveling on the airplane to Aunt Minnie's place last summer.  That works great on stickers, pitch from most trees, and a bunch of other things.

Curtis

FinerGrind

  • Guest
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #50 on: November 24, 2007, 07:08:26 AM »
I've been roasting with the Behmor now the last 3 days since it arrived.  I can tell already that this roaster will help me become a better roaster. 

After two outside break-in sessions, I roasted up 1/2lb P2 OFT Timor Maubese.  Nice, even roast.  There was minimal chaff; 3/4 was in the chaff tray with little collections in the back corners of the roaster.  I still detected the plastic smell during the roast, so I dumped these over the fence to the birds (did you know that wild turkeys will eat roasted coffee beans??).

The next roast was 1.2lb Rwanda Bufcafe Gkongoro Bourbon - I wanted to go darker so I tried 1/2 P3 B (I think - doing this from memory).  1st crack seemed to come at the end of the cycle, so I added a little more time to the cycle.  2nd came soon after that so I hit cool - gotta watch extending the roast time.  I'm drinking this right now - it is deep and rich and wonderful.

I went ahead and did a cleaning cycle outside again since I could still smell electronics.  After this, I set the roaster on top of the stove and hit the downdraft.  I tried some of the '06 Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha using a lighter profile but more weight - 1lb P2 A.  At around 9 mins, the smoke alarms went off.  I opened the windows and deck doors, but I'm afraid that the kitchen smoke alarm is going to pick up any stray smoke and scream.  I added a little more time to the roast to take it what I think is mid-way between 1st and 2nd crack.

I wanted to roast IDIDO MISTY VALLEY Grade 1 FT Organic Yirgacheffe, because I have a lot of Ethiopians.  I did this outside on the deck.  The first was 1lb P3 (I think I like this profile best), C (I think - I should be taking notes!!).  First crack came just at the end of the cycle - I added a few more seconds until I heard 1st end.   The roast looked good and even - not typical for my IMV roasts, and smelled very good (this is vintage BW's IMV that is still sooooo goooood).  There is a good deal of chaff in the tray, a few shakers (kinda of interesting that these fell out and stayed pale) and a few burned beans in the bottom and caught in the drum.  I did read the manual about high-chaff coffees.  I thought I'd roast another IMV 1lb'er, and this time I used 1lb P3 D because I wanted to go a little darker.  Everything progressed as before, but this time after 1st crack had finished, 10-12 seconds later 2nd started.  I hit cool, but could already see and hear that the roast was coasting into a rolling second - fast.  So I opened the door a bit (I know, I can hear you all saying DON'T DO THAT) and the chaff that was collected on the corners of the tray smoked and burned to ash.  After the cool down, the roast looks OK - just a bit darker and uneven.  The finish on the chaff collector is a bit marred, but overall, no damage to any part of the roaster, but I will be really careful of "D" in the future, and whatever you do, don't leave the roaster unattended.  I haven't - there are noseprints on the viewing window of mine, but I find it interesting how quickly you can go from crack1 to crack2.  In all the roasting I've done in poppers and SC/CO's I haven't had it ramp up like this, but I think this is a good thing; I've never had a great degree of controlled temp. like the Behmor has.

So this would be my first roaster fire - tiny and controlled as it was on the little piles of chaff in the corners.  So this leads me to a question: could the chaff collector somehow spread the chaff out more evenly so it doesn't pile up in the corners?  Maybe as it drops out of the drum onto the collector, there could be separators in parallel, like little trays that would help even the distribution of the chaff.  Would this impact the design of the airflow in some way?

Overall, I'm very satisified with the Behmor.  I will have to find a way to roast inside since this is one of the reasons I wanted one, and the only draft fan I have is a downdraft oven, and it looks like the exhaust on the Behmor vents up.  That would be another design consideration or modification, not a high priority but something to consider.

Thank you Joe for a great product!

Woody

Offline tahoejoe

  • Standard User
  • **
  • Posts: 136
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #51 on: November 24, 2007, 09:36:30 AM »
If I were to highlight any one point in the entire manual, other than the basic how to use, that will help control roasts and undertstand when to anticipate start of 2nd etc it would be # 3 Part V..

3)   The following time spans are good set of guidelines to better anticipate a roast hitting 2nd crack. The times shown are approximately what it takes from start of the first crack/snap of 1st crack to the start of 2nd crack. This guideline is especially important to know when using Profile 2/ P2. We have found over the course of many tests using P2 it will give you only a few 1st cracks then go silent, moving gently into 2nd crack in the times shown below. We suggest adjusting times as close to the following once you hear the first cracking sound of 1st crack. This should allow you to more accurately control your roast.

a)   ? lb - 1:40 minutes
b)   ? lb - 2:20 minutes
c)   1 lb?  3:20 minutes


If you follow the above I guarantee you'll be far better at knowing when to get ready to cool... It could vary slightly but it's a damn good barometer..

For me.. I hear the first crack of 1st.. I adjust the times up or down ( + or -) to those listed above or close to... and sit back ready to press cool if I'm off a little..

BoldJava

  • Guest
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #52 on: November 24, 2007, 10:40:39 AM »
Quote
a)   ? lb - 1:40 minutes
b)   ? lb - 2:20 minutes
c)   1 lb?  3:20 minutes

I have found them excellent barometers with which to gauge.  I am in the midst of roasting and the Colombian Patron (P1) and Orchid Estate Kona (P5) are just beautiful, even, full city roasts.  Love the quietness and having just a window cracked and the stove vent on low.

Nice machine, Joe.

B|Java

Offline pm

  • Standard User
  • ***
  • Posts: 286
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #53 on: November 24, 2007, 12:44:07 PM »
One thing I would wish for in a version 2 would be the ability to roast a full pound in the time/profile similar to 1/2 or 1/4 pound (for example, to be able to roast a full pound and hit first crack at 11-12 minutes).

Is there a way to ramp up the 1# roast somewhat to approximate the profile for 1/4# of the same bean? perhaps by preheating the roaster?

Is this where a Variac/KaW combo can come in handy?

Offline pm

  • Standard User
  • ***
  • Posts: 286
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #54 on: November 24, 2007, 12:57:53 PM »
Darn! I just stepped out to start a roast and have gotten an "Err1" message (thermostat damaged).  ??? It has been our on the screened porch and the temp dropped down to mid-twenties last night, but I hope that wouldn't affect it. I'll try turning it off and then on again, see what happens.

One minute later:
...phew! I unplugged it, waited 15 seconds and then plugged it back in and pressed 1 and it displayed 18:00. Hmmmmm....

Roast now in progress  :D

Offline 187

  • Standard User
  • ***
  • Posts: 302
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #55 on: November 27, 2007, 05:40:10 PM »
I am showing a idle line voltage of 118 and it drops to 115 with the element on. Thats the root of my long roast times. Is a 3 volt drop normal and when I get a variac do I set it high enough to deliver 120 with the element on or do I set it at 120 which will give me 117 with the element on?
Eat more lamb, drink more coffee.

Offline Chris

  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 1487
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #56 on: November 27, 2007, 06:36:11 PM »
I am showing a idle line voltage of 118 and it drops to 115 with the element on. Thats the root of my long roast times. Is a 3 volt drop normal and when I get a variac do I set it high enough to deliver 120 with the element on or do I set it at 120 which will give me 117 with the element on?

You can experiment.

I like to have my Hottop at 120VAC with element on (which is ~123VAC at idle, and a little overpowered), but I would rather start with a little "hotter" unit, and adjust profiles down, because you can never go the other way with much success.

Offline 187

  • Standard User
  • ***
  • Posts: 302
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #57 on: November 27, 2007, 07:25:13 PM »
thanks Chris
Eat more lamb, drink more coffee.

Offline 187

  • Standard User
  • ***
  • Posts: 302
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #58 on: December 01, 2007, 04:50:38 PM »
Can anyone tell me what the actual wattage reads when the element is full on? My y kill a what meter arrived today and I am reading 1063 at 1 minute into P1 with both elements on.
Eat more lamb, drink more coffee.

Offline comptrguru

  • Standard User
  • **
  • Posts: 196
  • I thought I had a handle on life....then it broke.
Re: Behmor 1600 - Q's and A's, Roasting Tips and Suggestions
« Reply #59 on: December 01, 2007, 07:45:51 PM »
A chemist friend did a a quick test on the effects of acetone to clean the goo left from the sticker..

His conclusion.........................

DO NOT USE acetone or nail polish remover on the control panel or digital display to remove the stickum... the panel showed no real negative effect but he felt the display took on a cloudy look...

While I've personally not used WD-40, some state it does a great job whereas I know goo be gone works really well.

My sincerest apologies for the extra effort required to remove the ugghhh..

Well, I tried denatured alcohol.  It removed the goo just fine.  No damage to the panel at all.  The only issue is that I now have a 'no name roaster'.  Sorry, Joe.  You may want to change your logo to something other than black lacquer.

On the other hand, I adore this machine.  My 'no brainer' roasts are near perfect.  I have fiddled a little with times during a couple roasts, but that's it.  One last item.....  I find the absolute need to have a kitchen fan on during the end of the roast cycle and well into cooling.  It's a very powerful fan.  In fact, idf the house doors aren't latched, the vacuum from the fan opens them very quickly.  I find fulll blast is just adequate to roast in the house.