Behmor 1600AB

[RobertL]

Behmor is replacing the 1600+ with a new model called the 1600AB. There were a few changes made to the 1600AB. First the exterior is matte black, second the door has a larger handle and the glass is now double pane. Last but not least the motor has been upgraded from the 8/16rpm motor to a 16/32rpm motor. I?m interested to see how the new motor affects roasting. I?ve reached out to Behmor and they?ve confirmed that 1600+ owners will be able to upgrade to the new motor.

[vnahmias]

Let?s see if the upgrades make a difference in the cup!

Victor

[vnahmias]

Has anyone had any experience with the new Behmor 1600AB?

[Benjamin]

Note to self: This is a distraction. You are focused on upgrading to the Artisan 3E. Do NOT purchase any more than the bare necessities to keep your 1600+ going in the meantime...

One thing I would like to know, though, is whether anybody has successfully modded the 1600+ to disable that @$#% roast timer? Is there a way to add time indefinitely to the roast? Warranties be damned.

[Ascholten]

Benjamin, from my experience the roast speed is not really going to make a big difference in the Behmor's roasts.  Who cares about the color, and the window may hold a tad bit of heat in but the biggest problem is heat period, it's really straining to get enough heat to finish a roast many times with 12 oz or more in it, especially as the heating element gets older.   I can not affirm this with any science but my gut feeling is that the turning on and off of the heating element during the roast is not helping either.

If the quirks of the current Behmor are bothering you, I have a pretty good feeling, you won't be satiated with the new one, and if they did fix the heat issue why not brag all over about it.

As for modding it yes,I have heard that some bypass the shit and put an on / off switch on the drum motor. turning it on and off directly with AC.  I also heard of people doing this with the heating element too but id have to caution about being very careful on that one, it's surprisingly easy to start a fire in one of those, especially if you do something like that. At this point you might as well just cut out the entire control board and just run two sets of wires to the thing.. one set for the heating element, if you want to geek it, use a rheostat and one set to the motor and do it all manual. well one for the fan too.  so 3 sets of wires.  You could probably put a temp controller on it too,  a cheap PID and just set maybe a 10 degree dead band on the temp and turn the heat on and off that way, Id use SSR's for reliability.  Theyre really cheap lately.

It's been many many years but from what I remember the motor was not that hard to replace on one, so if he offers a faster motor mod, if you want to try it, it should not be too painful to swap that out.

Aaron

[Badam]

Note to self: This is a distraction. You are focused on upgrading to the Artisan 3E. Do NOT purchase any more than the bare necessities to keep your 1600+ going in the meantime...

One thing I would like to know, though, is whether anybody has successfully modded the 1600+ to disable that @$#% roast timer? Is there a way to add time indefinitely to the roast? Warranties be damned.

Benjamin, there is a work-around for that: When you are getting near the end of your timer hit the "C" button. This is the button that is supposed to mark first crack. What it does do is set the timer to 3:10, no matter how much time left. I did this just today, I have read that you can do this infinitely, however I have only ever needed it once.

[Benjamin]

Note to self: This is a distraction. You are focused on upgrading to the Artisan 3E. Do NOT purchase any more than the bare necessities to keep your 1600+ going in the meantime...

One thing I would like to know, though, is whether anybody has successfully modded the 1600+ to disable that @$#% roast timer? Is there a way to add time indefinitely to the roast? Warranties be damned.

Benjamin, there is a work-around for that: When you are getting near the end of your timer hit the "C" button. This is the button that is supposed to mark first crack. What it does do is set the timer to 3:10, no matter how much time left. I did this just today, I have read that you can do this infinitely, however I have only ever needed it once.

Thank you, Badam! I'm going to test that as soon as I get home.

I've been doing experiments about keeping the door cracked as a way of prolonging the Maillard stages (to lead to sweeter cups) and I rand out of time on a recent Colombia roast. I expected to be drinking grass, but the cups have actually been quite pleasant, which leads me to think if I had gotten the coffee to 1C it would have been absolutely killer. But I was prevented from this because I ran out of time on the roast.

[vnahmias]

At what point do you open the door to reduce the chamber temperature?

[Badam]

Note to self: This is a distraction. You are focused on upgrading to the Artisan 3E. Do NOT purchase any more than the bare necessities to keep your 1600+ going in the meantime...

One thing I would like to know, though, is whether anybody has successfully modded the 1600+ to disable that @$#% roast timer? Is there a way to add time indefinitely to the roast? Warranties be damned.

Benjamin, there is a work-around for that: When you are getting near the end of your timer hit the "C" button. This is the button that is supposed to mark first crack. What it does do is set the timer to 3:10, no matter how much time left. I did this just today, I have read that you can do this infinitely, however I have only ever needed it once.

Thank you, Badam! I'm going to test that as soon as I get home.

I've been doing experiments about keeping the door cracked as a way of prolonging the Maillard stages (to lead to sweeter cups) and I rand out of time on a recent Colombia roast. I expected to be drinking grass, but the cups have actually been quite pleasant, which leads me to think if I had gotten the coffee to 1C it would have been absolutely killer. But I was prevented from this because I ran out of time on the roast.

You may have to be in manual mode (Where you control the heat elements with the P1-P5 buttons), but I'm not 100% certain, I never operate outside this.

I also reduce temperatures to affect Maillards, if leaving the door open becomes a pain you can also decrease the temp using manual mode (p4 or p3), but with a good Ethiopian I like to let the temps rip and open the door (when I start to see yellowing on the beans) for a minute or two. I'm not sure how thats going to work with a better roaster since a good one can scorch the beans in no time, haha. I also am after an Artisan 3e, but that savings project is years away, just in time for them to stop making the 3e  .

[Ascholten]

I find that when I do shall we say more tender or complex beans.  I do this often with my Kona's.  I'll hold it right at the verge of first crack for about 45 seconds to a minute then push it right through.   To be honest, the best roaster I EVER have had for doing this was my original I roast.  id sit it at stage 2 405Degrees for 3 minutes and it'd be perfect almost every time on that stage.

Aaron