Gene Cafe Better Built, Longer Lived than Behmor?

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I have a used Behmor with some burned out wire connection into the circuit board. I replaced the board a couple of years ago. It just seems to me that the Behmor isn't built well enough to handle hot, dark roasts and the components aren't shielded much from the heat. I have no problem replacing the board and installing the control board upgrade.

But I'm considering another roaster, but my choices are few. I need:

1) An electric roaster (for now) capable of roasting at least 8 ounces of beans at a time. I probably roast an average of two pounds or so a week. I would use the roaster on my outside, screened/glassed in porch.

2) Something that costs less than $1,000, closer to half that.

One wild card would be that I'm open to using propane if there is a small enough roaster at a decent price.

Which brings me to the Gene Cafe.

I would like to hear from those who have used a GC for a couple of years how they like or don't like the roaster.

Does it hold up without needing frequent repairs or parts?
Is it too noisy to hear the beans cracking?
Is it easy enough to remove the beans after roasting so you can cool them externally?

If there is anyone here who could help me build an inexpensive propane roaster and lives in the New England area, I'd be very interested to hear from you.

Thank you thank you thank you.

[expy98]

bummer about your Behmor...  hope this helps...

Does it hold up without needing frequent repairs or parts?
in the couple of years that I've used one, I had to replace the heating element once.  Not too difficult to
open up the GC to replace.

Is it too noisy to hear the beans cracking?
I had no probs hearing first nor second crack, ymmv

Is it easy enough to remove the beans after roasting so you can cool them externally?
I used a pair of mechanics gloves to do so, it's not difficult at all, just sorta a nuisance.  Once I upgraded
to the Hottop, I did not miss having to deal w/ that. 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Behmor is sending a new board gratis, so I'll fix my roaster
Still, I think I want a second roaster.

[ptrmorton]

I love my Hottop.  A used "D" went recently in the GCBC community for $400 - a screaming bargain in my opinion.  With a working roaster, you have the luxury of time - an excellent place to be.

[Kstreet99]

I've been using the Gene Cafe for a few months now and one thing I have noticed is that the maximum batch load is often too much because there is so much chaff that it stays stuck in the swinging door without being sucked out. Then the chaff will burn, producing lots of smoke and giving the beans an uneven roast and an undesirable flavour... If you are thinking about the Gene it's a great roaster except you should expect for batch sizes to a be a little smaller than what is recommended as the maximum.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[roastingnerd]

I have used my Gene for a little over 3 years now and it has needed no repairs.  I am careful not to repeat roasting until it has cooled at least two hours.  I clean it out after every use.  I also have a dryer hose attached to my stove vent and try to seal edges so it sort of sucks on the outlet of the chaf collector.  Never had a problem with chaf burn unless I made a mistake and shut down in the middle of a roast.  Some beans do have a lot of chaff, though; so I just may not have tried one that could plug up the machine.
Only complaint I have is the long learning curve to develop profiles that really taste special.  Lots of good roasts but few great ones and some that never could be made to taste good. 

[Ascholten]

I don't know what to say about the Behmor.  I know the early ones were built like tanks.  I know the guys at work in PDM used to burn the living crap out of their coffee because they thought that is the way it should be!!  Their Behmor was black and nasty inside from all the super dark roasts they made the poor thing suffer through and it kept rolling right along.  I know I have had a few nice fires in mine because of inattention / stupidity etc and a quick clean out run or three and it's still running good.   I have heard more than once person complain now that the newer ones are problematic and just 'not built like they used to be'.  Lately it seems to be circuit board issues is the main complaint I am hearing.

Are they being built cheaper?  I don't know.  Did he get a bad batch in, it's possible.
Before getting a different roaster, one needs to take into account customer service of a company as well.  You are getting a new board out of it so that's a good thing, I have had good service from Behmor, and yet I have asked them questions on more than one occasion and never had any reply back.

Their product, I am happy with, I have never had any problems with it and I have had a few of them already.
Their customer service, Im going to have to say, my experience, hit or miss.  Overall though I have to say I think it's one of the better buys for a 1 lb roaster for a few hundred dollars that you can back to back in if you really need.

Aaron

[Mass. Wine Guy]

The 1600 I got from a very kind forum member definitely appears to work better than mine. The drum turns faster and there seems to be little difficulty if I roast a larger quantity.