When I used to roast on my I roast, or the Behmor for that matter, Id do pretty much the same thing, Id use a general profile and tweak on the fly mostly via time to get what I needed. With the B is was more of ok when is the thing going to hit first, then try to pull it before it gets too much into second if it didn't run out of time first.
That does seem to work very well for most beans, you start at a 'good' spot and can go either way from there for perfection if you really want to dial in a bean, but if you don't have the time you are still good to go with what you are at and have a very drinkable / likable coffee out of the thing.
Being easy to clean is always a good thing. Some would say that, Cleaning the chaff is an absolute must, as it can cause fire hazards, the grime on the glass, is important but they don't think so critically much. Unless you got it totally gooped on that it's sticky, all it does is prevent you from seeing the color of the bean perfectly. I would tend to agree with that but I have seen over the years that, in some fluid beds, grime makes it abrasive and the beans may not want to loft properly, and with the behmor, grunge on the walls can affect it's temp sensing too and cause issues, so yes keeping it clean can be important depending on your unit.
My A6 the stainless loft cone, is dirty but I have a controllable loft so if I need I can give it a little more oomph to get it going.
I DO wonder if really heavy grime can affect an outcome on a roast flavor wise. I know if you burn chaff, that smoky can infuse a little into the beans, but wonder if heavy grime can affect flavor? Not sure Id want to try that one ::sick::
Aaron
