Behmor 1600: first look

by **syscrusher** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:01 pm

Well I've been getting to grips (testing) with the Behmor for a few weeks now, and gotten several roasts under my belt at different weights and profiles. There is still more for me to learn about it, but I think I have a reasonable grasp of its capabilities now.

My only other roasting experience is the iRoast2, I haven't used a Hottop or Gene, so can't compare to them.

Perhaps if there are specific questions I can answer them, but broadly speaking I've been enormously impressed. One concern I had was whether the unit would be able to roast a full 1lb, as some of the US forums claim it underpowered. I found no such problem, and I reached 2nd crack on a full 1lb well short of time.

The cooling is as described in the US - somewhat slow. When I reach the desired roast level though, I hit cool AND open the front door. This greatly speeds the cooling, room temp air rushes into the machine. The consequence of this is that smoke and a small amount of chaff get out into the room. I think it's worth it, but you could of course compensate for the coast cool with experience and keep the smoke to a minimum.

The smoke on a full 1lb is comparable to the 150g on the iRoast2. So kudos on that front. Still probably want to crack a window though.

The front door handle had to be changed from the US design to comply with CE regulations. Aesthetically it's not as streamlined as the original, but also because it sticks out more from the unit, it seems to be vulnerable to robust treatment from delivery men.

I stopped roasting coffee because I wasn't happy with the iRoast2. Doing that allowed me to gain a much better appreciation for top end commercially roasted coffee. I discovered it wasn't my technique that was holding back my coffee, I could make excellent coffee using my machine and my skills. Everything didn't taste bitter, burner or baked. With the Behmor I was somewhat expecting a big jump down from the quality I'd become accustomed to. However, the Behmor roasts are closer to the commercial quality than the iRoast quality - much closer in fact.

I think on weight less than 1lb the P1 profile (100% all the time) can run a bit quick and 1st crack and 2nd crack can run into each other. That's not really a design flaw, merely something to bear in mind for an end-user.

This post has turned into a bit of a ramble, so I'll cut it off here. If I have further thoughts I'll post again.

by **fred25** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:10 pm

Great review, actually I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to hear more!

If I may ask, how much is it possible to manage/vary the temp ramp? There seem to be quite a few settings, and also scope to tweak them beyond their original design - is that the case?

by **johnny** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:38 pm

how does it cope with smaller roasts .... I would probably only be roasting 250g at a time.

is it easier to roast small or large quantaties ?

by **syscrusher** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:59 pm

@fred25 - there are 5 profiles and you can add or subtract time after the roast has begun to vary the proportion of time devoted to stages of the profiles. Profile1 is always 100% so it makes no difference, but for the others there is some tweaking available. A good analogy might be that profile 2 is a house, and profile 3 is a dog, they will always be a house or a dog, but it can be a house with big windows or small windows, or a dog with a gimpy leg etc. (maybe that's a crap analogy). Anyway I don't think it's very intuitive, but luckily some nice person has written some software which simplifies the viualisation of this hugely. http://www.extrasensory.com/BehmorThing.htm

@johnny - apart from profile1 there is no problem to do smaller roasts. One profile1 with these weights it can run too fast and you can easily overshoot the desired roast. I've roasted 112g and 225g batches with very good results. I wouldn't say one was easier than the other, apart from maybe on profile1.

by **fred25** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:47 pm

Thanks for the extra info, and the website link! Must say the main attraction I can see for the behmor is still the 1/2 kilo batches - Hottop is really a bit stretched beyond 230g.

Will be interesting to see what price it comes at in Europe!

by **Steve** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:26 pm

fred25 wrote:Will be interesting to see what price it comes at in Europe!

Take a look what the dollar is doing to be frightened. What looked cheap may not be so cheap with a 25% drop in the value of the £

by **fred25** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:01 pm

Steve wrote:
fred25 wrote:Will be interesting to see what price it comes at in Europe!

Take a look what the dollar is doing to be frightened. What looked cheap may not be so cheap with a 25% drop in the value of the £

Steve, you break my heart :cry:

But then you roast great coffee so that balances things out i guess

by **GreenBean** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 2:53 pm

fred25 wrote: Hottop is really a bit stretched beyond 230g.

This may be true for the early models (especially with low supply voltages) but I regularly do 320 g batches in my Hottop programmable. It can easily roast 320 g to second crack in 15 minutes (which is quicker than I want). I am lucky enough to live in an area with a steady 240 volt supply which no doubt helps.

by **fred25** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:50 pm

That's really interesting - didn't know that. Does that mean the old basic models (ie. the ones with those REALLY annoying buttons

) are actually under-powered, as it were?

Might be that I live in a low-voltage area, but I think the smaller-batches-necessity issue (is that a proper way of using the English language?) has been mentioned before by quite a few TMCers... so perhaps machine related.

by **Raf** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:36 am

I didn't know it was shipping already in a CE version?

Anyway, I can concur with most of what syscrusher says. Some of you might remember that I used to roast in some gas powered swivel roaster antiquity and that I eventually gave up because it was such a chore. I can honestly say that I haven't bought store roasted coffee since my red Behmor arrived here (apart from one time when I ordered greens too late!). I think I must have roasted twenty kg's in it now, always with a pretty consistent result.

Syscrushers post reminds me that I have to try profiles 2 - 5 though, as I haven't much used those yet.

Also, I've looked at that BehmorThing, and I don't understand it.

by **GreenBean** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:13 pm

fred25 wrote:That's really interesting - didn't know that. Does that mean the old basic models (ie. the ones with those REALLY annoying buttons ) are actually under-powered, as it were?

I would not say underpowered, perhaps differently powered would be more politically correct.

by **espressomattic** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 2:18 am

Good News on:

www.hasblog.co.uk

regarding the Behmor. Check it out.

*Deliberate mistake*

by **Steve** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:17 am

the url should be .co.uk, sorry breako

Even better Joe is here in the UK today to sort out the details, looks a lot closer than ever before.

by **CakeBoy** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:05 pm

Breako broke Steve's url! :lol:

I love you man ..... what can't you break?

That level of dedication takes years to achieve. Sort of 'Nordic Ned does Garden Time'. The man is perfection

by **dsc** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:12 pm

Hi Cakes,

Breako broke Steve's url!

well Breako just proves why he is the only true breako (with a capital B) around here:)

Regards,
dsc.

Behmor 1600: first look

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