My First Roast In The Behmor Experinnce!
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:37 amI had my first ever roasting experience tonight.
I'm delighted to say everything went well.
I feel my experience as a novice will draw attention to a major variable, and may give confidence to those thinking of starting to roast there own beans!
I think many people assume that mains voltage is a standard 220v 230v or 240v depending on the country your in, and then assume that you only have to set the machine voltage when they first get the roaster.
Mains electricity voltage dose however change a lot over a 24 hour period.
I measured the mains voltage earlier 7PM and it was 219V.
It was 1AM before I decided to try roasting some beans, on measuring the Mains voltage again it now had increased to 236V.
I set Behmor for 240V (simple) put 125gms of beans in the drum and set for 1/4 pound on Program 1.
I was delighted to hear first crack, I held a fear I would miss the cracking and would end up with charcoal. I was surprised the Behmor was so quiet.
I had to increase my roast time by 40 seconds until the beans started second crack I let it crack for about 4 seconds and hit cool, there was only about 5 seconds left to run anyway.
The result was really even and a nice dark brown with a very slight shine but they are not oily.
As a first experience it was great, there was a little smoke, but nothing to complain about, opening the kitchen door cleared it in a short time.
I do at this stage feel that the Behmor design is very good, including the programing, and layout.
I would recommend learning how to test your mains voltage and doing it each time you want to roast. the variance in mains voltage really is much more than you might think.
Assuming you mains voltage dose not drop bellow 215V or rise above 245V; you can then set the machine voltage within 5V of your mains voltage.
as a rule of thumb, Mains voltage is usually lower at when consumers are all using a lot of electricity, and higher and more stable when the world is asleep!
This should reduce one more variable of roasting beans to a minimum in the Behmor.
I imagine that if your voltage is a few volts more than what you can set the machine for, it is likely that you will have to nip a few seconds of as the element will run slightly hotter, and if your voltage is a few volts lower than what you can adjust your machine voltage too then you may need to add a little time, as the element will run slightly cooler. Sorry I can't think of an easier way to explain that, but if you think about it, hopefully it will make sense.
My only complaint would be that it is a little fiddly to fit the drum onto the mountings, but you do get a feel for this.
I think the hoover is invaluable as it makes cleanup of chaff simple.
I really am delighted with the machine, I enjoyed my first roast; I look forward to using it again.
Ray.
I'm delighted to say everything went well.
I feel my experience as a novice will draw attention to a major variable, and may give confidence to those thinking of starting to roast there own beans!
I think many people assume that mains voltage is a standard 220v 230v or 240v depending on the country your in, and then assume that you only have to set the machine voltage when they first get the roaster.
Mains electricity voltage dose however change a lot over a 24 hour period.
I measured the mains voltage earlier 7PM and it was 219V.
It was 1AM before I decided to try roasting some beans, on measuring the Mains voltage again it now had increased to 236V.
I set Behmor for 240V (simple) put 125gms of beans in the drum and set for 1/4 pound on Program 1.
I was delighted to hear first crack, I held a fear I would miss the cracking and would end up with charcoal. I was surprised the Behmor was so quiet.
I had to increase my roast time by 40 seconds until the beans started second crack I let it crack for about 4 seconds and hit cool, there was only about 5 seconds left to run anyway.
The result was really even and a nice dark brown with a very slight shine but they are not oily.
As a first experience it was great, there was a little smoke, but nothing to complain about, opening the kitchen door cleared it in a short time.
I do at this stage feel that the Behmor design is very good, including the programing, and layout.
I would recommend learning how to test your mains voltage and doing it each time you want to roast. the variance in mains voltage really is much more than you might think.
Assuming you mains voltage dose not drop bellow 215V or rise above 245V; you can then set the machine voltage within 5V of your mains voltage.
as a rule of thumb, Mains voltage is usually lower at when consumers are all using a lot of electricity, and higher and more stable when the world is asleep!
This should reduce one more variable of roasting beans to a minimum in the Behmor.
I imagine that if your voltage is a few volts more than what you can set the machine for, it is likely that you will have to nip a few seconds of as the element will run slightly hotter, and if your voltage is a few volts lower than what you can adjust your machine voltage too then you may need to add a little time, as the element will run slightly cooler. Sorry I can't think of an easier way to explain that, but if you think about it, hopefully it will make sense.
My only complaint would be that it is a little fiddly to fit the drum onto the mountings, but you do get a feel for this.
I think the hoover is invaluable as it makes cleanup of chaff simple.
I really am delighted with the machine, I enjoyed my first roast; I look forward to using it again.
Ray.
It is good to have another roasting nut around here. 
