I roast on a modified West Bend Poperry I that has the thermostate turned up and the heat and fan switch seperated. I love the manual control that I have roasting with it.
I always roast indoors with the window cracked, but I am only roasting 2-3 times per week, average 9 min 30 sec roasts, and have never worried about my lungs. I can’t imagining roasting outdoors in the winter as the temp difference is a pain in the butt…bad enough roasting indoors with a cold draft coming in from the window. Having said that, I am of course curious how you folks roast outdoors in the winter
Coffee resting time, depends on the bean for me. Coffees that get better from 24-48 hours rest are …Sumatra, Java, Moka Hariz, some Hawaii…everything else gets consumed over a period of the day roasted to 5 days out. I usually follow the supplier’s recommendations (Sweet Maria’s has fab roasting and rest suggestions).
Glad to see we have so many coffee roasters on board
I have a feeling there’s a big difference between roasting at home a couple times a week and roasting 40 hours a week at a work. Having said that, my wife usually roasts outside. Even in the winter. We have a pretty good fan above our stove but it’s not good enough.
I roast inside but I guess I might start roasting outside. I am using the Behmor though so I don’t really see much smoke. Most roasting I do is City-Fullcity
A couple of weeks ago my wife goes to roast beans. Plugs the thing in, walks away, comes back a couple of minutes later and it has no power. “Tim!”
So I go out to the website and begin going through trouble shooting procedures. I remove the back. Test the heating element with my multi-meter and it’s fine. I start emailing Hottop. I check for the red diagnostics light that is on the back left of the circuit board when I plug it in. No dice. They tell me it’s probably the fuse. I check the fuse – no issues.
They don’t believe me. They tell me these circuit boards “never die”. I clean the chaff off, spray the board with electronics cleaner. Still no good. At this point I have nearly the entire machine apart. They reluctantly sell me a new board for $200.
The blessed day arrives and I hook up the new board. Plug it in and… no red light on the board. Boo. WTF?!? Swearing commences.
On a hunch and through no prompting from hottop, I plug the old board into an old cord from a broken lamp. Red light shines brightly on the old board. I test the hottop’s power cord with my multi meter. Yup, bad cord.
I email them and let them know. They credit my account for the $200 and send me a new cord gratis. My wife was roasting beans this weekend and I no longer have to drink the absolute shit we’ve been drinking for the last two weeks.
It’s so often a wire or power cord regardless of what isn’t working that I routinely check those first anymore. Recently had my refrigerator die and it was nothing more than the signal wire for the fan.
Anyone have any experience with the Kaldi Home or Kaldi mini? Evaluating that vs the Behmor.
The main drawback imo seems to be the Kaldis are way messier for a NYC apartment.
Also the need for gas setup is a bit annoying but could also be addicting for precision.
My wife got me a Behmor Plus for Hanukkah. First two roasts, were done too dark for our liking.
Received a sample pack (4 x 2lbs) from Sweet Maria’s, and did a 1/4lb batch of each. I have carefully been writing down my times and temps, but all of these 2nd batches are a bit on the too light side.
We drink espresso, and have a Kafatek Flat Grinder and a Lucca M58 Double Boiler. To date our Go To espresso bean is La Colombe’s Nizza. Its a blend of Brazil, Columbia, Nicaragua and Congo. It is a medium roast, with no citrus finish. Its more about nuts and chocolate.
So far the 6 batches I have done are unacceptable to my wife. First too dark (I agree) then too light. I first tried the Lighter Roasted Batches (Columbia Narino, Barundi, Espresso Monkey Blend) on day 2 but none were good. Went back on day 4 and they are MUCH better. Lots going on in the finish. Funky notes in the Espresso Monkey Blend, the Narino, as a citrusy finish, but not acidic Lemon typical to me in Light Roast like a Yergacheffee), which I think if I roast a bit further would be much better.
In the 1st two batches, it seemed to roll directly from First Crack into Second Crack, and I hit cool when it seemed mostly thru 2C, but it was too late… at Day 3 Post roast beans were oily and dark. no burnt, but a Dark Roast.
I have had some trouble controlling the roasts, and understanding is it better to roast faster or slower. All batches below were 115 Gram. I PreHeated at P5 to 270F, then ;
Columbia Narino - 1st Crack was at 7:47 @ 261F. I waiting 30 seconds post 1C and hit cool, after 1 minutes removed the drum took it outside in the cool air, and shook off the chaf, then cooled on a large cookie sheet. Ended at 9:10 @ 288F
Burundi - Roasting Manual on P5 at 5:00 increased Drum Speed to D 1C @ 7:15 @ 270F, then hit P3 to slow it down 1C ended at 8:20 @ 275F. Finished at 9:00 hit cool and did same cool down, removing the drum and taking it outside to quickly cool, then onto a Cookie sheet.
Espresso Monkey Blend - 1C @ 7:00, 1C ended at 8:05 removed at 8:45 (tried roasting hotter this batch and also sped up drum speed at 5:00))
heat profile 1:00= 270F 2:00= 282F, 3:00= 286F , 4:00= 293F, 5:00= 295F, 6:00= 300F, 7:00= 315F, 8:00= 295F
Ethopia Agaro Quota Co Op = preheat to 290F
Similar to last roast, but at 5:00= 300F, at 6:00 = 320F, switched to P3, but at 7:15 just as First Crack was Starting, ERR2. it seemed to go thru most of 1C, but probably a Throwaway batch. Roast looks uneven, some medium, some light…
I will roast 4 more batches tomorrow, and am hoping to get a little into 2C… Any suggestions are very welcome. I have watched at least 10 YouTube Video’s…
BTW I am roasting under a 48" 1300CFM kitchen Hood (ducted outside) using an upside down cooksheet to put my Behmor on. Next Roasts I plan on reducing heat to P3 as soon as 1C starts, maybe even opening the door a crack to try to stretch the time 2C starts, but am unsure how long into 2C I should run before going into cool.
I don’t understand the Behmor language as I use a different roaster so can’t help you with most of your post. However, if you got into first crack on an ethiopian, i seriously doubt its a throw away. Yes, it should look light and unevern and you may need to cull some quaker beans if they concern you. But I think this is a very good roast for most ethiopian coffees. Give it 2 days rest and then try it.
Roast outside so when you hit cool you can open the door and get cooling faster. You are having “coasting” to a darker roast. Outside roasting also minimizes possible lung damage (popcorn lung) from inhaling the chemicals given off during roasting.
I watched all of the Sweet Maria Videos for the Behmor and a many others on YouTube. Cannot find a forum on Sweet Maria’s, that would be great… I have been removing the drum almost immediately and taking it outside, to cool and shake off the chaff. so there is no coasting… (I understand my 2 two batches were effected by this)., but not next 4 (which were too light).
I will consider roasting outside tomorrow (if it stops raining), last time I roasted under our large kitchen hood (and hood on). Do you have any tips regarding Roasting Temperatures? Better to get to first crack faster or slower? Do you use your Behmor on Full Power (P5)?
thanks for the feedback!
Seeing your comment made me go pull a shot, and you are right, not a throw away batch. Very small beans, I took a guess on how much finer than normal to grind, but my pull ran a little faster than I would like… Very bright and Very drinkable!
Lots of sweet fruit, hi acid, but not out of balance. Lots of Zesty Orange spice on the finish… You can see in the photo, how uneven the roast turned out. The ERR2, means the Oven overheated and turned off. P3 , P5 are power level and yes are “Behmor” specific language. The rest was just notes of Temperature and Time@ up to 1C (First Crack) etc.
I do a 2 minute preheat. Turn on P1 and run my 400 gm of beans for 2 minutes, then turn off and back on to max of 20:30, set alarm for 13 min so I can hit the button at 7 min and keep roast going. Come back at about 2 min left and listen to first crack. At about 1 min hit C and then P4. Run either P4 or p5 keeping chamber temp under 305. At end of first crack, open door, vacuum chaff and then hit cool. I don’t keep the chaff collector in the roaster.
