# Ok I want to try roasting my own :)



## Monkey_Boy (Feb 26, 2010)

I've been reading about the Behmor 1600 and I want one, anyone know where one might be avalible??


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

Rising Power has a home roaster so he may be able to give you some tips.


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## Greenpotterer (Nov 29, 2009)

Is it this one

ttps://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/Behmor-Home-Coffee-Roaster.html

seems like a big step good luck

Gaz


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Give Steve a shout (Has Bean) as he has a good working knowledge of this model


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## Monkey_Boy (Feb 26, 2010)

Will do Glenn


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

I've had one for about 6 months now, and wouldn't be without a home roaster now. Steve at Hasbean provides great service - mine developed problems about 3 weeks ago and was replaced straight away with no quibble - he even sent me the replacement before I sent the original one back. Behmors are great value for money, but they are a steep learning curve, and you have to know how to trick them in order to get the best out of them - you need, for some roasts - to tell them that you are roasting more than you are actually putting in them! There's a whole load of information on other Forums, so there's ready access to advice and best practice. Don't think that you'll save money - you won't - but you'll always have access to fresh beans. You need to keep a careful check whilst you're roasting, as fires are not unknown with any roaster - not just Behmors. You'll also need to keep a careful log of what you've been roasting in order that you can duplicate good roasts. Fortunately, there's a great free program BehmorThing, that lets you record each roast on a laptop as it progresses, and it also keeps an inventory of the beans that you have in stock.

One word of caution - I only started roasting my own after considerable (and I mean considerable) experience of brewing with a wide variety of other very-freshly roasted beans. I think that without this experience any home roasting would be hard, as it would be difficult to know what you were looking for in your completed roast. Until you can identify the taste characteristics of a number of beans - virtually in a blind tasting - you may be wasting your time trying to roast your own.

My other words of caution are that, although I am very satisfied with my Behmor, if I was buying again I would look very carefully at whether the extra £100 for a Gene Cafe was a better buy. Jury's still out on that one as far as I'm concerned. But if my present level of roasting increases, I may end up going the whole hog and getting a HotTop.


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

vintagecigarman said:


> I've had one for about 6 months now, and wouldn't be without a home roaster now. Steve at Hasbean provides great service - mine developed problems about 3 weeks ago and was replaced straight away with no quibble - he even sent me the replacement before I sent the original one back. Behmors are great value for money, but they are a steep learning curve, and you have to know how to trick them in order to get the best out of them - you need, for some roasts - to tell them that you are roasting more than you are actually putting in them! There's a whole load of information on other Forums, so there's ready access to advice and best practice. Don't think that you'll save money - you won't - but you'll always have access to fresh beans. You need to keep a careful check whilst you're roasting, as fires are not unknown with any roaster - not just Behmors. You'll also need to keep a careful log of what you've been roasting in order that you can duplicate good roasts. Fortunately, there's a great free program BehmorThing, that lets you record each roast on a laptop as it progresses, and it also keeps an inventory of the beans that you have in stock.
> 
> One word of caution - I only started roasting my own after considerable (and I mean considerable) experience of brewing with a wide variety of other very-freshly roasted beans. I think that without this experience any home roasting would be hard, as it would be difficult to know what you were looking for in your completed roast. Until you can identify the taste characteristics of a number of beans - virtually in a blind tasting - you may be wasting your time trying to roast your own.
> 
> My other words of caution are that, although I am very satisfied with my Behmor, if I was buying again I would look very carefully at whether the extra £100 for a Gene Cafe was a better buy. Jury's still out on that one as far as I'm concerned. But if my present level of roasting increases, I may end up going the whole hog and getting a HotTop.


I'm not sure the gene would be a better buy. I prefer the fact the behmor is radiant heat rather than convected air heat, I find at least it brings out the brighter flavours in the cup with the gene, better than the deeper, earthier tastes, but then it's probably more a case of underroasting in the case of those beans after having smoked a sumatran into charcoal. But since i'm running it inside without the space sitting around which the behmor requires, I felt the gene was a more sensible option.

There are some big advantages of the behmor also, being able to roast more at one time, having the afterburner to virtually eliminate smoke and being more programmable than the gene, where it's more of a hands on approach. Doesn't mean you can't get great roasts with either.

One other big thing with the gene, with that fan blowing and the drum turning it's harder to hear first and second crack, I'm guessing easier on the behmor without that additional noise. I certainly wouldn't mind having a go with a hottop but gene is doing me fine for now, maybe the dimmer mod might help a slight bit.

Steve is your best bet for a behmor, but bear in mind, I'd really take a look at some roasts of different beans to get an idea of what you should be looking at, lest you end up with charcoal (then starting a small fire) or beans which haven't even heard of first crack and be prepared to utterly wreck some roasts.


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## Monkey_Boy (Feb 26, 2010)

Great advice, I have to admit to just blindly running into things quite often.....it happened with coffee...one moment I hadn't had a cup in 10 years and the next I'm going through at least 500g a week. I'm very impulsive and obsessive lol.....I'm even starting work as a barista on Saturdays at one of the best coffee places in Bristol







and through them I'm getting a cheap roasting machine (fingers crossed) I'll do my homework dude and put in the time and effort with this


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Will a roaster fit on the little table in the lounge? Do you have gf approval?


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

A job as a part-time barista sounds like heaven to me!! Learning and earning all in one good. Let us all know how you get on. You might be able to get paid in coffee beans as well!!


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

BanishInstant said:


> Will a roaster fit on the little table in the lounge? Do you have gf approval?


You'll only ever get one chance to roast in the lounge! After that you'll be banished. Don't think that roasting green beans produces loads of great coffee aroma - it doesn't. It produces a distinctive smell that's nothing like coffee. I don't dislike it, but lots of people do. Plus, even with a Behmor, if you are going to a dark roast, there is SOME smoke. The roasting smell is also very cloying, and tends to stick to fabrics. I normally roast in the kitchen, putting the Behmor on top of the cooker hob, and keeping the extractor fan on full. But the smell still lingers after roasting, and I can detect it on the curtains of the adjoining garden room, even though they are a good 15 metres away from where the roster is


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Monkey_Boy - time to get the mother-in-law on your side first


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

Strange smells and the risk of fire has put me off !!


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

I look forward to reading about your roasting journey when you get kitted out, will give all us non roasters an insight into the learning curve.


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