# Help with my Gene Cafe



## loukest (Feb 18, 2017)

Hi,

My wife has kindly bought be a GF for my birthday, I'm a few roasts in and am coming across some common problems. I've found some advice online but am struggling to reconcile that with my own experience so thought I'd describe what's happening. I put the beans straight in at 245, at around 11-12 minutes I start to see chaff coming away from the beans but hear absolutely nothing, I've tried getting really close to make sure I'm not missing anything. I have assumed that when the additional chaff starts to float around, this is 1st crack. I have tried both leaving the temperate as it is and knocking it down 5 degrees, in both instances, I get to a point where the coffee is what I would consider to be the right colour but still covered in chaff, or, lots more chaff starts to fly around and looks to almost block the "out" vent from the drum. At that point, I get smoke and the room smells very smoky. That's then I've been starting the cool cycle. I take the beans out of the drum when it's finished and put them in a big baking tray which has been in the freezer. I've tried the coffee from my first batch and it tastes burnt. Very flat, no acidity at all. I'm using a Brazilian bean which is dry processed. I have also tried the process with an Ethiopian bean but am having exactly the same experience. See pictures below.

This one is probably my best effort so far, it appears slightly burnt but nowhere near as bad as the first batch which is my last photo in this thread. This is a different bean to the other two, this is an Ethiopian.









This is the lightest one I have managed so far, had I left this a lesser amount of time, all of the beans would still have been covered in chaff rather than just some of the beans, I assumed this means I had stopped the roast part way through 1st crack.









This was my first try, it tastes burnt









Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tom


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## 4085 (Nov 23, 2012)

245 seems pretty high....what are the beans? to hear first crack put your ear up against the exhaust vent or black cowl and you will hear a popping noise although some beans are louder than others. It is ages since I roasted but I always gave so long at one temp then adjusted. The 2 stage mods are really worth doing to gain extra control @DavecUK will explain I hope

http://coffeetime.wikidot.com/gene-cafe-dimmer-control-modification


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## Robbo (Feb 17, 2016)

The chaff is not really related to when first crack happens. Most it is come off during the yellowing phase before 1st c

How long does it take to get up to max temp? Where did you get the greens from?

I would also advise to do the dimmer mod but for now Drop the temp to max 238 degs, only use max 250g of greens and vent outside


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

To add to the above dependant on where bought from(?) may come with a guide (if from Bella Barista in the UK, provided as an added value so not available externally) and if so would suggest you follow the slow rise gentle finish profile which is a good starter.

Fresh beans are important, beans from ebay can be full of defectives and the adage of you get what you pay for really does apply (to an extent).

You might wish to steer clear of Ethiopians whilst learning as can be tricky to master, something like a Brazilian or even Monsooned malabar or Old Brown Java will give you an easier steer on colour / bean changes trough roast ( these last two are older but intentionally so and will need to add no more than 220 or 230g to the roast chamber to avoid issues.

Hearing first crack is a PITA on the small gene however you could use an empty kitchen roll tube near to the exhaust to help with this and also you will notice a change in smell / smoke as well as the visible bean cues.

Not aware of your location so unable to suggest where you could get green beans from, let us know and we can suggest.

Take a look at the todays roast thread in the home roasters section for some guidance as well.

Hope of help and keep at it (p.s. the power control mod at stage 1 will also make life easier in the long run)

John


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## loukest (Feb 18, 2017)

Thanks very much for the help so far, the beans were from Bella Barista, as was the roaster itself. I did read the booklet beforehand but to be honest, whilst it helped me understand the process, it hasn't really solved the problem. The problem I describe was basically following the profile suggested as a starting point. I have some Brazilian greens, they were the first two, one of which I burnt. Is it possible to tell from the pictures whether I actually got to FC? I think I must have done in order to burn it but I really didn't hear anything at all, I did exactly as was suggested, listened closely to the exhaust. I roasted inside though, not outside. I will try a lower temperature as suggested.

Thanks again


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

How long was your roast when you hit cool and the final temperature (this will assist in answering your question). Bear in mind when you look at them, if this is the only method of ascertain done, there is still going to be a certain amount of heat left in the chamber after you hit cool, so stop 15-30 seconds earlier next time.

Are you able to measure your voltage whilst roasting as may well have a very high voltage affecting how long you should be aiming for? We have ridiculously high voltage at home often above 250v especially on a sunday so may be looking at the dimmer mod real soon.

If you also not recording your roasts on a roast log would suggest using the very excellent one provided by DaveCuk here who not only posts on here but wrote your guide. This will help to analyse where going right or wrong and seems like a faff but is invaluable if get the same bean.

Hope of help

John


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## loukest (Feb 18, 2017)

Thanks John, the first roast pictured was 18 minutes in total, the lighter roast in the second picture was 14.5 the third was just short of 15. Is it possible to see from the pictures if I went through second crack?


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## johnealey (May 19, 2014)

Hard to tell from just the pictures a roast log would help







however, the third picture, yes probably well into 2nd crack and probably only good for drawing with. Don't throw them just yet, leave them a couple of days just to see how much oil comes to the surface if any and use this as a learning tool.

Don't worry about trying to roast off the chaff, is a road to ruin with the gene. Chaff can be easily removed by passing from one sieve to another outside or by rubbing if really stubborn.

Would also suggest NOT following any other internet advice, just follow the guide you have which was supplied as most of the advice is related to a solid drum roaster not the gene which does not behave like a commercial roaster.

Work through the different profiles such as gentle start slow muted finish and never more than 250g sometimes less in the drum. Get a voltage measuring plug and print off the logs linked to above and if your voltage high then look into the gene power control mod link above in DFK41 post sooner rather than later.

John


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