# Behmor 1600 review



## Peelie72

I have a Behmor - see previous posts.

I've been into my coffee for a fair few years now and have lived outside UK for over 10 years.

I'm now living in Dubai and helped to start and partner a coffee company over here, selling equipment and green beans for the domestic market.

As the Behmor is not available within the UK, but is available for personal import (from me), I thought I'd offer a little insight into the roaster.

I received my Behmor in January last year and have been roasting plenty for both myself, family & friends, as well as giving a fair few demos, including a local F&B festival this year, so I feel I've gotten to know the roaster quite well.

The points that set the Behmor apart for me -

1. Batch size. The Behmor can roast batches up to 1 pound (454g), producing 372g or more roasted coffee. Thats an impressive sized batch for a home roaster, which lasts the 2 coffee drinkers in my house around 6-7 days. The Behmor will happily roast smaller batches of 113 or 227g but for me, its too little, too often.

2. Durable. I'm impressed with the beating my machine has taken. I've used it pretty much commercially and it's always produced the goods, seemingly just as it did when new.

3. Simplicity. Pop the beans in, press 3 buttons and you're off. Be around the machine during the final stages to trim the roast to your preference (or let the time simply run down), by increasing the time or hitting the cool button. Let the machine run through a cool cycle, leave 'em for a day or 2 and you've got yourself some of the freshest beans in town. Put good beans in, you'll get great coffee out.

4. Hardly any smoke at all. The Behmor looks after it's own smoke (unless you go well into 2nd crack or start yourself a bean fire). No cumbersome ducting, no disposable filters - just keep the door closed and the Behmor will do the rest. You'll have a more-popular-than-not aroma of the beans roasting - yes. You can shut your kitchen door or place the roaster under the cooker hood to control that - But it's a nice cooking smell and is certainly way less pungent than frying up a salmon steak for example. I know, as I did both simultaneously and the salmon completely cancelled the beans.

5. It looks like it belongs in the kitchen and not on the SS Enterprise.

6. Its small and light enough to put away, as I do with my food processor.

7. It has a nice big door handle that stops me burning my forehead as I look lovingly into the machine to monitor the roast progress.

8. Its easy enough to clean - the chaff tray holds most the chaff, the rest I sweep out with a dust pan and brush.

9. Its easy to maintain - regular dry runs and the occasional removal of coffee oil with a kitchen wet wipe - not so much now as I've realised that I prefer Medium roasts - IMO, coffee oils are best left in the bean rather than on them or the machine.

I'm trying to think if I've missed something.

Please feel free to fire any questions using this thread.


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## oop north

How does it deal with the smoke? I have a Gene and roast outdoors (well, in an outbuilding anyway) - only did it indoors once (thought it wasn't too smoky until I turned around and looked towards the other end of the room, oops!) - so I am intrigued to hear about that

Also, do you know of any comparisons with other popular home roasting equipment? Gene and Hottop are the ones that come to mind - without any comparisons (and I do appreciate you may not be able to point to any) the Behmor is just another roaster (don't mean that disparagingly, just pointing to the difficulty of anyone choosing one without knowing the differences). Or even a link to the awards obtained in the US?


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## ronsil

The Behmor does not seem to make much smoke.

I've had a Behmor making very little smoke, a Gene which I used outside because of the considerable amount of smoke it produced & now the Hottop which makes masses of smoke.

Would never want to use it in the house.


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## Peelie72

http://www.behmor.com/behmor-1600.php - the manufactures' US website clearly displays the award icon of the SCAA, stating 2007, 2008. Doubters may contact SCAA directly.

The Behmor's patented smoke suppression system circulates the smoke through an "afterburner", which is a secondary heating element that cooks off much of the smoke. The door and it's seal also play a big part. I've placed a domestic smoke detector at various positions, within a foot of the machine, No alert.

If you go into 2nd crack, you will begin to see smoke being forced out from the top lip of the door. The onset of 2nd crack should be no more than the end of your roast. The machine can do it, but the smoke suppression won't handle it.

Reviews? they're everywhere.

http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/accessories/behmor1600roaster

http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-roasters/drum-roasters/behmor.html

http://www.roastmasters.com/behmor.html

Gene/Hottop v Behmor? google it - there's plenty around. The big difference is the batch size - that wins it hands down for me.


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## ronsil

Peelie72 said:


> The big difference is the batch size - that wins it hands down for me.


......but if you wish to fully control your roasting my experience with the Behmor showed that could not be done.

It does boast a bigger batch size up to 1 lb it says but I never managed to achieve a good result with anything larger than 10/12 ozs.

Unless you are into electronics the built in profiles are far too rigid to achieve the results you seek. You have to go with what the maker has set for you & personally that did not always suit me.

There is an add on available which helps a little - see the 'RoasterThing' website


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## DavecUK

Hmm...roasters from Dubai, no CE certification may or may not have to pay VAT, warranty support, damage in transit, sales covered under Dubai law. Me personally I will stay well clear of something like this. I personally like dealing with Sellers in the UK, who pay their taxes, have sales covered under the distance selling regulations and UK law. Where it's convenient to go back to them in the event of a problem. If the product is not normally sold in this market or approved for sale in this market, how interested will the manufacturer be in helping you. I don't particularly like dealing with companies who have to use a forum to sell non approved goods into the UK.

Plenty of other companies who do everything properly in the UK and Europe....I'll buy from/and support them thanks.


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## Peelie72

Have to disagree Ronsil -

I showcased our portfolio of equipment at a food & bev fest this year in Dubai. I had a roastmaster from a regional coffee player, along with a section of their management team sample my espresso of roasted Malabar peaberry, which was roasted using the Behmor 1 pound setting - their positive feedback was one of total surprise.

The Behmor does not offer the level of tweak to satiate a tinkerer. If you want reliably good coffee, The Behmor is an excellent option.

The one thing about roasting your own coffee that stands out to me the most - "There is no substitute for good fresh-roasted coffee" I always recommend our Silvia customers to start home roasting before spending money upgrading their machines with a PID - for me the upgrade in quality is way more substantial.


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## ronsil

You want to sell the things so you have a different viewpoint.

Easy to use - certainly, if you are prepared to accept what comes out.

So we will agree to differ, no problem, to each his own:sheepnot)


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## Peelie72

Not really a fair comment Ronsil - I was in love with my coffee long before I started a business in coffee and used to roast in a popcorn maker before I bought the Behmor.

As I said, I've had a Behmor, which I've used personally for a wee while now. I think it's a great machine.

I sell Silvias too. My Gaggia TS is now a back-up machine because I think the Silvia performs so well, not because I'm selling Silvias.

I don't sell products that I feel don't live up to the mark. I would have thought the product range on my website would show that.


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## froggystyle

When i purchased my Gene i looked around and decided it would best to purchase from a UK supplier, in case of issues i knew i would be covered by certain laws, and also had the option of visiting the supplier/distributor in person.

Buying a machine from Dubai for me is not really something i would be prepared to do when spending £250+, others may be prepared to and of course that is there choice.

Good luck with your business though!


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## DavidBondy

Did anyone notice that Joe Behm has announced the Behmor 1600 Plus at SCAA in the US?

It appears that he has given in to those users who wanted a much more programmable roaster and didn't want to be bound by only having pre-set profiles.

Still unlikely to meet EU requirements though! I cannot see Joe wanting to stand the costs for the number that he is likely to sell!!


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## Peelie72

I'm intrigued by your previous statements Davebondy. The Behmor was perviously sold in EU and even now, without approval, myself and Andy from down-under still sell quite a few units into Europe, more so on the mainland.

I think Joe had Joe public in mind when he designed the Behmor many moons ago. The machine is designed to provide quality, fresh roasted coffee without fuss and technicality, which I think it does with shinning colours.

The 1600 plus will be available sometime this year having a lot more tweak - the Behmor has been on the market for years, the up-coming enhancements were always on the cards, as with most products built for the long-term.


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## ronsil

People must always do as they wish. In my personal & many others experience of what were the three highest selling roasters in the UK, the Behmor ranked third behind the Genecafe & Hottop.

On Roaster (Behmor) Thing, Ira, the American owner for many years has always complained about a missed chance with the Behmor in making such a rigidly controlled. machine.

As for the anticipated new model time will tell us if there is any improvement on the original.

I am sure Roaster Thing will keep everyone updated.


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## 4085

Personally, I cannot see what it would take, for me to buy something under the conditions you offer. You have no UK representation, so if something goes wrong, the options are either an expensive return to base which is also very time consuming, or the hope that it is an easy fix and they send the parts and you can do it yourself. Why would anyone wish to do that when you can buy a Gene or Hottop and have a full UK warranty? I do not wish you any bad luck. I am self employed as well but I just feel that in order for you to make me give you some of my hard earned English £ notes, you are going to have to try harder! Would it be possible for example, to come up with another offer price with a built in return to base (should it be needed), that would give a bit of peace of mind!


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## froggystyle

You could even open a UK office, would not need to be an actual office, just a uk contact who can reciept and distribute goods and deal with any returns/questions/support you may get.

Its an added cost yes, but people would feel more confident dealing with this set up?


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## 4085

But it would still not be CE certified so could not be sold in the UK


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## froggystyle

There is that yes, but for other machines/coffee he is selling....


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## Peelie72

The qualities that you look for in a product dictates how you rank it. You guys who want to manipulate times & temperatures will naturally rank the GC or P series Hottop higher, If you were to grade by batch size, price, construction materials, smoke suppression, quietness, easy of operation etc, the Behmor will look a lot more favourable.

They all do their job well, it's simply a matter of horses for courses.

Ref the warranty, both Behmor and I support the roaster. As I said before, the thing can be pulled apart with a #2 Philips screwdriver. I would imagine that many of us have the confidence to fix simple mechanical items or if not, know someone who does. The Behmor is not a cheap snap-together, 13 month disposable appliance, it was designed to be accessible - like any good espresso machine.

I will take your advice & see what I can do to lay on local assistance from a qualified sparkie.

As I said, I'm making the Behmor available for those who are interested.

It still is a very popular machine. Over this weekend, I received thanks from a new customer in the Czech Rep, sent one to the Philippines, sold another to an Iranian lad visiting Dubai & sold one locally. I understand Coffeesnobs sold out during the Xmas run-up due to higher than expected demand.


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## ronsil

Peelie72 said:


> You guys who want to manipulate times & temperatures will naturally rank the GC or P series Hottop higher,


Small correction here - Its the Hottop 'B' that gives full control out of the box. The Hottop 'P' suffers from some of the same problems as the Behmor in as much as full control is restricted by the 8 segments on offer for each roast.


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## Peelie72

Noted - logic would tell me B for basic, P for programmable.


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