# Behmor 1600 or gené Café



## Freewillow (Dec 26, 2011)

Hi,

I am a new member. I am living in Belgium. Happy owner of a Nuovo Simonelli Oscar + Grinta Grinder. I am contemplating buying a home "torrefactor" ( I am not sure that this is an English word, excuse my french mother tongue)

May I ask those that have some knowledge in the field, to help me make a choice between the Behmor 1600 and the Gené Café. Could you tell me what the advantages/drawbacks are for both of them? Thank you very much for your help.

Regards


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## Calidore (Jan 22, 2012)

I've got a Behmor and have had it for two years or so. I've never had a Gene Cafe so can't compare them. But I chose the Behmor because it's supposed to produce less smoke than the Gene, and because it has pre-programmed profiles which make it easy for the beginner. The disadvantages of the Behmor are a) that more advanced users often end up wanting more control over temperature and profile and b) it's set up to minimize the risk of fire, so it's designed to produce slightly lighter roasts. You can work round both these limitations by various tricks. Many users preheat the machine to get a darker roast, or use a slightly lower weight of beans than that specified in the profile. You have to be careful doing both these things, since there is a slightly increased risk of fire. I am very happy with it. I'm probably not meticulous enough about recording exactly what I do with each roast so as to get completely consistent results, but I quite like not knowing exactly what I'm going to get. It's always good, and on the rare occasions it isn't it's always my fault and not the machine's.


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

I chose the Gene Cafe because of the ability to easily control the roast profile manually. Pre-programmed profiles don't appeal to me.

"Torrefactor" = "Roaster"?


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## xiuxiuejar (Jan 24, 2012)

Torrefactor is indeed a roaster in Spanish and French. Not to be confused with torrefacto in Spanish, which is the clumps of roasted sugar they add to their awful coffee!


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

The eternal question!

This topic has already been covered extensively on this Forum - have a look in the Home Roasters section - and there is little new to say. Each has its own fans who think that their choice is better than the other. At the end of the day either will do the job and it's down to personal preference.

I own a Behmor, but have used both as I was at one stage looking to buy a Gene Cafe as well, but decided against it after trying it out. My own preference - and that's all it is - is for the Behmor. It's quieter and easier to hear the cracks happening. Less smoke, too. The programming gets panned by a lot of people, but when you are starting out it ensures consistent roasts. As you gain more experience you can fool the programming into doing whatever you need. Superb tech support from Behmor as well - though I have no doubt that will also be the case for the Gene.

Pre-heating prior to use isn't a problem - and Behmor themselves now OK it. Don't be put off by the potential for a fire - this is a certified domestic machine and as safe as any electrical cooking appliance provided that you follow the instructions. NEVER leave it unattended whilst roasting. If there is a fire it is designed to shut down automatically - just don't open the door to interfere!

The deciding factor may be the issue that the UK supplier of the Behmor (HasBean) is currently out of them - though I don't know if there's an outlet in Belgium.


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## gazbea (Jul 11, 2011)

Is there any news on stocks of the Behmor in the UK as yet?


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