# Gene Cafe CBR-101 Home roasting



## Rosscompany85

Hey everyone!

Very new to the home coffee gig so please excuse any silly or obvious questions I may ask.

I bought a Gene Cafe CBR101 a couple of weeks ago and just been having a play around. Starting to get a good hang of the machine etc, but in the last couple of days i've been trying to get consistent roasts. Even using the exact same beans/temp/time they still came out different - whether it's taking longer to reach temp etc.

Just wondering if anyone had any pearls of wisdom they could send my way about how to try and get consistent batches









Thanks


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## Coffeejon

You need to make sure the machine is pre-heated before you start. That way the machine will always be up to temp & will give you a more stable start point. Also always write down your roasts, as then you can compare them later on







and finally keep the chaff collector clean, as you want consistent airflow!


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## MildredM

I'm no expert but I noticed how much the voltage affected my Behmor. I had to make sure our range cooker wasn't in the heating up mode, for example, and didn't ever roast around teatime as it was always lower. Ambient temp even affected the roast, if it was a really cold day I made sure the utility room was warmed up before I did any roasting. And yes, pre heating is a must (again this was my experience with the Behmor).

When you compare the beans are you giving them the same length of resting time?


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## Rob1

IMO there's no benefit to pre-heating the Gene Cafe, and doing so stresses the heating element more than is necessary. My advice would be to get a Voltage/Power meter (like this one: http://www.screwfix.com/p/energenie-ener007-energy-saving-power-meter-socket/3477h?_requestid=349888) and check your voltage is over 240v (and aim for consistency one roast to the next).

My next advice is to modify it with a dimmer switch to control the wattage draw (which will help you compensate for fluctuating voltage from one day to the next) and if your voltage is low in your area replace the heating element with a 230v one.

For consistent results you should start logging the visual appearance of the bean along with the temp readout on the Gene every 30 seconds (kind of pointless before the chaff starts to fly off and the beans begin to expand and turn pale). Log the start and end of first crack. Doing this will give you targets to hit and will help you keep track of your roast stages and roast duration. I'd also weigh the beans in and out after they've cooled to record moisture loss.


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## nicko9598

I agree with the other replies here. There are many factors involved in consistency, but the main one I've found appears to be the effects of other appliances being on at the same time. The oven or drier being on will potentially affect the amount of current available to the roaster and therefore the amount of time it takes to heat up. Also, different green beans take different lengths of time to roast. The moisture content of the bean also affects it, but if you're using beans from the same batch then that shouldn't be an issue.


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## Rosscompany85

Thank you everyone, I appreciate your responses! I didn't think about other appliances being used affecting it - interesting.

I had previously considered the ambient temp, so i'll try and work around that too









If anyone has any other ideas of how to make consistent roasts, i'll be very glad to hear them









Thanks again all!


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## Robbo

Try not go over complicate things by constantly adjusting temps. Unless you are doing back to back roasts there's no need to preheat.

Stick to 250g every roast. (With exception monsooned malabar where i found 225g was better)

Start by using a larger bean that is easier to roast and hear 1st crack. Washed south Americans for eg.

If you dont have particularly high supply voltage, let the gene do its thing. Only adjust/ lower the temp slightly to stretch the time after 1st crack. This is when it evens out in colour. 15-17 minutes total roast time is ideal depending on level of roast and bean type.

Use your senses, primary sight and sound and end it 20-30 seconds BEFORE you think it will be ready.

Use the gene cooling cycle. It works fine and removes more chaff

Weigh after. You should for around 16-18% loss in weight for most beans.

The dimmer mod is definitely worth doing to improve your roasts.

lastly, post your results on the todays roast thread. Its gone quiet on there lately.


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## PottyMouthedBuddhist

@Robbo - I was going to post this question in the Today's Roast thread, but since you've touched on it here I thought I'd ask.

Any tips on roasting smaller beans more evenly? I've got to a stage where I'm getting some lovely even roasts on the larger beans but the smaller ones still tend to be mottled and uneven. I've done the dimmer mod, and after some experimentation I've got pretty good and consistent voltage.

For most roasts I tend to go full steam up to 200c (which is just under 10 mins depending on ambient temp), then flick the dimmer on, which is enough to drop the voltage back enough to begin slowing the roast. 1c kicks in somewhere between 205 and 215c depending on the bean, and at that point I dial back the dimmer and stretch out as long as I can. If anything I have a tendency to pull the roast a little early but that suits me as I don't like the over roasted flavour.

Any suggestions for the smaller beans would be really appreciated.


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## Rob1

I've never seen first crack start between 205 and 215c temp (gene readout). For me it's always hitting the 230-240c range. I get a similar heat up time to 200c running on full power. I switch the dimmer in when the beans are at 150c (4:30 - 5 minutes) and have been using 1050w to roast an Ethiopian Natural (small beans). I tried full power up, 1200w and 1150w up to 195c was too harsh and the beans would hit first crack when they were quite dark indicating an uneven roast (they'd rush through to full city-full city+ after FC as well even with a power reduction to 950w).

The profile I used for the last roast was full power to BT 150c, 1050w up to BT 195c, 1150w to BT 205c, 1100w until rolling FC, 1050w for 30secs after FC end. First crack starts at 15:03, ends 16:25 Total roast time 17:02. I increased power briefly before FC just to give the beans a little boost and reduced power from there to control duration and final temp. Unfortunately I don't have the Gene readout to share but I think I was hitting 220c-230c by 14:30 and was at 234c for first crack.

Beans are never mottled and uneven. It could just be the beans you have and doesn't necessarily indicate a bad roast.


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## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Thanks Rob, that's interesting, as from reading other posts, I thought my Gene temp was low for 1c. What are you using to measure BT?


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## Rob1

A thermocouple poked through a hole drilled into the heating element end of the drum and placed behind the metal fin of the partition to keep it out of airflow. It's hooked up to an arduino attached to the rotating exhaust end which communicates via bluetooth with my computer running Roast Logger.


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## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Brilliant thanks - I have all the bits for that except the bluetooth component, which I'll obviously need, so that's a project for another day. So I think for today I'll try going higher on the Gene temp - I do find 1c a little hard to distinguish on the Gene but I'm pretty sure I'm not missing it as presumably the beans would taste blooming awful if I never actually made it that far. Anyway, I've got a load of Yirgacheffe kicking about so think I'll do some experimenting with it and see what happens.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated.


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## Rob1

I don't think I've ever seen the voltage dropping when I switch the dimmer in either....Did you mean wattage?


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## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Sorry yes - electrical knowledge is not really my thing


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## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Ah, looks like the temp sensor on my gene is either duff or mis-calibrated - I just did a roast with a thermocouple poked into the exit vent, and it was reading much higher temps than the gene. Think I might do that bluetooth mod sooner rather than later, as I really got on well roasting with Artisan in the past and Im struggling to really get dialled in with the gene on its own.

Anyway, apologies OP for hijacking the thread, I'll shut up now.


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## Robbo

PottyMouthedBuddhist said:


> @Robbo - I was going to post this question in the Today's Roast thread, but since you've touched on it here I thought I'd ask.
> 
> Any tips on roasting smaller beans more evenly? I've got to a stage where I'm getting some lovely even roasts on the larger beans but the smaller ones still tend to be mottled and uneven. I've done the dimmer mod, and after some experimentation I've got pretty good and consistent voltage.
> 
> For most roasts I tend to go full steam up to 200c (which is just under 10 mins depending on ambient temp), then flick the dimmer on, which is enough to drop the voltage back enough to begin slowing the roast. 1c kicks in somewhere between 205 and 215c depending on the bean, and at that point I dial back the dimmer and stretch out as long as I can. If anything I have a tendency to pull the roast a little early but that suits me as I don't like the over roasted flavour.
> 
> Any suggestions for the smaller beans would be really appreciated.


With smaller and more dense beans it is usually necessary to roast at a lower power as Rob suggests. Some people hold at around 150 for a couple of mins to level the bean inner temp before raising the power. With the dimmer mod you can just use a lower wattage for a more gradual heat rise.

You can check if the bean is evenly roasted by cutting through with a Stanley knife. If its much darker on the inside or outside you need to use a more gentle profile

For me 1c starts between 225-235 degs. Gene temp


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## PottyMouthedBuddhist

Thanks Robbo - I've got quite a lot of small beans kicking around so I'll have a play with various profiles. I've also mailed Bella Barista to ask if it's possible to replace the temp sensor - their website has a couple of dampers (one in, one out), but I'm not sure if that's what I need. But they're cheap, so might be worth a go if it would correct the temp reading on mine. That said, I guess the reading is unimportant as long as it is consistent, which mine appears to be.


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## MediumRoastSteam

I have a question: Is it advisable to keep the Gene in the garage when not in use or should I keep it inside the house? I intend to use it at the weekends.

Where do you keep yours?


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## tonerei

Currently on the kitchen counter(it is brand new) but no way that is going to be tolerated for more than 5mins! They are big yokes once your garage/storage area is not damp it surely doesn't matter where you store it? Under the kitchen extractor I had no problem roasting there.


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## DaveP

> Where do you keep yours?


Keep it anywhere you like... its perfect for center place on the dining table as a conversation piece









However... when in use, it may be an idea to take advantage of the garage


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## PaulL

Some really good advice for the OP on this thread, I used mine with 230v element and dimmer mod from about 2007 to 2012 thanks to sage advice from @DavecUK from the outset. Controllable power allowed me to control the heat input and use the first part of the roast at a lower wattage, in effect a warm up, adjust for the ambient cold of winter through to the heat of summer, change for different beans, adjust on the fly for mains voltage fluctuations using a plug socket meter and also lower the heat input after 1st crack.

The Gene is friendly enough in footprint to keep in a kitchen but any person roasting will tell you that all machines carry a stale smell from use which SWMBO will prefer is not indoors, also that a vent pipe, large chaff collector and metal adaptor between the two are a bit of a must if you do roast in a kitchen.


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## tonerei

I have had the Gene Cafe for a number of weeks now. Read through the notes provided by Bellabarista I think done by Dave from this site. I have tried following the gentle roast and these are my findings so far. If I set the Gene Cafe at 230 degrees it seems to take a lot of the roast time getting to 230. Never quite getting there. I started setting the temperature much higher. 245 degrees and that seems to kick it in to life. I gets to 230 and over and I then dial it back down. What I am wondering are all these models a bit quirky or is that how they normally operate? Really happy with it my roasts seem to be going fine and the coffee tastes very nice. First one was a bit too well done but I am learning when to end it quicker if the beans are browned enough. It is great being able to roast 250g of coffee beans in one go and to get them so even. The popcorn make is just a disaster by comparison. It takes me approx 30 mins per roast including cool down. That is the time the Gene Cafe remains on either heating or cooling the beans.


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## johnealey

You may find that your mains voltage is the biggest variable to roasting with the gene, wouldn't worry too much about how long it takes to get to a certain temp more how they taste (as long as you're not in really long roast territory such as 19-20 minutes)

Might be worth measuring your mains voltage before you start and about 30 minutes is right from memory

John


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## wan

Very interesting discussion here. I am look forwards to learn how to roasted bean at home since my beans run out quickly and has to waiting for delivery(more money for postage the beans) .

what i read here, i need a Gane Cafe CBR101 or any kind machine to roast it? TIa


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