Looking for Information - Behmor 1600 home roaster

[Coffeeheader]

Anyone have information on how good the Behmor 1600 home roaster is?

 

[Ronc23]

It depends on what you are using it for. I have used this roaster and was quite pleased. It's a nice roaster for someone getting into roasting and doing it for fun/hobby. It does have its limitations (timer/settings controlled) and you can't manipulate too many factors. That said....I've roasted some nice batches of coffee. Not sure if that's what you are looking for or have more specific questions...

 

[Redswing]

I agree with Ronc23. Have you watched the review by Sweet Marias? Sweet Maria's Behmor Details Page
The Behmor will definately give you a clue as to what the green bean you are roasting can taste like, though with pretty serious limitations. Like airflow, temperature control/guages, and length of roast. But for a few hundred bucks, I'd buy it again for sure. It played a big part in opening my eyes to the fun of fresh roasted coffee.
There are quite a few little tricks to be learned to eek a little more performance out of it. The two most important that I discovered were preheating the machine, and then taking the drum out of the roaster and shaking it outside to cool the beans immediately after the roast.
Have you roasted much before or seen people doing it?

 

[kboom1]

I started out with a behmor and then added another one 6 months later allowing me to do back to back roast. Don't believe the hype about being able to do a lb at a time. More like 10-12 oz. is a better asumption. Make sure to get a kill-a-watt meter if you purchase one as it depends on voltage. anything under 120v and you will have to roast a lower batch size to get a proper roast. There are ways to get around some of the limitations to a certain degree . It's not a bad starter roaster for the price point.

 

[cestrin]

The Behmor is the only roaster I have used. I have about 80 roasts on it and am pleased. I would like to upgrade to a Quest M3 or Huky 500 eventually as they give you the ability to control the setting more accurately. The main function that is missing (IMO) is a fan to control airflow. I have enjoyed the roasts I have done and would suggest it if you get overwhelmed with variables very quickly (short learning time).

 

[Bozo]

Go to roastmasters.com I think it is $299 with 8 pounds of green beans. Read the manual and start with a few 1/4 pound roasts. Behmor is afraid people will burn down their house but there are ways to get around that. 1 pound roasts, no about 406 grams. They say once you hear the first crack time before 2 crack is about 2:30 minutes, this would be City roast. City+ / 2:45, Full City / 3:00, Full City+ 3:15 to 3:30 and more. Hope this helps some, Bozo

 

[Masterbrewer]

The Behmor 1600 definitely can do 1 pound batches IF you electrical outlet is up to it. I do 1 pound batches all the time to right before 2nd crack. My electrical outlets are also used to brew beer. They are fed with #10awg wire, so I have no voltage drop at my outlet. For a one pound batch, 1# / P3 / D / ++ gets it done. So if your electric is not up to par you will be stuck with 10 to 12oz batches which is fine for most people. You can't just test the voltage, you have to test the voltage with a load on it. Your voltage might read 120V but with a heavy load loike when both heating elements turn on the voltage might drop to 105 to 110V.

 

[Birdman]

I've been using a Behmor 1600 since they came out. It will roast a pound of beans unless you like it *really* dark. I rarely go into the second crack, so that's not an issue for me.

 

[hamilton65]

This was a great roaster for me when starting out. I found ways to manipulate the settings to get a really nice full city roast. After about 40 roasts I started having censor issues and the roaster would stop with an error towards the end of the roast. This was very frustrating so I ordered and replaced the censors. This worked for about 10 more roasts and then returned. While roasting some expensive beans and having it shut off with an error before it finished, I took a sledge hammer to it. I knew it was time to upgrade to a better roaster....HAH!