Behmor on the way

germantown rob · 02-08-2010, 04:10 PM

Don't worry to much Pete, I think you will find just like those reviews the machines will be the older models that had many bugs to still work out.

Don't be so harsh on your love of chrome,

, we all have our thing.

You will love the Behmor, it will get you great roasts that can be tweaked enough to make nice improvements from roast to roast. The geek support for the Behmor is very high so lots of people to get advice from, and for the price it really is hard to beat. For the times you are forced to roast inside the afterburner is a really nice feature. Your voltage may be fine but the slightest change can make a difference so I suggest getting a Kill-a-Watt ($25) to see when there may be low voltage times during the day, not a bad utility to have to check other appliances and what they may be drawing in power.

See, I really am trying not to be such a roast Nazi. I recognize my insanity and acknowledge I can't change myself so I will try to limit what I impose on others and expect from them.

After all it is the passion for the bean we share and I want as many people to get the most from every cup and you are doing this.

A few more things with the Behmor.
The new chaff collector seems to add a little time to the roast so folks have been doing a 1:30 minute preheat before starting their roast proper.

Opening the door after 1st crack is a good way to get a longer finish if coming into first to fast and hot.

Cracking the door during the cool down cycle and then opening completely will help cool the beans much quicker.

Ira's BehmorThing is a very handy tool for keeping track of your roasts. There is an apple app (if you have an ipod touch or iphone) that is rather nice called RoastTimer which I use even if I am not trying to track a roast just because it is a timer counting forward instead of backwards, a timer and note pad work just as well though.

I found that roasts in the Behmor are best when under 18 minutes, over that they just get baked tasting.

I think the new Behmor comes with the small grid drum standard, if not let me know and I will send you an extra one I have that is still in the box, I added it to the cart twice by accident.

After adding beans to the drum give it a good shake to get any small shards or beans out before the roast.

Happy Roasting

.

Edit: Raisin beat me to the Kill-a-Watt info...that stuff in red is about the old Hottop and not the Behmor but great advice on what to do if there is a chaff fire in the behmor.

floydpink · 02-08-2010, 09:58 PM

Ok gents. I took your sage advice and found and bought a Kill A Watt off Ebay.

Seems fairly straight forward, but do you just plug the roaster in and check the wattage in different outlets as well as different periods of the day?

Any special number I should look for?

Thanks as always for the great advice.

germantown rob · 02-09-2010, 06:01 AM

No need to have the roaster plugged in to check the voltage at the outlet, I always had 119-121volts except in the summer time around dinner it would drop to 118v. Raisin knows the more about what happens when the voltage drops below that and what point is not worth roasting. Check the outlets you would be using, your outside patio voltage may be effected if it is in a series and something else is running on that line or would be turned on (like a washer or something) during a roast.

The Kill-a-watt can also check watts so it is informative to be watch during a roast to see what happens where, plus you can check things like how many watts a TV on stand by uses in a 24 hr period.

02-10-2010, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by germantown rob

I think the new Behmor comes with the small grid drum standard, if not let me know and I will send you an extra one I have that is still in the box, I added it to the cart twice by accident.

After adding beans to the drum give it a good shake to get any small shards or beans out before the roast.

Yes, it does come with the smaller grid drum (mine did, anyways).

And that's GREAT advice!

raisin · 02-10-2010, 11:19 AM

There's two things to watch for with the kill-a-watt appliance, voltage supply and voltage drop.

Plug the KAW into an outlet and read the Line Voltage, this will generally vary during the day following the utilities ability to compensate for demand. (mine is 114v - 122v) This reading can also vary around your house, depending on the age, length, and traffic on that particular circuit. DON'T use an extension cord.
Voltage drop will occur when the outlet and/or it's associated circuit operates under load according to age, etc. (mine drops 3-5 volts when the Behmor is running full tilt, more when the original line voltage is low, less when voltage is abundant.)

In my experience ( i'm on my second Behmor, the first is 140 in dog-years!), this machine roasts best at 120v+ initial supply with the voltage drop at peak consumption never below 116v. The higher the voltage the hotter and faster the roast becomes, both desirable conditions for the Behmor.
For me, this meant a lot of late night roasting (1-3am) when everyone is asleep and the voltage rises above 120v. On cfgk you can read of folk who don't have the supply problems that i experience, if you are so blessed all of this might prove thankfully moot.

Once the roast has started, switch the KAW to read wattage so you can see what the Behmor is doing at any given moment. I usually see an initial consumption of ~950 watts as the motor and heating elements actuate. After a few minutes the wattage will hit ~1500w once the afterburner kicks in. From this point on the afterburner will stay on continuously until 9:30 remains on the cooling cycle.

Wattage will drop when the brain turns off the heating elements, so you can follow it's thinking by watching the KAW. These drops are determined by the peak temperature and by the profile chosen, so look at the profile charts in the manual and read the % total power applied at various stages of the roast. This is most important when using the workhorse P2 profile and you want to time the power decrease with the 1c, so as to lengthen the period between 1c-2c. A longish inter-crack time span will enhance and richen the roast flavors and it is highly desirable to time and control this particular part of the roast.

(i hate typing, this was an hour of composition!)

floydpink · 02-10-2010, 03:18 PM

Thanks for that Raisin.

Both the KAW and Behmor should arrive tommorow, according to tracking and that made the process easier to grasp.

I explained to my wife I will be roasting all her coffee now and she can stop buying Cafe Bustello after all these years.

With the Freshroast, it really would have been tough roasting two different people's coffee.

I also said the KAW has something to do with global warming and reducing our carbon output.

These help when two boxes arrive for me at the same time and we're supposed to be cutting back.

02-08-2010, 04:10 PM	#1
germantown rob Still not Adjusted Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Rob Location: Philadelphia Posts: 330 Trading: (1)	Re: Behmor on the way Don't worry to much Pete, I think you will find just like those reviews the machines will be the older models that had many bugs to still work out. Don't be so harsh on your love of chrome, , we all have our thing. You will love the Behmor, it will get you great roasts that can be tweaked enough to make nice improvements from roast to roast. The geek support for the Behmor is very high so lots of people to get advice from, and for the price it really is hard to beat. For the times you are forced to roast inside the afterburner is a really nice feature. Your voltage may be fine but the slightest change can make a difference so I suggest getting a Kill-a-Watt ($25) to see when there may be low voltage times during the day, not a bad utility to have to check other appliances and what they may be drawing in power. See, I really am trying not to be such a roast Nazi. I recognize my insanity and acknowledge I can't change myself so I will try to limit what I impose on others and expect from them. After all it is the passion for the bean we share and I want as many people to get the most from every cup and you are doing this. A few more things with the Behmor. The new chaff collector seems to add a little time to the roast so folks have been doing a 1:30 minute preheat before starting their roast proper. Opening the door after 1st crack is a good way to get a longer finish if coming into first to fast and hot. Cracking the door during the cool down cycle and then opening completely will help cool the beans much quicker. Ira's BehmorThing is a very handy tool for keeping track of your roasts. There is an apple app (if you have an ipod touch or iphone) that is rather nice called RoastTimer which I use even if I am not trying to track a roast just because it is a timer counting forward instead of backwards, a timer and note pad work just as well though. I found that roasts in the Behmor are best when under 18 minutes, over that they just get baked tasting. I think the new Behmor comes with the small grid drum standard, if not let me know and I will send you an extra one I have that is still in the box, I added it to the cart twice by accident. After adding beans to the drum give it a good shake to get any small shards or beans out before the roast. Happy Roasting . Edit: Raisin beat me to the Kill-a-Watt info...that stuff in red is about the old Hottop and not the Behmor but great advice on what to do if there is a chaff fire in the behmor.

02-08-2010, 09:58 PM	#2
floydpink crazy diamond Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Pete Location: Orlando Posts: 1,955 Trading: (17)	Re: Behmor on the way Ok gents. I took your sage advice and found and bought a Kill A Watt off Ebay. Seems fairly straight forward, but do you just plug the roaster in and check the wattage in different outlets as well as different periods of the day? Any special number I should look for? Thanks as always for the great advice. __________________ "If we weren't all crazy we would go insane"

02-09-2010, 06:01 AM	#3
germantown rob Still not Adjusted Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Rob Location: Philadelphia Posts: 330 Trading: (1)	Re: Behmor on the way No need to have the roaster plugged in to check the voltage at the outlet, I always had 119-121volts except in the summer time around dinner it would drop to 118v. Raisin knows the more about what happens when the voltage drops below that and what point is not worth roasting. Check the outlets you would be using, your outside patio voltage may be effected if it is in a series and something else is running on that line or would be turned on (like a washer or something) during a roast. The Kill-a-watt can also check watts so it is informative to be watch during a roast to see what happens where, plus you can check things like how many watts a TV on stand by uses in a 24 hr period.

02-10-2010, 11:19 AM	#5
raisin Still Watching My Back Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 82 Trading: (0)	Re: Behmor on the way There's two things to watch for with the kill-a-watt appliance, voltage supply and voltage drop. Plug the KAW into an outlet and read the Line Voltage, this will generally vary during the day following the utilities ability to compensate for demand. (mine is 114v - 122v) This reading can also vary around your house, depending on the age, length, and traffic on that particular circuit. DON'T use an extension cord. Voltage drop will occur when the outlet and/or it's associated circuit operates under load according to age, etc. (mine drops 3-5 volts when the Behmor is running full tilt, more when the original line voltage is low, less when voltage is abundant.) In my experience ( i'm on my second Behmor, the first is 140 in dog-years!), this machine roasts best at 120v+ initial supply with the voltage drop at peak consumption never below 116v. The higher the voltage the hotter and faster the roast becomes, both desirable conditions for the Behmor. For me, this meant a lot of late night roasting (1-3am) when everyone is asleep and the voltage rises above 120v. On cfgk you can read of folk who don't have the supply problems that i experience, if you are so blessed all of this might prove thankfully moot. Once the roast has started, switch the KAW to read wattage so you can see what the Behmor is doing at any given moment. I usually see an initial consumption of ~950 watts as the motor and heating elements actuate. After a few minutes the wattage will hit ~1500w once the afterburner kicks in. From this point on the afterburner will stay on continuously until 9:30 remains on the cooling cycle. Wattage will drop when the brain turns off the heating elements, so you can follow it's thinking by watching the KAW. These drops are determined by the peak temperature and by the profile chosen, so look at the profile charts in the manual and read the % total power applied at various stages of the roast. This is most important when using the workhorse P2 profile and you want to time the power decrease with the 1c, so as to lengthen the period between 1c-2c. A longish inter-crack time span will enhance and richen the roast flavors and it is highly desirable to time and control this particular part of the roast. (i hate typing, this was an hour of composition!)

02-10-2010, 03:18 PM	#6
floydpink crazy diamond Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Pete Location: Orlando Posts: 1,955 Trading: (17)	Re: Behmor on the way Thanks for that Raisin. Both the KAW and Behmor should arrive tommorow, according to tracking and that made the process easier to grasp. I explained to my wife I will be roasting all her coffee now and she can stop buying Cafe Bustello after all these years. With the Freshroast, it really would have been tough roasting two different people's coffee. I also said the KAW has something to do with global warming and reducing our carbon output. These help when two boxes arrive for me at the same time and we're supposed to be cutting back. __________________ "If we weren't all crazy we would go insane"