Hey Mike. I have been roasting for 3 years . I started with a popcorn popper and got tired of burning my hands throwing beans back in. So I bought a Fresh Roast 540 then added the chimney to get more volume. I bought the Behmor 2000 several months ago and was really frustrated getting the first crack using the recommended profiles. I found I could not get to that point until my B temp was at least 310°. Went to RUclips and searched Behmor roasting and found some that were mildly helpful. Now I found and I saw your videos. I have watched 3 now and have learned a lot about the roaster. From prewarming to 320 and starting on manual and then managing the power to control heat. I didn’t know the P 35:29 values changed from profile to power so that has helped a lot. Now I keep data much like you and Lou do but haven’t graphed any. Thanks for your knowledge and easy way of passing it along. I’ll be looking for more from you.
Hi Kurt. I'm glad you found my channel. Let me know your my suggestions have helped. I do hope to bring the Behmor back out. In the mean time, let me know if you have any questions.
Congratulations on the Behmor. The Kona should work well with that roaster. I’m glad my videos are helpful! How did the roast turn out? How much coffee did you roast for that batch? How long did the roast take?
Lou is a great guy and has become a great roaster. I'm glad he was able to be apart of this video. He is now roasting on a Bullet (which he let me borrow). Maybe i can talk him into another video with me using the Bullet.
Many thanks to both of y'all for this!! There now be more Behmor home roasters. Well, one more at least. I received my 2000AB Plus Monday, and tried an initial recommended 1/4 pound roast last night. I followed Joe Behm's recommended technique and dropped power to 50% at first crack. I only preheated for the recommended maximum of a minute and thirty seconds. I left the chaff tray out during the preheat. The welding gloves I usually use as pot holders are a bit clumsy to use to manipulate the drum and chaff tray. I've ordered some better gloves. I take it from recommendations here that it's okay to exceed the one minute and thirty second preheat time. I didn't attempt to log any times or temperatures for my first roast. I did notice the bread like smell at the end of the drying phase. I think it was around the five minute mark. I can't for the life of me remember what the time was at first crack, or when I initiated cooling. I wish I had logged the times now. I'll be keeping all of the tips in this and other videos in mind for my future roasts. Though I prefer roasts that are closer to the dark roast range, so I'm sure I'll need a slightly different recipe. I'm trying to be patient and let my first roast degas a bit before trying it. I think it will at least be drinkable. It looks like it's probably somewhere towards the dark side of the medium roast range.
Congrats on your first roast Behmor brother. Always follow Behmor's procedures for safety and warranty. I don't want you to do anything that would negate that. I would suggest you watch my Behmor playlist. Each roast has a slightly different emphasis and there some really helpful tips. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your roaster!
Thank you for this video. It was very informative. We got a Behmor 1600+ a few years ago, and it serves us well. We discovered early on that we liked trying different varieties of coffee, so we have not played with manual settings yet. We've found that preheating the roaster and using the preprogrammed options works fairly well for our purposes. We just hit the "Rosetta Stone" button until we hear the cracking and then use the cooling cycle in the roaster. That gives us a really nice roast between city and city plus. This way we have a consistent roast across the board without stressing about it, and can enjoy the flavors of the different varieties. I like the idea of tracking the temperature over time, and I am going to start doing that. Now that we have a system down that works, it will be interesting to see what is happening along the way, and maybe start experimenting with a more manual approach.
Thank you for your comment Eric. I'm glad you are enjoying your Behmor. It is a great roaster and will provide years of reliable service. Yea, learning about how heat over time influences the beans is pretty interesting. The Behmor is capable of manual roasting with some great results. Lou, who was in this video, was able to achieve some great results!
I think I have found a good use for the drum speed option on the 2000AB. I will roast as normal for the start of the roast, with a high drum speed. Then when the fan kicks on (around 7:30) I will wait 15-20 seconds and then slow the drum speed. While the air temp drops from the fan, keeping the beans closer will allow them to stay much hotter! I have found I can hit first crack 30 seconds earlier! Hope this is helpful 👍. Love the videos, keep it up!
That is a pretty cool tip. I will have to try that. So, you are doing a 1 lb setting. How much coffee are you roasting and what is your time to FC and your Total Roast Time? Thanks for sharing!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I do a 226g charge on the 1LB setting. I will typically roast an Ethiopian with a total time to drop (a.k.a. pressing cool and opening door) of around 10:30. I also preheat to 235-240. I will go about 30 seconds into first crack before pressing cool and opening the door. This gives me around 13-14% weight loss in the beans (with a goal of about 13%). I do find a bitter finish however. My thoughts are maybe too fast? As impossible as that sounds on a behmor haha.
If I had to guess, the bitter finish may be the outer part of the bean is more roasted than the inner part because of the infrared light. I have no way to prove this other than the behmor artisan video I did showing how hot the infrared temp gets. Call it sunburn on the beans maybe? Crack open some beans and look at the color through the entire bean. Chances are the outer part of the bean is slightly darker. If this is true it might be too fast. Not sure.
Thank you Mike & Lou for the video! Very helpful information. I purchased my Behmor about 6 months ago and have done a couple dozen roasts on it so far. Based on your conversation and comments on this video, pre-warming to 200 seems like a popular choice. I have been pre-warming to 300 on my roasts with the thought of powering through the dry phase. Any thoughts on if this could affecting my roasts negatively? My typical roast so far (I do 1/2 to 3/4 pound) is: Pre-warm to 300 with chaff tray. 1lb setting, start, P5 Bring B temp up to 320 and toggle between P4-P5 to hold B temp between 320-325 Increase drum speed at end of dry phase Toggle between P3 and P4 to hold B temp between 320-325 for browning phase P1/P2 at first crack Cool setting 0:45-1:00 after first crack and open door fully I'm pretty satisfied with the flavour I get from this roast but always looking for improvements. As suggested, I definitely will try to pull the beans after development phase rather than letting them sit in the roaster throughout the entire cooling phase. I'm also confused with what temperature to target during the browning phase. Would a lower B temperature during browning (~300) potentially improve the flavour?
Mark, great comments. Yea, I believe higher charge temps can cause roasting defects on lower density beans. Even some higher density beans could experience tipping because of the P5 and higher drum temp. If you are roasting dark it won’t matter much but if you are going for a medium or lighter carefully look over your beans after the roast for defects. At those higher temps, make sure your giving enough time during the browning phase. I mean, don’t fly through the middle phase too fast. As far as targeting a temp during browning, I would focus more on allowing enough time in that phase. The time in that phase will determine the flavor, not just the temp. I have found that a 300 degree temp at first crack and the declining temp during the development phase down to about 188 is a nice declining ror for that last phase. Cooling quickly is important. Thanks for sharing your comments and for watching Mark.
I just looked at the Behmor 2000+. My current roaster is the Gene Cafe which gives excellent results. I roast each bean type individually and mix blend in the end. My bean selection is Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Sumatra, Rwanda, Columbia, Mexico and Brazil. Brazilian beans are washed which causes a fermentation. Add 7-10% Brazil to the final blend and its fermented extracts pull flavors from the other beans which would otherwise go unnoticed. Danish coffee blending trick for the perfect cup.
@S lam , thanks for your comment. That is a great tip. It has been a while since i blended any coffee. I've been sticking to single origin coffee at the moment. I think your experimenting with the different mix blends is very interesting. Are you roasting the ethiopian differently than the brazil for our blend?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I roast each bean to color. GC has only temp & time input. Keep time set so machine stays running to avoid cooling cycle. Both time & temp adjust on the fly. I am light roasting now which is still good for espresso, brighter with more flavor. The key is the grind. Adjust that for the best flavor/extraction. Too fine= sour, too coarse is bitter. Find the middle.
@@planetfabulous5833 Read comment below. Espresso does not mean DARK, you will drive off flavor. A light roast can give brighter flavor with more distinct notes. I roast a little beyond 1st crack which gives a great result. again, grind is key. Use a stepless grinder.
Thanks for your excellent videos Mike. My Behmor arrived yesterday (my first roasting experience). Since ordering it a week ago, I've been watching your videos, making notes and taking everything in. As soon as I hit start, it all left my head. Consequently, my first roast was abysmal. Way too long, too cool and the beans ended up, what I would call light roast. That said, at least they were even. I waited as long as I could (20hrs) before trying it to see if the batch was going in the garbage, and in spite of an also abysmal espresso pull, was the best light roast coffee I've ever tasted. LOL. I'm more of a dark roast guy, but I will be saving this bad recipe because its really good. :D Second roast went much better. It's amazing how much confidence, getting one under my belt gave me. I haven't tried the second roast yet, but the three phases all hit their projected time almost exactly, temperature was up, and the coffee came out looking like a dark roast. I'll continue to watch your videos, my #1 coffee roasting channel.
Hi Rich, thanks for watching my videos and for your kind comments. Yea, the first roast becomes a blur. After you do that a few times you will start to feel more comfortable and then focus on timing and percentages. Enjoy the Behmore. It has given me many years of great roasts ( and continues to). Glad my videos have been helpful!
Glad it was helpful Edie! I know it was a little long. The original video was over an hour long and I needed to clip it. I tried to keep as much of the meat of our discussion in place. I am really thankful that Lou agreed to share.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Hi, Mike: Do you know if any of your subscribers have the Gene Cafe? If so and if the owner of the Gene Cafe is willing to, would it be possible for you to interview and film a similar educational video? The Gene Cafe was the alternative roaster I was thinking of purchasing if I didn't buy the Behmor 2000AB.
Another great video Mike, thank you. I've been roasting on my Behmor using a fast drum speed, but returning to auto mode as soon as I press D to increase the drum speed. Based in a comment from Joe Behm, I leave it on fast for the entire roast. At 1st crack I press P3 to reduce heat, and C for the Rosetta Stone time. If I want a medium roast, I just leave the time as it is. If I want a darker roast I press + between 1 and 3 times depending on how dark I want the roast. Generally I press + once or twice. Yesterday I roasted a 1/2 lb of Sumatra and pressed 1 three times, adding 45 seconds to the C time and they came out just like I wanted them. Keep up the great work!
Glad you liked it @Mike Denson, thanks for watching. Yea, the faster drum speed creates more airflow for the beans and helps promote the roasting process. It sounds like you have your Behmor roasting process down pretty good :-) Thanks for sharing how you roast on the Behmor :-)
I'm hoping someone cracks the code on how to achieve light roasts on the Behmor. I always end up at closer to a full city rather than the slightly lighter city roast I want. I've had a really hard time pulling out the fruit and acidic notes from my naturals. Also, this is a great video that really summarizes the importance of data in analyzing roast. I've been roasting on a Behmor for close to 2 years now and feel like I'm just starting to grow comfortable with it. I'm going to make a better habit of collecting data during my roasts to really analyze what went well and what I need to adjust.
Hi @fizzix4lyfe, glad you are getting comfortable with your roaster. The data will tell the story. Hopefully that will help you get your lighter roast.
@fizzix4lyfe, (this is Lou from the video) I finally did achieve what I would call a light-medium roast in my Behmor. I roasted 1/2 lb of Guatemala Huehuetenango using the following procedure. The first step was to pre-heat the roaster with the drum removed but the chaff tray installed: Press 1, START, P5 (100% heat) and monitor the B temp until it reaches 150 F; then press OFF. The next step was to install the drum containing green beans and begin roasting: Press 1, START, P5 (manual roast, 100% heat), and D (fast drum speed); record temperatures every 30 seconds and the time of events like Dry End, first crack, etc.; watch and smell for the ending of Drying and beginning of Browning; 1 minute after Browning starts, press P4 (75% heat) until first cracking occurs; smell the roast as it is going through Browning and try to maybe detect a somewhat sharper smell, that means the first crack is near; when first cracking (i.e. multiple cracking) occurs, press P3 (50% heat); at this point, you need to determine how long you want this final Development phase to go, I chose to go about until about 30 seconds after first cracking stopped. The final step is to terminate the roast: Press OFF, with heat gloves on, and very carefully and safely, remove the (very hot) drum and dump the beans into an external cooler. You can alternatively leave the drum in and press COOL, but be informed that since the Behmor doesn't cool very quickly, Development will continue, maybe even for minutes, after pressing COOL. Opening the door will cool a little faster, but not nearly as quickly as externally cooling. That very slow cooling may be what contributed to your roasts going longer than you wanted - it did for me. The roast duration was 12:20, the Drying Phase was 45%, the Browning Phase was 39%, and the Development Phase was 16%. The gave me what looks and tastes like somewhere between a City and City+ roast. Let us know how it goes for you!
@@luigicollins3954 Thanks for the pointers Lou! I've been empirically marching closer to your process mainly through trial and error. I charge with 1/2 lb @ 150 degrees F and run P5 and the drum fast for most of the roast trying to hover the wall thermocouple near 305 by running p4 or slightly cracking the door when necessary. I really like your process to adjust power based on the stage of the roast. Makes for a much easier stake in the ground for adjustments and probably gets rid of the risk of getting the overheat error. Do you make any adjustments to try to recover from the afterburner kicking on? Based on the wall temp I lose close to 10 degrees at that time. Prior to 10:30 I hit P5 just to have some upward momentum when the fan kicks in. Also I've been considering pulling the whole drum during cooling, but just didn't want the risk of burns. But seeing videos on Sweet Maria's, and now your feedback, I'm thinking it's crucial to shortening the development and really pulling out those brighter and fruitier notes. This is amazingly helpful! Thanks again for putting this out in the world!
@fizzix4lyfe, I do not try to recover after the afterburner vent opens. I have read where others say that after the vent opens, the A temperature is more in line with actual bean temperature. I calculate and graph the rate of rise (ROR) for the B temp up to where the vent opens, then after that, I calculate and graph ROR for the A temp. My B temp peaks at 316 F just before the vent opens about in the middle of the Browning phase. After that (since the vent is open), the B temp drops to about 260 F at first cracks. Although A temp ROR is probably not real useful, I like to graph it during the Development phase, where it starts at about 30 and drops to 14 just before the drum is pulled. I made my bean cooler from a cardboard box as described on the Sweet Maria's site and it works wonderfully. Instead of using a colander, I used a stainless strainer. I think the strainer is better since more air can freely flow through the beans whereas the colander air flow is restricted by how many holes it has. From the time the beans are dropped into the cooler, the temp drops from roasting temp to room temp in about 3 minutes. It really is excellent at terminating the roast. If you try it, I think you will like it.
When you begin the roast, do you choose the 1 lb setting regardless of the weight of the beans, or do you choose the machine's settings based on the chosen weight of beans to roast? Or does this matter given we are then going into the manual phase, so really we have more control over the machine. I suppose my question stems from too many bad batches using the preprogrammed settings, and roasting outside due to smoke issues, which resulted in my very long sabbatical from using the machine as my coffee tasted like baked grass, (apparently took too long in the early stages of roasting which stalled the process). Giving up on home roasting I started buying pre-roasted beans from Costco. But now I'm back to learning and roasting again; this time armed with more understanding of the process. My machine is a 1600 plus.
This has been so helpful to me as I transition to manual mode on the Behmor. At 31:20 or so, when Lou talks about dropping down to 25%, your text says P1, which I believe is no power. Should that say P2? Thanks again for your invaluable videos!
I think I am at about the same experience level that Lou is, so it helps to see someone in the same phase of struggling that I am in. If there is one thing that I would change about the Behmor, it is that P1 means the lowest setting in Manual mode and 100% power in Automatic mode. This really makes the beginner's struggle much more difficult. In fact Mike, you stated that full power was P1 at 10:55 in the video. It took me a couple of times of going back to the video to see what you meant. Luckily Lou straightened it all out towards the end of the video. I find myself doing the same thing at times when I am discussing this with someone. Anyway, thanks for this. Good video.
Press p5 right off the bat and keep it around 300 Then p3 around first crack go for 30 sec after first crack ends Turn off and remove drum and close door and push cool Cool beans outside quickly Done
Your right MikeFLHT. P1 is full power when you start in the auto mode BUT P5 is 100% power when you are in the manual mode.... Thanks for clarifying that. I don't know why Behmor set it up that way because it is confusing. Sorry if I added to that.
@@toddpower4674 30 seconds after first crack seems rather short for development time, I have read that development time should be from 15-25% of the total roast, maybe I am doing something wrong but when my development time is to short, my beans kind of taste grassy, are you using a Behmor?
Thanks for watching @garygardens. Thanks for the encouragement as well. Yea, this video was geared towards Behmor roasters but I think there are concepts that all of us can use on our various equipment. I hope to do other roasting devices as well.
This is such an excellent video, very insightful for me just purchasing the 2000 AB. I have done 2 roasts in it so far (last night) and both look good so far. And I think they will be, from watching your videos, so thank you!! One thing I noticed in this new 2000 is the internal light, mine looks white to me, comparing to videos I've watched, Behmor may have changed it.
Mike this was a great video, I really enjoyed this, I have the Behmor for 3 years and have had good roast and bad roast, this will help understand why, thanks to both of you👍
Thank you Lou & Mike for this! Tons of good information here. I found Lou's comments on correctly identifying dry end very helpful, since I've been struggling with that in my recent roasts.
Glad it was helpful Dustin. One of the big take-away's that stood out to me was logging the data (times, temps, events) and putting them on paper. Lou did it with a spreadsheet and it looked pretty cool to see his graph look like something produced from data logging software. Most Behmor people don't have Artisan hooked up (there is a hack for that) so writing down the data, even if it is with a pencil, will help visualize what is happening to the roast. Then, on the next roast, make your adjustment and try again, getting you one step closer to a better cup!
Thank you Dustin. I'm really glad the video helped. Other of Mike's videos gave me much encouragement and was very willing to help anyone with something I may have gone through already. It reduces frustration, increases encouragement, and makes things so much more fun!
Thank you for this video! I’ve roasted dozens of roasts on my Behmor and I’m always learning. This video has given me some new ideas. Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks for an informative video. I also have been learning on the fly with my Behmor 2000+. I also prefer a lighter roast. Some things to consider: amount of beans -- more beans will make that momentum carry further and longer ambient temperature -- when I started roasting it was January and quite cold in my garage. Now it's much warmer. I only preheat to 150 now. density of the bean being roasted -- don't have much experience with this but know it matters
@Peter Gross, all great points Lou roasts 1/2 lb of coffee on the 1 lb setting. Using the lighter load helps for the shorter dry times. I had not thought about the more beans providing more momentum when roasting on the Behmor. I think you are correct BUT by the time the beans begin to go exothermic (release heat) would be first crack and by that time you would have already lowered your temps and are just about ready to pull the drum and drop your beans I think. Especially in the garage during the winter, your dry times are probably 7 or 8 minutes right? So, if you are trying to roast light and get the fruity notes on say an ethiopian, I would encourage you to try the 1/2 lb load and see if you can reproduce what Lou shared in the video. Just a suggestion. Glad you are enjoying the videos and your Behmor!
Thank you so much for this video! I can’t wait to try the suggestions from this video next time I roast! I will try to deploy them tomorrow afternoon! I would love to see a follow up in a subsequent video of roasting with the Behmor! Thanks again! Until next video!
@Eduardo Godoy, This video was for you my friend. I knew it would be helpful. I hope you have been getting better roasting results with your Behmor! There will be more Behmor videos in the future.
Super helpful interview! Thanks so much for all this very useful info. I have typically removed the chaff tray and not used it with my roasts so I could better see the beans. However, the fact that they are affected the heat in the chamber makes a lot of sense. I'll try it for a while with the chaff tray and see what happens. Just got some honey processed Costa Rica in and a few naturals as well. Gonna determine bean density (as per your other video on that), set an appropriate charge temp, then go for it using the method talked about here and in your other Behmor video. Again, thanks for all your useful info!
Thank you for watching the video and for your encouraging words Timothy. No chaff tray ? Interesting... I would be interested to hear how it changed your roast. Let me know. Thanks!
Great discussion, I have found aroma is a critical gauge for me in the roasting process, also agree with the sound of the changing beans as they dry out. Really handy cues for managing the roast.
Hello @Grant White, thanks for watching the video and adding to the discussion. Yes, the Behmor has it's limitations BUT it is a great roaster to practice using our senses. Lou has really payed attention to his roasts and noticed the tumbling differences as the moisture leaves the bean and changes size. I don't think Lou has mentioned this yet, but he changed the lightbulb inside the roaster to get rid of the yellow tint and replaced it with a clear light to help better see the color of the beans .
While I was watching and wondering how the delta B drops while the power is still 100%. When Lou talk through, then I realized that his power bar is not correct. The power should drop down to 75% one minute before end of yellow area, and drop down to 25% before end of brown area. But anyway his experience of turning down the power one minute before a particular phase is very valuable reference since my hottop operates with electrical heating element, which behaves the same as Behmor. Thank you for the video.
Hi John, I think one of the take away's on that point is when and why power should be adjusted. As energy builds up, temperatures increase and there is momentum in the roast, specifically when you are approaching dry end. So thinking ahead, knowing that the power change isn't going to have in instant change in the roasting environment, we make the adjustments knowing that we will want to slow the roast down at the end of dry which is approaching in say 45 seconds or a minute. This is something you will have to tweek as you begin to try this. Too early and you stall your roast, too late and you fly through the middle phase. Even gas roasters experience similar momentum and the necessary anticipation to slow the roast down.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab hi，Mike, thank you for your advice. I think one important home work for the beginner is to really understand his roaster and make a friend with it. After a few roastings, I reviewed my profiles and have some ideas how a electrical roaster react to your adjustments. Like you said, you need to take action ahead of time. I wish I can do as well as Lou did on 13th trial. 😊
Lou mentions variability due to roasting environment (like garage vs inside etc...). This is my situation - in the garage, and in the winter the beans are much cooler than in the summer - by a good 30F or maybe more. Preheating the roaster without the beans seems like just the starting point for dealing with this sort of thing. Are there ways to compensate for the bean starting temperature beyond empirical adjustments during the roast? Should one seek to warm the beans to a consistent (from roast to roast) starting point?
Jonathan, are you storing your beans inside, out of the cold? The bean temp should be close to room temperature. Pre-heating the roaster, cage and chaff collector will help with the heat loss due to the cold environmental temp. The beans themselves shouldn't be a factor because of the garage if they have been stored inside. One way to compensate the outside temp will be higher pre-warming temp and higher power settings to compensate for heat loss from the roaster due to the cold environmental temps. That's my take. It won't necessarily be enough and you can expect longer roast times because of the cold temps in the garage. Do you have a hood fan in the kitchen?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I am :/ and I was :) Starting today, I will keep the beans in the house, and move a batch at a time to the garage for roasting... So much learning!
Thanks Mike & Lou, great video very informative thanks. I bought my behmor not to long ago, I'm up to my 9 roast. Slowly getting the hang of it. Not sure about doing a manual roast just yet.
Best of luck to you Shane. Thank you for your encouragement. Consider writing down your temps, times and events and see what the auto mode looks like in a roast profile. That would be good practice.
Thanks Shane and I'm really glad to hear your getting used to your roaster and have 9 roasts so far. I hope people stick with it, keep trying things, learn, and share. This is a great hobby!
Tremendous information, many thanks for sharing, I’ve just purchased a Behmor and am beginning constructing similar graphs, I’m a chemist by profession, so the principles are fairly familiar. Thanks again and best wishes from Argyll, Scotland.
Hi John, glad this video was helpful. Lou is the mastermind behind the graphs you saw here. It was really helpful and helped visualize what is happening to the coffee during the roast process. The Behmor is a great roaster but has limitations. Charting times and temps will correlate your roast profile you charted to what you taste. You can then make changes and see how they influence flavors!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Well! Good evening from Scotland! , I’ve literally just finished a nice City plus on some Viet. Lam Dong, I adapted Lou’s graphs, and it worked perfectly. I do agree with the observation that one has to think ahead +1min at least, I noticed that quite strongly during the last roast. Again, many thanks to you and Lou for posting, invaluable information. Great stuff 👍👍
@@JohnMacBrayne Hi John and thanks for the kind comments! I definitely like graphs and charts; they seem to indicate many things just by easily viewing a picture of things, and not having to wade through a bunch of numbers. My latest principle I am exploring on the Behmor is temperature in the three phases - especially the middle (browning) phase. Rate of Rise (ROR) curves are interesting on the Behmor, but quickly lose validity after the afterburner vent opens and heat is driven out of the roaster. Have fun with your roaster, it can sure make some great roasts!
@@luigicollins3954 Hi Luigi, nice to speak with you! Yes, I am interested in the end of the drying phase, I am very interested in the interface between drying and browning, seems to me the rate of rise to that point is quite significant. Ive made a few 100g samples and different RoR and the distinction in taste is marked, Aa a chemist , I might try and have a look for some signature organic compounds and see if there is any commonality with similar geographic coffees. I think Infrared Spec and mass spec linked to a spectral library might provide a list of commonly occurimg compounds.....I could go on! There’s a PhD in all this! All the best, John
I have a Popper roaster from Sweet Maria's. With that roaster, monitoring temperature is not practical. What I do is monitor weight loss while roasting by having the Popper on a scale during roast. Considering I have it plugged into a volt/watt meter I know how much, at least relatively from roast to roast, how much I am changing the temperature. My question is do you know the approximate percentage of weight loss for each phase. Right now I know what percentage of weight loss should be showing at end of roast to initiate cooling on the Popper in order to get the roast level I prefer. Also, from watching your videos, I am not clear on when to call the browning stage complete. Is it at very first crack I hear, is it when multiple cracks are happening or is it when all cracks are completed? I appreciate all of your efforts to help us in our roasting journeys!
Thanks for watching and your interesting question. I have no idea the amount of moisture loss for each phase. Based on my experience, a big part of moisture loss takes place during the browning phase but I have never tried to measure each of the phases. That question would also vary based on your roast level as well. Sorry I can't be more helpful with that question. With regards to the end of browning, the answer is yes to all 3. You can use any of those as your reference BUT you should always use the same reference. Personally, I wait for the first succession of cracks. I think the ROEST coffee roaster literally counts 5 cracks. Some watch their roasting software and look for the ET to bump just before crack, while others wait for the very first audible sound of crack. I hope my answers have been helpful. Thank you for being a subscriber.
Huge thanks to Lou for the suggestion of using the aroma and an external light to identify the drying -> browning transition. I now put my sniffer up to the ventilation on the behmor when I'm looking for that transition. There is a grassy aroma during drying phase contrasted by a 'baked goods' smell to the browning phase. I am still trying to identify what each phase contributes to the cup quality. Are there any specific notes in the cup that may indicate I should shorten the drying phase or lengthen the development? Thanks for the video.
Hi Mint Man, thanks for checking out my video. Yea, smell is a huge help in what is going on with the coffee. The notes during the dry transition go from grassy to hay to baked goods. Watch my playlist that deals with the 3 different phases and how they impact the total roast. ruclips.net/video/vWdvkiK10R0/видео.html
new roast today on my behmor: Bean: Ethiopia Dry Process Mansur Aba Hikam, purchased from SM on 10/18/21 Roast Objective / Result: C+ / C+ 1) preheated roaster (without drum, but with chaff tray) to 200 on the B probe. 2) inserted drum filled with 273g of beans (240g after roast end) 3) restarted roaster using 1# setting and manual mode, and P5 power level, normal drum speed 4) B temp recovered to 200 after about 30 sec 5) when B temp reached 300 degrees, lowered power to P4, about 4 1/2 minutes into roast 6) B temp reached 325 degrees when the afterburner fan kicked in, and power was set back to P5 7) first outlier crack about 8 1/2 min into roast (219 degrees on the A probe), reduced power to P3 8) at 9 1/2 min, reduced power to P2 9) pressed cool at 10 1/2 min (after 90sec in full first crack) 10) after 30 sec in cool, pulled the drum for manual cooling of beans using a tray and a colander, then turned the empty roaster back on, in cool down mode 11) now letting roasted beans rest for 72 hours before brewing first pot i didn't have good enough light to call yellow end, and i was too occupied following my roast plan to use my nose
Hi Paul, sounds like you did a great job on that roast. Thanks for sharing. Not sure about temps on the A (exhaust) but curious what the B temp was at drop. Dropping down to P2, sounds like you had a lot of momentum in first crack. Were you happy with the color? Let me know how it tastes!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks! i'm very happy with the color, even though not as uniform as i'm accustomed to. the B temp at drop was back up to 280 after dipping into the 260's when the fan kicked on. this is my first roast for this particular bean. i'll do a couple batches in the popper next week for comparison.
Since watching this video a couple weeks ago, and several others of yours I like the direction my roasts have been going. Working with my Behmoor I have been adjusting a few things to target the 50/30/20. Reading comments from people I have played with the drum speed. On my last roast I increased it when the beans were dry. All during that time on P4. Once reaching 1C plus 1 minute I went to P3 and left it til the end of the roast. I made a cup today with my Chemex and liked the flavor. I still have 20# of this Guatemala coffee left and am curious as to which phase I might play with to tweak out a bit more flavor?
Glad to hear your seeing some improvements Frank. Just for kicks, you might want to try using a french press or clever dripper (immersion brewers) to brew your coffee just to make sure your not missing some of the notes. Pourover methods, especially the Chemex are great BUT not very forgiving. It might be easier to see some of the differences with the immersion methods compared to the pourovers. Just a suggestion. Thanks for watching my videos!
That is a great question James. The Behmor uses the quartz type heating element . It is a type of radiant heating using infrared waves to directly heat the surfaces of objects. The surface of the coffee bean is being directly influenced by the light waves so I would have to imagine a softer bean would more easily burn on the outside than a denser bean. I could be wrong and I don't have any science to back me up. Having said that, just like softer beans tend to be more prone to roasting defects like scorching (being burned on hot metal surfaces), I'm thinking that a higher density bean will perform better in the Behmor infrared light than a low density bean. I have roasted plenty of low and high density beans in the Behmor and the roast profile should be different for a softer bean. You see this approach in the Behmor manual (see page 7 or 8 in the manual). The pre-programmed profiles use lower heat for lower density coffees like a Brazillian. Lower heat in the beginning, then ramp it. This approach causes a longer total roast time with a lower ROR curve..... "low and slow" is the saying. So, this isn't really just a Behmor thing. That same scenario applies to drum roasters that use natural gas or electric and are roasting low density beans. I may get some differing opinions on this. What do you think?
Great interview and very helpful information. I had couple of questions (sorry if you covered it): 1) Do you still monitor the A temp, or is it not helpful 2) How much coffee did you roast on the 1 lb setting (I've heard that some use this for 1/2 lb batches since the exhaust fan kicks on later). Thanks
Hello Seth. Thanks for watching my videos. Lou might chime in here if he sees your questions. Truthfully, these are great questions that many Behmor users have asked. First, I have roasted 1/2 of green coffee on both 1/2 lb and 1 lb setting. Your decision will determine the total roast time count down which will be displayed. It will also influence when the airflow/fan turns on. For the 1/2 lb setting the fan turns on at about 5 minutes. The 1 lb setting causes the fan to to run on at 7 or 7:30. I like the 1/2 lb setting because the 5 minute mark is where I max my heat and begin to slow down the roast progression. Now to your question about temperatures and the A/B Buttons. The design of Behmor roaster provides for two different temperatures, the A (button) and the B (button) temps. Behmors documentation clarifies what each of these are: The A reads exhaust channel temps and B reads chamber side wall. “A” is in the air flow The “B” is attached to the outer side wall of the chamber thus displays lower temp readings than A. So, to answer your question, I personally don't monitor the A temperature BUT there are many who swear by it and that is OK. As Behmor states: "The A/B temps are only intended to be used for general informational purposes/ correlation for rise and fall but NOT to determine roast level etc.. ". The reality is we use the temps as a general guage of roast temp progression. There are several types of heat going on inside the Behmor. There is the environmental temp which is the B. There is the air/exhaust temp which is the B. Finally, there is the radiant heat given off from the orange quartz type elements that shower heat onto the beans that are facing the light. I plan to do some tests taking temperatures from different areas of the roaster using probes and artisan. Hopefully I will have this to share this summer. I hope this data will help others decide what temperatures they would like to reference while they roast.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks a lot for your answers. I love what you're doing here. Home roasting coffee has been so additive to my morning coffee routine. I've been doing it for ~7 years, but am only starting to experiment with time and temperatures. I look forward to watching more of your content.
I am watching the video again and wonder what is the weight of the greens beans going in? I have not herd that mentionned or did I miss it, would be helpfull to know.
I use 1/2 lb loads for my Behmor and I'm pretty sure Lou does too. So, 1/2 lb of coffee BUT set the Behmor for 1 lb. This gives you all the time you need with no worry about going into cool to soon.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks, sorry to bother again, I do all that, preheat the Behmor at 300 at 1lbs setting, leave the chaff collector in, put the beans in press 1 lbs setting again then P5 with 1/2 lbs, but I never got first crack before 10 minutes, and from what I saw Lou got there in 7 1/2 minutes, mind you I am roasting in a garage, it is heated but not like the house, that might be the reason behind it, but will that affect the end results, when I’m roasting columbian supremo I would like to have the caramel notes but I don’t, altough the coffee does’nt taste bad, I think it could taste better. Maybe I’m thinking to much but I’m trying to understand. Four of us watched the video, we all have Behmor and asking ourselves pretty much the same questions. Hope I’m not bothering you to much. Thanks
@@andreavon5929 no worries. Yes, the temperature of your room will have a huge impact and is most likely the difference between Lou's times and what you experienced.
Hi Andre. Roast 1 was 100 grams; roast 7 and 13 were 150 grams each. Roast 13 had 150 g going in and 128.4 g after roasting - a 14.4% drop in weight (I assume moisture). Yes, you're right, there is a lot more data on those roasts that could have been mentioned. I really hoped to show how much I grew, learned, and improved my analysis of the data I had.
Having a behmor 2000ab i have a great difficulty roasting dry process the first 10 months were mostly wet process then June this year tried a dry process and all scorching and tipping can't seem to achieve even a fair roast everything underdeveloped and burnt. I know dry process must be dried much slower to prevent this still looking for a profile from someone because mine have all failed
Hello mirinda L, yes, dry process coffee seems to be more sensitive to heat application, especially during the drying phase. Are you "preheating" the roaster? If yes, consider not preheating. Also, how much coffee are you roasting at a time? You may need to lower your energy. So, some questions for you in order for me to offer some better information: Are you preheating? If yes, then to what temp? How much coffee are you roasting per batch? Are you using automatic settings or manual? How long is your dry phase? What is your total roast time?
Hi Jackie, thanks for your question. Since my "Roast 13" was the one shown most in this video, my comments will apply to that roast. I roasted 150 grams of green beans (about 1/3 of a pound) of a Sumatra wet-process coffee. I pre-heated the B temperature to about 200 F. I started a 1-lb 100% power roast (pressing the "1" button, then START, then P5) with a slow (normal) drum speed. The reason I pressed the 1-lb button was to get a longer available roasting time, which I really did not need. Roast 13 was done about 5 months ago and I have a slightly different procedure I follow now. Read below if interested. Nowadays, my Behmor roasting is a little different. I almost always use about 225 grams (about 1/2 pound) of green beans, since that is a nice size for the Behmor and it sets a good schedule for how often I need to roast. I still pre-heat to 200 F, and I still start with a normal drum speed, and for most roasts I start heating at 100% (P5). But a big difference now is I always press the "1/2-pound" roast size button, mainly because it causes the afterburner vent fan to turn on earlier in the roast (at 5 minutes, instead of 7:30 with the 1-lb button). Doing that provides less temperature disturbance during the Browning Phase, and I think makes a nicer roast. But after I press "1/2" and START, I always press "+" multiple times to provide the maximum available roast time (of 13:30), though I rarely ever need that much time. And now I almost always drop heating to 75% (P4) when I think the Browning Phase is beginning. At that same time, I go to a high drum speed. Then at first crack(ing) I drop the heat to 50% (P3) but still keep a fast drum speed all the way to roast end. I hope I have answered your question. Please reply if you have any other questions. Happy roasting!
Thanks for the great video. I copied Lou's technique but I was surprised that my B temp dropped dramatically when hitting P4 are the end of drying. Any idea what would cause such a dramatic drop? I have charted it and the drop off is significant. Thanks!!
Hello Ad Dav, without knowing your temps or times, or which Behmor you are using, it sounds like the afterburner/exhaust fan has turned on and is sucking heat out of the roaster. You will need to verify this. Best practice is to toggle between power settings to maintain the temperatures you need. So, once the temp begins to drop, increase power. Once the temp get's to your desired temp, toggle back and forth between the manual power settings. @Luigi Collins might be able to offer a better response. Let us know what model and your times and temps Ad Dav. Thanks - Mike
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks. Sorry I should have clarified (sleep deprived from a newborn!). I roasted on the 2020SR+, it happened approx 04:30 into the roast and it dropped from 315f to 250f in around a minute or so.
Mark, that was an excel graph made by Lou. I did something a little different with a homemade graph doing a manual roast on my drum roaster. You can see it in this video ruclips.net/video/cx-DQouGZ0o/видео.html and I have it set to start at the point where I show the graph.
Would love for Lou to share how to create that graph in excel. Maybe this requires a class in excel-I’ve looked into it and excels line graphs look much more basic. Mark thanks for showing that paper version! Great video!
Thanks for watching this video. Which graph are you referring and was it the A temp or the B temp? The one at 12:12 shows temps of over 300 degrees for the B Temp. These are the Behmor "Bean" Temperatures. While they are helpful references to understand heat trends, they are not actual temperatures. I've put probes connected to artisan inside the Behmor and gotten higher temperatures (depending on where they are placed).
Hey Mike. I have been roasting for 3 years . I started with a popcorn popper and got tired of burning my hands throwing beans back in. So I bought a Fresh Roast 540 then added the chimney to get more volume. I bought the Behmor 2000 several months ago and was really frustrated getting the first crack using the recommended profiles. I found I could not get to that point until my B temp was at least 310°. Went to RUclips and searched Behmor roasting and found some that were mildly helpful. Now I found and I saw your videos. I have watched 3 now and have learned a lot about the roaster. From prewarming to 320 and starting on manual and then managing the power to control heat. I didn’t know the P 35:29 values changed from profile to power so that has helped a lot. Now I keep data much like you and Lou do but haven’t graphed any. Thanks for your knowledge and easy way of passing it along. I’ll be looking for more from you.
Hi Kurt. I'm glad you found my channel. Let me know your my suggestions have helped. I do hope to bring the Behmor back out. In the mean time, let me know if you have any questions.
I was just given a Behmor 1600 plus yesterday and I roasted my first beans last night. I'm super thankful for this video!
Congratulations on the Behmor. The Kona should work well with that roaster. I’m glad my videos are helpful! How did the roast turn out? How much coffee did you roast for that batch? How long did the roast take?
more Lou please!
Lou is a great guy and has become a great roaster. I'm glad he was able to be apart of this video. He is now roasting on a Bullet (which he let me borrow). Maybe i can talk him into another video with me using the Bullet.
Many thanks to both of y'all for this!! There now be more Behmor home roasters. Well, one more at least. I received my 2000AB Plus Monday, and tried an initial recommended 1/4 pound roast last night. I followed Joe Behm's recommended technique and dropped power to 50% at first crack. I only preheated for the recommended maximum of a minute and thirty seconds. I left the chaff tray out during the preheat. The welding gloves I usually use as pot holders are a bit clumsy to use to manipulate the drum and chaff tray. I've ordered some better gloves. I take it from recommendations here that it's okay to exceed the one minute and thirty second preheat time.
I didn't attempt to log any times or temperatures for my first roast. I did notice the bread like smell at the end of the drying phase. I think it was around the five minute mark. I can't for the life of me remember what the time was at first crack, or when I initiated cooling. I wish I had logged the times now. I'll be keeping all of the tips in this and other videos in mind for my future roasts. Though I prefer roasts that are closer to the dark roast range, so I'm sure I'll need a slightly different recipe. I'm trying to be patient and let my first roast degas a bit before trying it. I think it will at least be drinkable. It looks like it's probably somewhere towards the dark side of the medium roast range.
Congrats on your first roast Behmor brother. Always follow Behmor's procedures for safety and warranty. I don't want you to do anything that would negate that. I would suggest you watch my Behmor playlist. Each roast has a slightly different emphasis and there some really helpful tips.
Thanks for sharing and enjoy your roaster!
Thank you for this video. It was very informative. We got a Behmor 1600+ a few years ago, and it serves us well. We discovered early on that we liked trying different varieties of coffee, so we have not played with manual settings yet. We've found that preheating the roaster and using the preprogrammed options works fairly well for our purposes. We just hit the "Rosetta Stone" button until we hear the cracking and then use the cooling cycle in the roaster. That gives us a really nice roast between city and city plus. This way we have a consistent roast across the board without stressing about it, and can enjoy the flavors of the different varieties. I like the idea of tracking the temperature over time, and I am going to start doing that. Now that we have a system down that works, it will be interesting to see what is happening along the way, and maybe start experimenting with a more manual approach.
Thank you for your comment Eric. I'm glad you are enjoying your Behmor. It is a great roaster and will provide years of reliable service. Yea, learning about how heat over time influences the beans is pretty interesting. The Behmor is capable of manual roasting with some great results. Lou, who was in this video, was able to achieve some great results!
Thanks for this content.
I'm glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching!
I think I have found a good use for the drum speed option on the 2000AB. I will roast as normal for the start of the roast, with a high drum speed. Then when the fan kicks on (around 7:30) I will wait 15-20 seconds and then slow the drum speed. While the air temp drops from the fan, keeping the beans closer will allow them to stay much hotter! I have found I can hit first crack 30 seconds earlier! Hope this is helpful 👍. Love the videos, keep it up!
That is a pretty cool tip. I will have to try that. So, you are doing a 1 lb setting. How much coffee are you roasting and what is your time to FC and your Total Roast Time?
Thanks for sharing!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I do a 226g charge on the 1LB setting. I will typically roast an Ethiopian with a total time to drop (a.k.a. pressing cool and opening door) of around 10:30. I also preheat to 235-240. I will go about 30 seconds into first crack before pressing cool and opening the door. This gives me around 13-14% weight loss in the beans (with a goal of about 13%). I do find a bitter finish however. My thoughts are maybe too fast? As impossible as that sounds on a behmor haha.
If I had to guess, the bitter finish may be the outer part of the bean is more roasted than the inner part because of the infrared light. I have no way to prove this other than the behmor artisan video I did showing how hot the infrared temp gets. Call it sunburn on the beans maybe? Crack open some beans and look at the color through the entire bean. Chances are the outer part of the bean is slightly darker. If this is true it might be too fast. Not sure.
Thank you Mike & Lou for the video! Very helpful information. I purchased my Behmor about 6 months ago and have done a couple dozen roasts on it so far.
Based on your conversation and comments on this video, pre-warming to 200 seems like a popular choice. I have been pre-warming to 300 on my roasts with the thought of powering through the dry phase. Any thoughts on if this could affecting my roasts negatively?
My typical roast so far (I do 1/2 to 3/4 pound) is:
Pre-warm to 300 with chaff tray.
1lb setting, start, P5
Bring B temp up to 320 and toggle between P4-P5 to hold B temp between 320-325
Increase drum speed at end of dry phase
Toggle between P3 and P4 to hold B temp between 320-325 for browning phase
P1/P2 at first crack
Cool setting 0:45-1:00 after first crack and open door fully
I'm pretty satisfied with the flavour I get from this roast but always looking for improvements. As suggested, I definitely will try to pull the beans after development phase rather than letting them sit in the roaster throughout the entire cooling phase. I'm also confused with what temperature to target during the browning phase. Would a lower B temperature during browning (~300) potentially improve the flavour?
Mark, great comments. Yea, I believe higher charge temps can cause roasting defects on lower density beans. Even some higher density beans could experience tipping because of the P5 and higher drum temp. If you are roasting dark it won’t matter much but if you are going for a medium or lighter carefully look over your beans after the roast for defects.
At those higher temps, make sure your giving enough time during the browning phase. I mean, don’t fly through the middle phase too fast. As far as targeting a temp during browning, I would focus more on allowing enough time in that phase. The time in that phase will determine the flavor, not just the temp. I have found that a 300 degree temp at first crack and the declining temp during the development phase down to about 188 is a nice declining ror for that last phase.
Cooling quickly is important.
Thanks for sharing your comments and for watching Mark.
New subbie! Have Behmore 2200ab
Going to try this!!!TY!
Hi Michele, thanks for watching and subscribing. Let me know how it goes!
I just looked at the Behmor 2000+. My current roaster is the Gene Cafe which gives excellent results. I roast each bean type individually and mix blend in the end. My bean selection is Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Sumatra, Rwanda, Columbia, Mexico and Brazil. Brazilian beans are washed which causes a fermentation. Add 7-10% Brazil to the final blend and its fermented extracts pull flavors from the other beans which would otherwise go unnoticed. Danish coffee blending trick for the perfect cup.
@S lam , thanks for your comment. That is a great tip. It has been a while since i blended any coffee. I've been sticking to single origin coffee at the moment. I think your experimenting with the different mix blends is very interesting. Are you roasting the ethiopian differently than the brazil for our blend?
Is the Gene Cafe a better roaster? I am deciding between the Behmor and the GC. I am roasting for espresso.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I roast each bean to color. GC has only temp & time input. Keep time set so machine stays running to avoid cooling cycle. Both time & temp adjust on the fly. I am light roasting now which is still good for espresso, brighter with more flavor. The key is the grind. Adjust that for the best flavor/extraction. Too fine= sour, too coarse is bitter. Find the middle.
@@planetfabulous5833 Read comment below. Espresso does not mean DARK, you will drive off flavor. A light roast can give brighter flavor with more distinct notes. I roast a little beyond 1st crack which gives a great result. again, grind is key. Use a stepless grinder.
Thanks for your excellent videos Mike. My Behmor arrived yesterday (my first roasting experience). Since ordering it a week ago, I've been watching your videos, making notes and taking everything in. As soon as I hit start, it all left my head. Consequently, my first roast was abysmal. Way too long, too cool and the beans ended up, what I would call light roast. That said, at least they were even. I waited as long as I could (20hrs) before trying it to see if the batch was going in the garbage, and in spite of an also abysmal espresso pull, was the best light roast coffee I've ever tasted. LOL. I'm more of a dark roast guy, but I will be saving this bad recipe because its really good. :D Second roast went much better. It's amazing how much confidence, getting one under my belt gave me. I haven't tried the second roast yet, but the three phases all hit their projected time almost exactly, temperature was up, and the coffee came out looking like a dark roast. I'll continue to watch your videos, my #1 coffee roasting channel.
Hi Rich, thanks for watching my videos and for your kind comments. Yea, the first roast becomes a blur. After you do that a few times you will start to feel more comfortable and then focus on timing and percentages. Enjoy the Behmore. It has given me many years of great roasts ( and continues to). Glad my videos have been helpful!
Thank you Mike and Lou. Another excellent video - I learned so much. As a Behmor user, I am grateful for this information.
Glad it was helpful Edie! I know it was a little long. The original video was over an hour long and I needed to clip it. I tried to keep as much of the meat of our discussion in place. I am really thankful that Lou agreed to share.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Hi, Mike: Do you know if any of your subscribers have the Gene Cafe? If so and if the owner of the Gene Cafe is willing to, would it be possible for you to interview and film a similar educational video? The Gene Cafe was the alternative roaster I was thinking of purchasing if I didn't buy the Behmor 2000AB.
Hello Edie, there are several Gene Cafe viewers. I will see what I can do about connecting with one of them..... Thanks for the suggestion.
@@ediemah611 l had the same thoughts
Another great video Mike, thank you. I've been roasting on my Behmor using a fast drum speed, but returning to auto mode as soon as I press D to increase the drum speed. Based in a comment from Joe Behm, I leave it on fast for the entire roast. At 1st crack I press P3 to reduce heat, and C for the Rosetta Stone time. If I want a medium roast, I just leave the time as it is. If I want a darker roast I press + between 1 and 3 times depending on how dark I want the roast. Generally I press + once or twice. Yesterday I roasted a 1/2 lb of Sumatra and pressed 1 three times, adding 45 seconds to the C time and they came out just like I wanted them. Keep up the great work!
Glad you liked it @Mike Denson, thanks for watching. Yea, the faster drum speed creates more airflow for the beans and helps promote the roasting process. It sounds like you have your Behmor roasting process down pretty good :-) Thanks for sharing how you roast on the Behmor :-)
I'm hoping someone cracks the code on how to achieve light roasts on the Behmor. I always end up at closer to a full city rather than the slightly lighter city roast I want. I've had a really hard time pulling out the fruit and acidic notes from my naturals.
Also, this is a great video that really summarizes the importance of data in analyzing roast. I've been roasting on a Behmor for close to 2 years now and feel like I'm just starting to grow comfortable with it. I'm going to make a better habit of collecting data during my roasts to really analyze what went well and what I need to adjust.
Hi @fizzix4lyfe, glad you are getting comfortable with your roaster. The data will tell the story. Hopefully that will help you get your lighter roast.
@fizzix4lyfe, (this is Lou from the video) I finally did achieve what I would call a light-medium roast in my Behmor. I roasted 1/2 lb of Guatemala Huehuetenango using the following procedure. The first step was to pre-heat the roaster with the drum removed but the chaff tray installed: Press 1, START, P5 (100% heat) and monitor the B temp until it reaches 150 F; then press OFF. The next step was to install the drum containing green beans and begin roasting: Press 1, START, P5 (manual roast, 100% heat), and D (fast drum speed); record temperatures every 30 seconds and the time of events like Dry End, first crack, etc.; watch and smell for the ending of Drying and beginning of Browning; 1 minute after Browning starts, press P4 (75% heat) until first cracking occurs; smell the roast as it is going through Browning and try to maybe detect a somewhat sharper smell, that means the first crack is near; when first cracking (i.e. multiple cracking) occurs, press P3 (50% heat); at this point, you need to determine how long you want this final Development phase to go, I chose to go about until about 30 seconds after first cracking stopped. The final step is to terminate the roast: Press OFF, with heat gloves on, and very carefully and safely, remove the (very hot) drum and dump the beans into an external cooler. You can alternatively leave the drum in and press COOL, but be informed that since the Behmor doesn't cool very quickly, Development will continue, maybe even for minutes, after pressing COOL. Opening the door will cool a little faster, but not nearly as quickly as externally cooling. That very slow cooling may be what contributed to your roasts going longer than you wanted - it did for me. The roast duration was 12:20, the Drying Phase was 45%, the Browning Phase was 39%, and the Development Phase was 16%. The gave me what looks and tastes like somewhere between a City and City+ roast. Let us know how it goes for you!
@@luigicollins3954 Thanks for the pointers Lou! I've been empirically marching closer to your process mainly through trial and error. I charge with 1/2 lb @ 150 degrees F and run P5 and the drum fast for most of the roast trying to hover the wall thermocouple near 305 by running p4 or slightly cracking the door when necessary. I really like your process to adjust power based on the stage of the roast. Makes for a much easier stake in the ground for adjustments and probably gets rid of the risk of getting the overheat error.
Do you make any adjustments to try to recover from the afterburner kicking on? Based on the wall temp I lose close to 10 degrees at that time. Prior to 10:30 I hit P5 just to have some upward momentum when the fan kicks in.
Also I've been considering pulling the whole drum during cooling, but just didn't want the risk of burns. But seeing videos on Sweet Maria's, and now your feedback, I'm thinking it's crucial to shortening the development and really pulling out those brighter and fruitier notes.
This is amazingly helpful! Thanks again for putting this out in the world!
@fizzix4lyfe, I do not try to recover after the afterburner vent opens. I have read where others say that after the vent opens, the A temperature is more in line with actual bean temperature. I calculate and graph the rate of rise (ROR) for the B temp up to where the vent opens, then after that, I calculate and graph ROR for the A temp. My B temp peaks at 316 F just before the vent opens about in the middle of the Browning phase. After that (since the vent is open), the B temp drops to about 260 F at first cracks. Although A temp ROR is probably not real useful, I like to graph it during the Development phase, where it starts at about 30 and drops to 14 just before the drum is pulled. I made my bean cooler from a cardboard box as described on the Sweet Maria's site and it works wonderfully. Instead of using a colander, I used a stainless strainer. I think the strainer is better since more air can freely flow through the beans whereas the colander air flow is restricted by how many holes it has. From the time the beans are dropped into the cooler, the temp drops from roasting temp to room temp in about 3 minutes. It really is excellent at terminating the roast. If you try it, I think you will like it.
When you begin the roast, do you choose the 1 lb setting regardless of the weight of the beans, or do you choose the machine's settings based on the chosen weight of beans to roast? Or does this matter given we are then going into the manual phase, so really we have more control over the machine.
I suppose my question stems from too many bad batches using the preprogrammed settings, and roasting outside due to smoke issues, which resulted in my very long sabbatical from using the machine as my coffee tasted like baked grass, (apparently took too long in the early stages of roasting which stalled the process). Giving up on home roasting I started buying pre-roasted beans from Costco. But now I'm back to learning and roasting again; this time armed with more understanding of the process. My machine is a 1600 plus.
This has been so helpful to me as I transition to manual mode on the Behmor. At 31:20 or so, when Lou talks about dropping down to 25%, your text says P1, which I believe is no power. Should that say P2? Thanks again for your invaluable videos!
Thanks for watching. You are correct, P2 in the manual mode is 25%. My text is wrong. Sorry about that
I think I am at about the same experience level that Lou is, so it helps to see someone in the same phase of struggling that I am in. If there is one thing that I would change about the Behmor, it is that P1 means the lowest setting in Manual mode and 100% power in Automatic mode. This really makes the beginner's struggle much more difficult. In fact Mike, you stated that full power was P1 at 10:55 in the video. It took me a couple of times of going back to the video to see what you meant. Luckily Lou straightened it all out towards the end of the video. I find myself doing the same thing at times when I am discussing this with someone. Anyway, thanks for this. Good video.
Press p5 right off the bat and keep it around 300
Then p3 around first crack go for 30 sec after first crack ends
Turn off and remove drum and close door and push cool
Cool beans outside quickly
Done
Your right MikeFLHT. P1 is full power when you start in the auto mode BUT P5 is 100% power when you are in the manual mode.... Thanks for clarifying that. I don't know why Behmor set it up that way because it is confusing. Sorry if I added to that.
Thanks for sharing Todd. Are you pre-warming your Behmor?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab yes till little over 200
@@toddpower4674 30 seconds after first crack seems rather short for development time, I have read that development time should be from 15-25% of the total roast, maybe I am doing something wrong but when my development time is to short, my beans kind of taste grassy, are you using a Behmor?
I just bought a Behomor 2000 AB Plus! Can't wait!
Congrats Miss T !!
Good video, Mike (and Lou), thanks. I don't have a Behmor but it's always fun to hear other people's roasting experiences.
Thanks for watching @garygardens. Thanks for the encouragement as well. Yea, this video was geared towards Behmor roasters but I think there are concepts that all of us can use on our various equipment. I hope to do other roasting devices as well.
This is such an excellent video, very insightful for me just purchasing the 2000 AB. I have done 2 roasts in it so far (last night) and both look good so far. And I think they will be, from watching your videos, so thank you!! One thing I noticed in this new 2000 is the internal light, mine looks white to me, comparing to videos I've watched, Behmor may have changed it.
Glad my videos have been helpful. I hope they have changes the light. The incandescent light I have needs to be replace for an led
Great job, thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Thank you for watching. I’m glad my video was helpful !
Mike this was a great video, I really enjoyed this, I have the Behmor for 3 years and have had good roast and bad roast, this will help understand why, thanks to both of you👍
Glad you enjoyed it @ Andre Avon. Let us know if you have any breakthroughs with your roasts.
Thank you so much Andre!
Thank you Lou & Mike for this! Tons of good information here. I found Lou's comments on correctly identifying dry end very helpful, since I've been struggling with that in my recent roasts.
Glad it was helpful Dustin. One of the big take-away's that stood out to me was logging the data (times, temps, events) and putting them on paper. Lou did it with a spreadsheet and it looked pretty cool to see his graph look like something produced from data logging software. Most Behmor people don't have Artisan hooked up (there is a hack for that) so writing down the data, even if it is with a pencil, will help visualize what is happening to the roast. Then, on the next roast, make your adjustment and try again, getting you one step closer to a better cup!
Thank you Dustin. I'm really glad the video helped. Other of Mike's videos gave me much encouragement and was very willing to help anyone with something I may have gone through already. It reduces frustration, increases encouragement, and makes things so much more fun!
Hi i love your videos, thanks so much for the dedication to put them up for us.
You are very welcome! Thanks for watching Joro. I’m glad my videos have been helpful.
Thank you for this video! I’ve roasted dozens of roasts on my Behmor and I’m always learning. This video has given me some new ideas. Can’t wait to try them!
Glad it was helpful! Please share any success or failures based on the new ideas you end up trying!
Thanks for an informative video. I also have been learning on the fly with my Behmor 2000+. I also prefer a lighter roast. Some things to consider:
amount of beans -- more beans will make that momentum carry further and longer
ambient temperature -- when I started roasting it was January and quite cold in my garage. Now it's much warmer. I only preheat to 150 now.
density of the bean being roasted -- don't have much experience with this but know it matters
@Peter Gross, all great points Lou roasts 1/2 lb of coffee on the 1 lb setting. Using the lighter load helps for the shorter dry times. I had not thought about the more beans providing more momentum when roasting on the Behmor. I think you are correct BUT by the time the beans begin to go exothermic (release heat) would be first crack and by that time you would have already lowered your temps and are just about ready to pull the drum and drop your beans I think. Especially in the garage during the winter, your dry times are probably 7 or 8 minutes right? So, if you are trying to roast light and get the fruity notes on say an ethiopian, I would encourage you to try the 1/2 lb load and see if you can reproduce what Lou shared in the video. Just a suggestion. Glad you are enjoying the videos and your Behmor!
My pre-heats have all been 200 F, but I might try pre-heating a bit lower next roast to see if it might help. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this video! I can’t wait to try the suggestions from this video next time I roast! I will try to deploy them tomorrow afternoon!
I would love to see a follow up in a subsequent video of roasting with the Behmor!
Thanks again!
Until next video!
@Eduardo Godoy, This video was for you my friend. I knew it would be helpful. I hope you have been getting better roasting results with your Behmor! There will be more Behmor videos in the future.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Yes it was specifically designed for me! Thanks again to you and Lou! Looking forward to the next follow up video!
Super helpful interview! Thanks so much for all this very useful info. I have typically removed the chaff tray and not used it with my roasts so I could better see the beans. However, the fact that they are affected the heat in the chamber makes a lot of sense. I'll try it for a while with the chaff tray and see what happens. Just got some honey processed Costa Rica in and a few naturals as well. Gonna determine bean density (as per your other video on that), set an appropriate charge temp, then go for it using the method talked about here and in your other Behmor video. Again, thanks for all your useful info!
Thank you for watching the video and for your encouraging words Timothy. No chaff tray ? Interesting... I would be interested to hear how it changed your roast. Let me know. Thanks!
Great discussion, I have found aroma is a critical gauge for me in the roasting process, also agree with the sound of the changing beans as they dry out. Really handy cues for managing the roast.
Hello @Grant White, thanks for watching the video and adding to the discussion. Yes, the Behmor has it's limitations BUT it is a great roaster to practice using our senses. Lou has really payed attention to his roasts and noticed the tumbling differences as the moisture leaves the bean and changes size. I don't think Lou has mentioned this yet, but he changed the lightbulb inside the roaster to get rid of the yellow tint and replaced it with a clear light to help better see the color of the beans .
The lamp - yes, that makes me wonder why they don’t improve it and keep the yellow one in each newer version.
While I was watching and wondering how the delta B drops while the power is still 100%. When Lou talk through, then I realized that his power bar is not correct. The power should drop down to 75% one minute before end of yellow area, and drop down to 25% before end of brown area. But anyway his experience of turning down the power one minute before a particular phase is very valuable reference since my hottop operates with electrical heating element, which behaves the same as Behmor. Thank you for the video.
Hi John, I think one of the take away's on that point is when and why power should be adjusted. As energy builds up, temperatures increase and there is momentum in the roast, specifically when you are approaching dry end. So thinking ahead, knowing that the power change isn't going to have in instant change in the roasting environment, we make the adjustments knowing that we will want to slow the roast down at the end of dry which is approaching in say 45 seconds or a minute. This is something you will have to tweek as you begin to try this. Too early and you stall your roast, too late and you fly through the middle phase. Even gas roasters experience similar momentum and the necessary anticipation to slow the roast down.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab hi，Mike, thank you for your advice. I think one important home work for the beginner is to really understand his roaster and make a friend with it. After a few roastings, I reviewed my profiles and have some ideas how a electrical roaster react to your adjustments. Like you said, you need to take action ahead of time. I wish I can do as well as Lou did on 13th trial. 😊
Lou mentions variability due to roasting environment (like garage vs inside etc...). This is my situation - in the garage, and in the winter the beans are much cooler than in the summer - by a good 30F or maybe more. Preheating the roaster without the beans seems like just the starting point for dealing with this sort of thing. Are there ways to compensate for the bean starting temperature beyond empirical adjustments during the roast? Should one seek to warm the beans to a consistent (from roast to roast) starting point?
Jonathan, are you storing your beans inside, out of the cold? The bean temp should be close to room temperature. Pre-heating the roaster, cage and chaff collector will help with the heat loss due to the cold environmental temp. The beans themselves shouldn't be a factor because of the garage if they have been stored inside.
One way to compensate the outside temp will be higher pre-warming temp and higher power settings to compensate for heat loss from the roaster due to the cold environmental temps. That's my take. It won't necessarily be enough and you can expect longer roast times because of the cold temps in the garage. Do you have a hood fan in the kitchen?
@@VirtualCoffeeLab I am :/ and I was :) Starting today, I will keep the beans in the house, and move a batch at a time to the garage for roasting... So much learning!
Thanks Mike & Lou, great video very informative thanks. I bought my behmor not to long ago, I'm up to my 9 roast. Slowly getting the hang of it. Not sure about doing a manual roast just yet.
Best of luck to you Shane. Thank you for your encouragement. Consider writing down your temps, times and events and see what the auto mode looks like in a roast profile. That would be good practice.
Thanks Shane and I'm really glad to hear your getting used to your roaster and have 9 roasts so far. I hope people stick with it, keep trying things, learn, and share. This is a great hobby!
@@luigicollins3954 it sure is
Tremendous information, many thanks for sharing, I’ve just purchased a Behmor and am beginning constructing similar graphs, I’m a chemist by profession, so the principles are fairly familiar. Thanks again and best wishes from Argyll, Scotland.
Hi John, glad this video was helpful. Lou is the mastermind behind the graphs you saw here. It was really helpful and helped visualize what is happening to the coffee during the roast process. The Behmor is a great roaster but has limitations. Charting times and temps will correlate your roast profile you charted to what you taste. You can then make changes and see how they influence flavors!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Well! Good evening from Scotland! , I’ve literally just finished a nice City plus on some Viet. Lam Dong, I adapted Lou’s graphs, and it worked perfectly. I do agree with the observation that one has to think ahead +1min at least, I noticed that quite strongly during the last roast. Again, many thanks to you and Lou for posting, invaluable information. Great stuff 👍👍
@@JohnMacBrayne Hi John and thanks for the kind comments! I definitely like graphs and charts; they seem to indicate many things just by easily viewing a picture of things, and not having to wade through a bunch of numbers. My latest principle I am exploring on the Behmor is temperature in the three phases - especially the middle (browning) phase. Rate of Rise (ROR) curves are interesting on the Behmor, but quickly lose validity after the afterburner vent opens and heat is driven out of the roaster. Have fun with your roaster, it can sure make some great roasts!
@@luigicollins3954 Hi Luigi, nice to speak with you! Yes, I am interested in the end of the drying phase, I am very interested in the interface between drying and browning, seems to me the rate of rise to that point is quite significant. Ive made a few 100g samples and different RoR and the distinction in taste is marked, Aa a chemist , I might try and have a look for some signature organic compounds and see if there is any commonality with similar geographic coffees. I think Infrared Spec and mass spec linked to a spectral library might provide a list of commonly occurimg compounds.....I could go on! There’s a PhD in all this! All the best, John
I have a Popper roaster from Sweet Maria's. With that roaster, monitoring temperature is not practical. What I do is monitor weight loss while roasting by having the Popper on a scale during roast. Considering I have it plugged into a volt/watt meter I know how much, at least relatively from roast to roast, how much I am changing the temperature. My question is do you know the approximate percentage of weight loss for each phase. Right now I know what percentage of weight loss should be showing at end of roast to initiate cooling on the Popper in order to get the roast level I prefer. Also, from watching your videos, I am not clear on when to call the browning stage complete. Is it at very first crack I hear, is it when multiple cracks are happening or is it when all cracks are completed?
I appreciate all of your efforts to help us in our roasting journeys!
Thanks for watching and your interesting question. I have no idea the amount of moisture loss for each phase. Based on my experience, a big part of moisture loss takes place during the browning phase but I have never tried to measure each of the phases. That question would also vary based on your roast level as well. Sorry I can't be more helpful with that question.
With regards to the end of browning, the answer is yes to all 3. You can use any of those as your reference BUT you should always use the same reference. Personally, I wait for the first succession of cracks. I think the ROEST coffee roaster literally counts 5 cracks. Some watch their roasting software and look for the ET to bump just before crack, while others wait for the very first audible sound of crack.
I hope my answers have been helpful. Thank you for being a subscriber.
Huge thanks to Lou for the suggestion of using the aroma and an external light to identify the drying -> browning transition. I now put my sniffer up to the ventilation on the behmor when I'm looking for that transition. There is a grassy aroma during drying phase contrasted by a 'baked goods' smell to the browning phase.
I am still trying to identify what each phase contributes to the cup quality. Are there any specific notes in the cup that may indicate I should shorten the drying phase or lengthen the development?
Thanks for the video.
Hi Mint Man, thanks for checking out my video. Yea, smell is a huge help in what is going on with the coffee. The notes during the dry transition go from grassy to hay to baked goods. Watch my playlist that deals with the 3 different phases and how they impact the total roast. ruclips.net/video/vWdvkiK10R0/видео.html
new roast today on my behmor: Bean: Ethiopia Dry Process Mansur Aba Hikam, purchased from SM on 10/18/21
Roast Objective / Result: C+ / C+
1) preheated roaster (without drum, but with chaff tray) to 200 on the B probe.
2) inserted drum filled with 273g of beans (240g after roast end)
3) restarted roaster using 1# setting and manual mode, and P5 power level, normal drum speed
4) B temp recovered to 200 after about 30 sec
5) when B temp reached 300 degrees, lowered power to P4, about 4 1/2 minutes into roast
6) B temp reached 325 degrees when the afterburner fan kicked in, and power was set back to P5
7) first outlier crack about 8 1/2 min into roast (219 degrees on the A probe), reduced power to P3
8) at 9 1/2 min, reduced power to P2
9) pressed cool at 10 1/2 min (after 90sec in full first crack)
10) after 30 sec in cool, pulled the drum for manual cooling of beans using a tray and a colander, then turned the empty roaster back on, in cool down mode
11) now letting roasted beans rest for 72 hours before brewing first pot
i didn't have good enough light to call yellow end, and i was too occupied following my roast plan to use my nose
Hi Paul, sounds like you did a great job on that roast. Thanks for sharing. Not sure about temps on the A (exhaust) but curious what the B temp was at drop. Dropping down to P2, sounds like you had a lot of momentum in first crack. Were you happy with the color? Let me know how it tastes!
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks! i'm very happy with the color, even though not as uniform as i'm accustomed to. the B temp at drop was back up to 280 after dipping into the 260's when the fan kicked on. this is my first roast for this particular bean. i'll do a couple batches in the popper next week for comparison.
Since watching this video a couple weeks ago, and several others of yours I like the direction my roasts have been going. Working with my Behmoor I have been adjusting a few things to target the 50/30/20.
Reading comments from people I have played with the drum speed. On my last roast I increased it when the beans were dry. All during that time on P4. Once reaching 1C plus 1 minute I went to P3 and left it til the end of the roast.
I made a cup today with my Chemex and liked the flavor. I still have 20# of this Guatemala coffee left and am curious as to which phase I might play with to tweak out a bit more flavor?
Glad to hear your seeing some improvements Frank. Just for kicks, you might want to try using a french press or clever dripper (immersion brewers) to brew your coffee just to make sure your not missing some of the notes. Pourover methods, especially the Chemex are great BUT not very forgiving. It might be easier to see some of the differences with the immersion methods compared to the pourovers. Just a suggestion. Thanks for watching my videos!
I have the clever dripper in my Amazon cart, just waiting to pull the trigger. Your suggestion just gave me the final answer.
Do you find a certain kind of bean performs better on a Behmor and its heating element style (more or less dense, natural/washed, peaberry etc)?
That is a great question James. The Behmor uses the quartz type heating element . It is a type of radiant heating using infrared waves to directly heat the surfaces of objects. The surface of the coffee bean is being directly influenced by the light waves so I would have to imagine a softer bean would more easily burn on the outside than a denser bean. I could be wrong and I don't have any science to back me up. Having said that, just like softer beans tend to be more prone to roasting defects like scorching (being burned on hot metal surfaces), I'm thinking that a higher density bean will perform better in the Behmor infrared light than a low density bean.
I have roasted plenty of low and high density beans in the Behmor and the roast profile should be different for a softer bean. You see this approach in the Behmor manual (see page 7 or 8 in the manual). The pre-programmed profiles use lower heat for lower density coffees like a Brazillian. Lower heat in the beginning, then ramp it. This approach causes a longer total roast time with a lower ROR curve..... "low and slow" is the saying. So, this isn't really just a Behmor thing. That same scenario applies to drum roasters that use natural gas or electric and are roasting low density beans.
I may get some differing opinions on this. What do you think?
Great interview and very helpful information. I had couple of questions (sorry if you covered it):
1) Do you still monitor the A temp, or is it not helpful
2) How much coffee did you roast on the 1 lb setting (I've heard that some use this for 1/2 lb batches since the exhaust fan kicks on later).
Thanks
Hello Seth. Thanks for watching my videos. Lou might chime in here if he sees your questions. Truthfully, these are great questions that many Behmor users have asked.
First, I have roasted 1/2 of green coffee on both 1/2 lb and 1 lb setting. Your decision will determine the total roast time count down which will be displayed. It will also influence when the airflow/fan turns on. For the 1/2 lb setting the fan turns on at about 5 minutes. The 1 lb setting causes the fan to to run on at 7 or 7:30. I like the 1/2 lb setting because the 5 minute mark is where I max my heat and begin to slow down the roast progression.
Now to your question about temperatures and the A/B Buttons.
The design of Behmor roaster provides for two different temperatures, the A (button) and the B (button) temps. Behmors documentation clarifies what each of these are:
The A reads exhaust channel temps and B reads chamber side wall. “A” is in the air flow
The “B” is attached to the outer side wall of the chamber thus displays lower temp readings than A.
So, to answer your question, I personally don't monitor the A temperature BUT there are many who swear by it and that is OK. As Behmor states:
"The A/B temps are only intended to be used for general informational purposes/ correlation for rise and fall but NOT to determine roast level etc.. ".
The reality is we use the temps as a general guage of roast temp progression. There are several types of heat going on inside the Behmor. There is the environmental temp which is the B. There is the air/exhaust temp which is the B. Finally, there is the radiant heat given off from the orange quartz type elements that shower heat onto the beans that are facing the light.
I plan to do some tests taking temperatures from different areas of the roaster using probes and artisan. Hopefully I will have this to share this summer. I hope this data will help others decide what temperatures they would like to reference while they roast.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks a lot for your answers. I love what you're doing here. Home roasting coffee has been so additive to my morning coffee routine. I've been doing it for ~7 years, but am only starting to experiment with time and temperatures. I look forward to watching more of your content.
I am watching the video again and wonder what is the weight of the greens beans going in? I have not herd that mentionned or did I miss it, would be helpfull to know.
I use 1/2 lb loads for my Behmor and I'm pretty sure Lou does too. So, 1/2 lb of coffee BUT set the Behmor for 1 lb. This gives you all the time you need with no worry about going into cool to soon.
@@VirtualCoffeeLab Thanks, sorry to bother again, I do all that, preheat the Behmor at 300 at 1lbs setting, leave the chaff collector in, put the beans in press 1 lbs setting again then P5 with 1/2 lbs, but I never got first crack before 10 minutes, and from what I saw Lou got there in 7 1/2 minutes, mind you I am roasting in a garage, it is heated but not like the house, that might be the reason behind it, but will that affect the end results, when I’m roasting columbian supremo I would like to have the caramel notes but I don’t, altough the coffee does’nt taste bad, I think it could taste better. Maybe I’m thinking to much but I’m trying to understand. Four of us watched the video, we all have Behmor and asking ourselves pretty much the same questions. Hope I’m not bothering you to much. Thanks
@@andreavon5929 no worries. Yes, the temperature of your room will have a huge impact and is most likely the difference between Lou's times and what you experienced.
Hi Andre. Roast 1 was 100 grams; roast 7 and 13 were 150 grams each. Roast 13 had 150 g going in and 128.4 g after roasting - a 14.4% drop in weight (I assume moisture). Yes, you're right, there is a lot more data on those roasts that could have been mentioned. I really hoped to show how much I grew, learned, and improved my analysis of the data I had.
@@luigicollins3954 Thank you Luigi, I really appreciate this👍
Having a behmor 2000ab i have a great difficulty roasting dry process the first 10 months were mostly wet process then June this year tried a dry process and all scorching and tipping can't seem to achieve even a fair roast everything underdeveloped and burnt. I know dry process must be dried much slower to prevent this still looking for a profile from someone because mine have all failed
Hello mirinda L, yes, dry process coffee seems to be more sensitive to heat application, especially during the drying phase. Are you "preheating" the roaster? If yes, consider not preheating. Also, how much coffee are you roasting at a time? You may need to lower your energy.
So, some questions for you in order for me to offer some better information:
Are you preheating? If yes, then to what temp?
How much coffee are you roasting per batch?
Are you using automatic settings or manual?
How long is your dry phase?
What is your total roast time?
Quick question . . . what was the weight used in these examples 225g?
@@tbonedaddy11 lets ping @Luigi Collins and see. I'm going to guess is was 1/2 lb of coffee, that is what I was roasting per batch.
Did Lou use 1/4, 1/2, or 1 lb of beans and what was the drum speed?
Hi Jackie, thanks for your question. Since my "Roast 13" was the one shown most in this video, my comments will apply to that roast. I roasted 150 grams of green beans (about 1/3 of a pound) of a Sumatra wet-process coffee. I pre-heated the B temperature to about 200 F. I started a 1-lb 100% power roast (pressing the "1" button, then START, then P5) with a slow (normal) drum speed. The reason I pressed the 1-lb button was to get a longer available roasting time, which I really did not need. Roast 13 was done about 5 months ago and I have a slightly different procedure I follow now. Read below if interested.
Nowadays, my Behmor roasting is a little different. I almost always use about 225 grams (about 1/2 pound) of green beans, since that is a nice size for the Behmor and it sets a good schedule for how often I need to roast. I still pre-heat to 200 F, and I still start with a normal drum speed, and for most roasts I start heating at 100% (P5). But a big difference now is I always press the "1/2-pound" roast size button, mainly because it causes the afterburner vent fan to turn on earlier in the roast (at 5 minutes, instead of 7:30 with the 1-lb button). Doing that provides less temperature disturbance during the Browning Phase, and I think makes a nicer roast. But after I press "1/2" and START, I always press "+" multiple times to provide the maximum available roast time (of 13:30), though I rarely ever need that much time. And now I almost always drop heating to 75% (P4) when I think the Browning Phase is beginning. At that same time, I go to a high drum speed. Then at first crack(ing) I drop the heat to 50% (P3) but still keep a fast drum speed all the way to roast end.
I hope I have answered your question. Please reply if you have any other questions. Happy roasting!
Thanks for watching my videos Jackie. Like Lou, I'm roasting 8 oz per batch.
Over the summer my garage is tooooo hotttt to measure every 30-60 seconds.
Hi Stephen, thank you for your comment. Yea, I understand that. Sorry about the high temps.
Thanks for the great video. I copied Lou's technique but I was surprised that my B temp dropped dramatically when hitting P4 are the end of drying. Any idea what would cause such a dramatic drop? I have charted it and the drop off is significant. Thanks!!
Hello Ad Dav, without knowing your temps or times, or which Behmor you are using, it sounds like the afterburner/exhaust fan has turned on and is sucking heat out of the roaster. You will need to verify this. Best practice is to toggle between power settings to maintain the temperatures you need. So, once the temp begins to drop, increase power. Once the temp get's to your desired temp, toggle back and forth between the manual power settings. @Luigi Collins might be able to offer a better response. Let us know what model and your times and temps Ad Dav.
Thanks - Mike
@@VirtualCoffeeLab thanks. Sorry I should have clarified (sleep deprived from a newborn!). I roasted on the 2020SR+, it happened approx 04:30 into the roast and it dropped from 315f to 250f in around a minute or so.
Were the graphs created on a standard Excel sheet? Or did you use some specific software?
Mark, that was an excel graph made by Lou. I did something a little different with a homemade graph doing a manual roast on my drum roaster. You can see it in this video ruclips.net/video/cx-DQouGZ0o/видео.html and I have it set to start at the point where I show the graph.
Would love for Lou to share how to create that graph in excel. Maybe this requires a class in excel-I’ve looked into it and excels line graphs look much more basic. Mark thanks for showing that paper version! Great video!
Roast 7: FC @ 250 degrees? And a recorded high temp of about 260 degrees? Something's wrong with this graph.
Thanks for watching this video. Which graph are you referring and was it the A temp or the B temp? The one at 12:12 shows temps of over 300 degrees for the B Temp. These are the Behmor "Bean" Temperatures. While they are helpful references to understand heat trends, they are not actual temperatures. I've put probes connected to artisan inside the Behmor and gotten higher temperatures (depending on where they are placed).