Behmore 1600 Plus

[redrocker652002]

Greetings fellow coffee lovers. My wife bought a sample pack from a company called Coffee Bean Corral. In the pack came a 1/2 pound package of Kope Kapuna Green Beans, CBC Blend: Kope Kapuna In reading the reviews most have said they took it into second crack. I have only done that once and the beans started smoking like crazy. Having said that and knowing what you all know about doing this, any tips on how to do it? One review said they lowered the temp and took it to second crack, any idea what I should lower the temp to? Any input would be most appreciated. This is a new one for me. Thanks in advance.

 

[MaxStout]

I don't have a roaster, and use a heat gun, so take this for what it's worth.

Any time I've gone to 2nd crack, I don't go too far into that phase. Maybe 20-30 sec, then drop. I think this yields coffee somewhere between med and dark. Some beans just don't give me good flavor in a light roast, so I push it to medium or a bit beyond. I don't like going farther in the roast, as that's too precarious with my process, and I'm not much of a dark roast drinker, anyway. By 2nd crack, the smoke starts getting quite strong. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, provided I don't venture too far.

Sorry, I can't help with how to do the temp reduction on your machine, but I will say don't worry too much about the smoke aspect, as long as you know when to drop the beans. My analogue to reducing temp is to back the heat gun a ways after first crack begins. The beans become exothermic at that stage, and not as much heat is needed going in. That might be the basis of that review you saw. Find a way to dial back the heat toward the end.

 

[ba-brewer]

It has been awhile since I had a behmor but there are some of my posts in the coffee that thread. This one is pretty much how I remember doing it.
Coffee : Ingredients, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing, and Tasting

You can open the door to let out a little heat and stretch things out too. I was doing 1/2 pound roasts but choosing the 1 pound option to get better control and get the roast down to a reasonable time.

I normally stop when I hear the start of second crack (normally an increase in smoke before hearing it) but sometimes go a little further. It does not take much time, like 5 to 10sec into second crack to get a decent amount additional roast character.

 

[redrocker652002]

It has been awhile since I had a behmor but there are some of my posts in the coffee that thread. This one is pretty much how I remember doing it.
Coffee : Ingredients, Roasting, Grinding, Brewing, and Tasting

You can open the door to let out a little heat and stretch things out too. I was doing 1/2 pound roasts but choosing the 1 pound option to get better control and get the roast down to a reasonable time.

I normally stop when I hear the start of second crack (normally an increase in smoke before hearing it) but sometimes go a little further. It does not take much time, like 5 to 10sec into second crack to get a decent amount additional roast character.

Awesome. Seems I should not be so afraid of the second crack and increased smoke? I did it once, my first or second try and scared the crap outta me. LOL. I thought I burnt the machine up.

 

[ba-brewer]

Addition smoke is normal approaching and after 2nd crack. Oil starts to releases from the beans and smokes, that is why you see a sheen on some dark roasted coffees.

Just be careful and keep an eye on things, supposedly there is a point the beans can ignite.

 

[redrocker652002]

Addition smoke is normal approaching and after 2nd crack. Oil starts to releases from the beans and smokes, that is why you see a sheen on some dark roasted coffees.

Just be careful and keep an eye on things, supposedly there is a point the beans can ignite.

That's what I have read and am concerned about. I sit in front of the machine while it is doing it's thing, so I am ready for it. LOL.

 

[redrocker652002]

OK, so I did the same bean and roasted it two different ways. One was a minute after FC, the second was two minutes after FC. Funny thing, as I neared the end of the two minute mark, I could hear the second crack starting up. Light smoke out of the exhaust, and I could smell the beans roasting and almost to a burning smell. But, once I put them in a bowl and let them sit, they both have a very nice smell. The fan kicked on about 301 and cooled to 295 or so then kicked off. I never had the temp go above 300 or so before the FC was done and the SC had just started. It seems I may be doing something wrong? I have read where you have to watch the temp when it gets to about 320 or so, but I have never come even close to that.

Additional note: The temp difference thru the roast was off between roast 1 and roast 2. Seems maybe the heat retention is there more than I thought. But, either way, never got hotter than about 300, which I am guessing is ok.

Process is as follows: Warm up the unit to about 200 degrees, load the drum and the chaff tray. Select 1 pound, P1 Start then switch to P5. Check the temp every minute, seems to go up about 20 degrees or so a minute until the fan kicks on around 180. Stalls at about 175 or so for a minute or two then starts up again at the 20 degree mark.

Any input this? Thanks in advance.

 

[MaxStout]

I've had a few tricky beans where the roast segued from 1c to 2c. Gotta have a good ear to manage those.

 

[ba-brewer]

what was the weight of the beans and how long did it take to get to 1C and 2C?

 

[redrocker652002]

what was the weight of the beans and how long did it take to get to 1C and 2C?

Funny you should ask that. I was just going to post an additional bit of info saying the same thing. The weight of the beans, pre roast, was about 152g. It took between 7 to 8 mins to get to first crack and about another minute or so to start second crack. The weight after roast was in the 125 to 128g range. I think I read that I should be seeing about a 10% loss in weight? If so, I am getting a tad bit more than that, maybe 17 to 18%. So far, the beans I have done were good to me. My wife has not liked them so we moved to another supplier, Coffee Bean Corral. My wife got a 4 pack sampler that includes a half pound of 4 different beans. So, I am guessing by using 1/2 pound instead of a third of a pound, I will see a bit more time to get to first crack as well as second. So far it has been fun. I am going to reach out to a friend who is a broker and probably could share some good info on possible changes to be made.

 

[ba-brewer]

Time to 1C sounds good, but it seems it is going fast to 2C. If you like the results then it does not matter. I try to stretch the time between 1C and 2C out to 2 to 2.5min but some beans have other ideas. I normally reduce the heat as 1C starts to help stretch it out. I also try to get a time before 2C without any 1C happening. The behmor takes time to react so you might need to reduce heat ahead of where you think 1C might happen or open the door to drop the heat some.

I like doing 1/2 pounds roasts as it gives me a couple of tries with a coffee to get a good roast, I normally buy 2lbs of a particular bean so I get 4 shots.

 

[redrocker652002]

Time to 1C sounds good, but it seems it is going fast to 2C. If you like the results then it does not matter. I try to stretch the time between 1C and 2C out to 2 to 2.5min but some beans have other ideas. I normally reduce the heat as 1C starts to help stretch it out. I also try to get a time before 2C without any 1C happening. The behmor takes time to react so you might need to reduce heat ahead of where you think 1C might happen or open the door to drop the heat some.

I like doing 1/2 pounds roasts as it gives me a couple of tries with a coffee to get a good roast, I normally buy 2lbs of a particular bean so I get 4 shots.

Great. Thanks. For reducing the heat what would you suggest? I was thinking as FC starts maybe drop it down to about 250 and move it up a bit as the time goes? Seems 250 might be a bit low though. Any input on that would be most appreciated.

 

[ba-brewer]

I was dropping the power from 100% to 75% and not going by the temp.

 

[redrocker652002]

I was dropping the power from 100% to 75% and not going by the temp.

perfect. I will try that next time. Thank you