MonkeyK Senior Member Joined: 12 Dec 2008 Posts: 214 Location: Twin Cities, MN Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Vivaldi II Grinder: Baratza Vario Drip: Aeropress, Bunn Phase Brew Roaster: Behmor
Posted Thu Feb 2, 2012, 11:54am Subject: Re: The Behmor is a very nice piece of equipment..
Here is another tip that I have benefited from:
stick a sheet of aluminum foil between the chaff tray and the door. Block as much of the tray as you can while still satisfying yourself that you can see the roast progress through the window (for me this means blocking the control panel side all the way up.
Doing this has accelerated the time to first crack significantly (I have cut as much as 2 minutes off of a 12oz roast). At first crack, remove the aluminum foil to slow down the progression of 1C-2C (and do the door opening thing too)
Posted Thu Feb 2, 2012, 1:14pm Subject: Re: The Behmor is a very nice piece of equipment..
Thanks for the advice! This mornings drip from the same beans was not near as good as last nights FP. I did grind two steps finer.. So far I can't get the real bold flavor I like from my drip machine. I guess I can try grinding a bit finer and/or slowing the brew. I dunno. So many variables and so much new stuff!
Posted Sun Feb 5, 2012, 3:30pm Subject: Re: The Behmor is a very nice piece of equipment..
Sunday is roast day! I did the door opening trick and it really does prolong the first crack. I'm still on my first eight pounds and have not broken into my beans from SM yet. I brewed three pots of coffee from last Sundays roast and they all tasted the same. Like nothing. I ground them all much more fine than I normally do and can taste no difference. Next I will slow the brew to get more flavor. All my brews taste way under extracted... My ultimate goal is to be able to drip brew and get close to the same bold flavor as my beloved SB Cafe Estima.
MonkeyK Senior Member Joined: 12 Dec 2008 Posts: 214 Location: Twin Cities, MN Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: Vivaldi II Grinder: Baratza Vario Drip: Aeropress, Bunn Phase Brew Roaster: Behmor
Posted Mon Feb 6, 2012, 8:19am Subject: Re: The Behmor is a very nice piece of equipment..
It is difficult to comment on your results because there are too many variables. On brewing: What kind of drip machine do you have? Do you know what temperature it brews at and how long it takes to brew? Were you using whole bean SB Cafe Estima? (if so and you liked what you were getting, I'd start with the same grind setting that you were using)
On Roasting: How long is it taking you to get to 1st crack? How long is your roast in total? How long are you prolonging 1st crack? IMO, ideally +a roast should run about 13-15 minutes, +1C should start at minute 12-13 (or as quickly as the Behmor will get you there) +1C-2C should take 2-3 minutes +if you are targeting a darker roast, get 2C rolling
if you look at Sweet Maria's visual roast guide, you will see that the times are a bit quicker (Vienna-Light French comes at 12:15). These sorts of times are unrealistic on the Behmor, and the guide notes that home roasters should ignore the timings. Another limitation of the Behmor is it is difficult to stop the roast quickly. Until you get a sense of how long the roast you want takes and where in the progression you are, ending the roast will not be a precise thing.
Posted Wed Feb 8, 2012, 1:45pm Subject: Re: The Behmor is a very nice piece of equipment..
Yes, too many variables. Let me narrow some down! Whole bean Cafe Estima. My equipment is listed. Brew temp is right at 200. Cafe Estima makes a nice tasty drip brew with my Capresso MT-600 and tastes even better through my FP. Most everything I brew or FP with beans I roast have so little flavor. At first I was under roasting using the Rosetta stone method and now I think I might be over roasting. I made only one batch that was very dark and caramelized (darker than Cafe Estima) and since then I have dialed it back to varying degrees. The only for sure taste I can track is that the darker I roast.. The more carmalized the coffee tastes. Roast times are in line for the 12oz roasts I have been doing. I'm taking most everything into SC.
Posted Sun Feb 12, 2012, 12:27pm Subject: Re: The Behmor is a very nice piece of equipment..
Okay! I have been over roasting! The last few batches I hit cool and popped the door around five seconds into 2c. My coffee tastes like coffee! I have adjusted my grinder so that full turn one way is for drip and a full turn the other is FP. Much better results all around. I have been extending my roasts in the middle by opening the door at the specified times and I am going to start pulling the beans out to cool using Nomax gloves to shorten the cooling times. Thanks for all the advice!
Same here. I do look at chaff to see if it's going to instantly ignite if I open the door, but per than that, a 10-15sec cool then remove tray has more than improved my coffee. The 10sec is merely for me to observe the chaff flair up otherwise I'd just omit hitting cool and hit stop and remove tray.
Waiting a min before doing this isn't soon enough IMO
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