Morning all. Just put in the roaster some Indonesian Washed Sulawesi Toarco Jaya Peaberry. This is the first time I have had and Indonesian coffee. Also, this is from my first order from Burmans Coffee.

Roasting to Full City.
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Over the weekend was a 1/2 lb of each:
Colombia Vereda Pedregal at FC
Costa Rica Hernan Solis Villa Sarchi at C+
Ethiopia Dry Process Gr.1 Aricha at C+
Guatamala Puerta Verde Bourbon at FC
Sumatra Lintong Dolok Sanggul at FC+
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later today will roast my last 2lbs of Kenya Nyeri AB Gatomboya from SM to FC
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1 lb of Nicaragua FTO Rio Coco to just FC
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Sunday was a 1/4 to 1/2 lb each:
Java Sunda Ambet Kasih at FC+
Java Sunda Pitaloka at FC+
Nicaragua Finca Maria Miguel Angel Martinez at FC
Columbia Vereda Agua Blanca at FC
and one of my Favorite Blends
70% Papua New Guinea at FC+ & 30% El Salvador at C+
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Last night was a 1/2 lb of each
El Salvador Finca Siberia Bourbon at C+
Ethiopia Gr.1 D.P. Yirga Cheffe Kochere at FC
Bolivia Organic Buenavista #1738 at FC+
Java Sunda Mayang at FC+
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What machine does everybody use to roast?
I am looking to upgrade to something bigger & better.
I really do not want to spend $700-$1000 for a good grill drum.
Is the Behmor 1600 any good? Are the Hottops worth the extra money?

Also do you roast indoors?

I have been reading reviews and they all seem nice but I can't find any comparisons.
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Shane, i have the Behmor. For me, it was a great investment. It can do up to 1lb batches, isn't that hard to clean, and has all the different roast temp curves and profiles that you can really custom roast anything you want.

I'd say I have 25-30 roasts on it now. The only complaint is the wire drum, if you want to call it a complaint. Even though the wire mesh has faily small squared holes, on small peaberry sized beans, you will have some fall through. Not really a big issue.

I do use mine in the basement. There is some smoke generated, but not too bad if you stay out of 2nd crack. Start going into that roast range and you'll get a lot of smoke production. Otherwise, the built in smoke suppression works fairly well. Your house will smell of roasted coffee though, which is to be expected.

One trick i read about on the Behmor forums is to do a quick 2 minute preroast of the beans. Just turn it on and after 2 minutes turn off, then setup your actual roast. This preheats teh unit and the beans a bit, but not enough to trip the built in thermocouple.
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I have been using the Behmor 1600 for about a year now. I love it! I roast about 2-3 lbs per week for my friends and myself. It works great. It is not a "Set it and Forget it" roaster. You still need to watch carefully near the end and pay attention to your 1st Crack thru 2nd and stop where you like it. It has a nice cool down mode so you dont have to remove it from the roaster when thru roasting.
I Roast in the back yard all year (California :-) ) or in the garage when raining.
It is a great investment for the home roaster.
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I am leaning towards the Behmor for price but the Hottops are very ineresting.
The Hottops cool down is much faster than the Beymor, they both roast about the same amount however pricing is way different so I am thinking the Behmor is prolly better based on cost.
Thanks for your comments fellas, that will likely be my choice unless somebody has used both units and can justify the price difference.

Mr. B, what is the largest batch you can take into second crack?
Many of the reviews I watched said you really can't take more than 7-8ozs into second crack.

Bob, you mentioned doing a warm up cycle, I did hear about preheating the oven but not with the bean inside.
Interesting.

I also heard you should do a "self-clean" every 5 roasts, do you guys do this?
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Figure why not preheat the beans as well. Give them a head start. I don't use the profiles as much. I go by sound. I listen for end of first crack and then go from there as to how dark I want it.

I do the self clean approx every 5 roasts or so. I also wipe down the inside with simple green before hand. The cleaning cycle burns off any SG residue and it's ready to go for the next batch.
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Thanks Bob, Seattle Coffee Gear had them for $299 but they are out of stock.
I will have to keep an eye out.

Looks like Sweet Marias has the same price +$15 shipping with a free 8lb bean sampler... Hmmmm.
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I got mine from SM's. The 8lb sampler was a nice, varied selection.
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I have a knife to sell for a loss to pay for a roaster :-)
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Shane, if you dont mind a little chaf escaping, you can open the door on the Behmor and the cool down will take half as long. Another reason I roast outdoors.
I can get 3/4 lb into second crack very easily. Preheat the roaster for almost 2 minutes (if you go over this amount of time it will shut down for a short while, safty feature). Press 1LB option on P1 profile and add all the extra time you can. If you dont use an extension cord, you will not lose much power.
I dont take my beans much past 5-10 seconds into 2nd crack, ever. I just dont like the "burnt taste". I like the Fruit, the citrus, the coco, and the baking spice that gets burnt out of beans when taken deep into or past 2nd crack.
I follow the same cleaning regement as the other above. Simple Green too.
I do not preheat with the beans inside the unit. However, if you want to go deep into 2nd crack, that would probably be the way to do it.
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Yah I wouldn't really go past the beginning of second crack, just wanted to make sure you could. I will likely be roasting in the garage, nice to know I can open the door without shutting the cool down off.
I am likely going to order one within the next week or two.
Thanks for the info.
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Sunday was 1/3 lb of each;
Colombia Vereda Pedregal at C+
Costa Rica Hernan Solis Villa Sarchi at C+
Guatamala Puerta Verde Bourbon at FC
Sumatra Lintong Dolok Sanggul at FC
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I am in the 5 roasts then clean group. I also use simple green to clean things before a run the clean cycle.
I have had my Behmor since they came out. No issues here.
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roasted a lb in two 1/2lb batches of Guatemala Volcan de Fuego Guacatepeue.
Took it to FC+ this time around. ~~~ Hottop still going strong after 7+ years.
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Check roastmasters.com. I got the same price, 8# sampler, and free shipping.
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