I've outgrown the Freshroast and am really looking at the Behmor as the replacement as I am attracted to it's build and other things.

It seems the limitations are really limited to dark roasts past second crack from what I have read and very small beans getting stuck in the roast drum, neither of which are major concerns for me.

I like to do it right the first time and now that I know roasting is for me, am wondering if the extra money is really necessary for the Hottop?

I've ruled out bbq roasting as I see it as something that I won't do well with due to my limited skills and patience.

Any Behmor fans?
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Killed mine in less then 6 months, Raisin got 2 years out of his but it is finally giving up.
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Guess I need to man up and get the Hottop then?

Another case of go big or don't go at all?
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In a word, yup

very happy with my hottop. The cost not so much:-)
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Vic,

Can you offfer to let me try your Hottop for a month or two like Moo is with his aeropress?

It would be nice to know if I want to blow all that money before I buy it.

I will send you my addy if you need it.:-)
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Pretty good price on this one with 6 hours left. http://http://cgi.ebay.com/Hottop-Coffee-Roaster-Model-KN-8828_W0QQitemZ220491257916QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Ho t_Beverage_Brewers?hash=item33564d983c
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If you are serious, there is no replacing the Hottop for repeatability. The Behmor is more of a wing and a prayer type roaster in terms of consistenticy.

I would get the Hottop, if you really don't like it resale value is good.
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This about settles it and I am glad I brought up the question.

I will see when I can fit the Hottop into the budget.
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I have had my Behmor since it came out. No problems yet.
I can get dark roasts out of it and If you get the extra cage, you will not have problems with beans falling out any more than normal.
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Awesome! More fuel to the indecision fire.
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:-)

Better to wait a bit and get the correct equipment for the job, I think the Hottop is a good fit for you and where you will take roasting. Having full control over the roast is worth every penny and even if you don't get overboard with roasting the machine will last a very long time with any repair being easy.

Keep an eye on the Quest M3 roaster
Quest M3
&
Quest M3 HB
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Oh yeah,

The Behmor can not do back to back roasts, well it can hence killing the motor in 6 months vs HT going strong almost 2 years of 5 lbs a week with 2 roasts being done in 1 hour.

The Behmor has 5 preset profiles that can not be manipulate very much ( you can stretch or shorten the middle leg of the profile) vs HT complete control of heat in 10% increments, fan in 25% increments, and ability to add a thermo coupler for bean mass probe.

The Behmor is less then 1/2 the price vs how many would I have bought in 2 years+.

I liked the Behmor and it got me into roasting, I would recommend it to anyone that is normal about hobbies. The Gene Cafe roaster is probably the easiest to get results from for a newb. :-)
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"Orders above 10 can have a distributing price FOB Khh US$650. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions."

Group buy???
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Uhhhh......you can have my Hottop Pete when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers, :-)
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At that price why not buy a Hottop which is a proven commodity?
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:-)

The quest is looking to be a quality build but that is not proven. Machine and parts are a long way away where with Hottop USA I can get equipment and parts delivered in 2 days to the E coast. There is a rumor that a 1lb Hottop is coming in the new year so I am waiting to see if this happens before adding another roaster.
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and a proven warranty...:-)
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I can do 1 roast every hour. And have no problems making my roast work the way I am suposed to. So I dont understand the issue.
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Another caveat about the Behmor -- anything more than 150 -200 grams of dry process, high-chaff beans and you're running a serious risk of fire in the roaster. The chaff collection system quite frankly sucks.

:-)
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I run Ethipoian on a regular basis and have never had an issue.
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