Posted Mon Jul 14, 2008, 2:13pm Subject: I drank the Kool-Ade
After about 5 years of heat gun roasting, I'm going back to a roasting appliance. I just got my Behmor today. I was getting tired of freezing in the winter and getting eaten alive by mosquitos in the summer. Now I'm going to roast in my nice cool basement.
I decided to take advantage of Sweet Marias' flat shipping deal. I ordered the Behmor plus the smaller drum, a scale and a boat load of beans. My coffee cupboard is packed with coffee beans.
I haven't read the manual or set it all up yet but I hope to get started later tonight. I'm planning on going to 1/2 pound roasts since it should be a lot more convenient to just walk downstairs and load up the Behmor.
Posted Mon Jul 14, 2008, 3:03pm Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
Excellent Jim, & I believe you'll never look back either! {;-D Once you get into it, please post about your experiences with the Behmor & how you like the coffee using the different profiles.
Posted Mon Jul 14, 2008, 4:21pm Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
One thing I noticed, the Behmor came with the small grid drum so I have two of those.
I just ran the burn in cycle. I noticed a pound of Ethiopian Sidamo in the sample pack. I don't like Sidamo so I'm going to use it to season the drum. I don't know if I'll have time to roast a keeper tonight. Luckily I still have some of last week's beans left.
Posted Tue Jul 15, 2008, 2:41pm Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
You're in for a lot of fun. The Behmor is a joy to use.
I have been recording the settings, color of bean and taste when I finish a batch. If you go the distance to 2c which I do you really need to be ready to kick to cool cycle as it keeps popping after you switch. I have been thrilled with the taste and quality of the coffee I roast. As the saying goes even bad home roast is better than any store roast.
It is amazing that Tom of Sweet Maria's seems so on track with his assessment of the green coffees. I also have bought several different each time from SM. The last time I bought 12 lbs I think and got all but robusto at 88 or higher ranking. All have been excellent. Robusto apparently is a taste acquired and I think I will only buy arabic in the future.
Posted Tue Jul 15, 2008, 3:56pm Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
I've had one problem so far. I tripped the circuit breaker just as it was approaching the end of 1st crack. The Behmor won't let you do anything but run the cool cycle if you power it back on hot. I let the beans coast before starting the cool cycle so they may end up drinkable.
I moved my roasting table so I can plug into a different circuit. If that doesn't work out, I may have to dial my variac below 115V and possibly pick a longer roasting time. I had it set close to 116V. I like to put it up to 120 for the cool cycle. There is a very noticeable difference.
Posted Tue Jul 15, 2008, 7:11pm Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
Congrat's on the Behmor purchase.
I've had a roast crap out when the 10A fuse on my Variac gave out. Too small for the Behmor. Anyway, I took the drum out (with heat pads) and after the cooldown finished the roast to 2C. The finished product was very drinkable, but I don't want to do that again. So, with the electrical grid sorted out, the variac is put away.
Nowadays it does full pound roasts in any profile. So keep on the learning curve. Its an awesome roaster.
Posted Wed Jul 16, 2008, 7:59am Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
It looks like I managed to salvage the roast by letting the beans coast for a minute or two. It turned out a hair lighter than I prefer but eminently drinkable.
My variac isn't having any problems, it has a 20 amp fuse. It's possible I was running more voltage than I thought which would lead to the tripped circuit breaker. I should probably test the voltage. The analog meter on the unit itself is pretty vague.
Hi Jim, I have found the Kill-a-Watt extremely valuable in concert with the variac, it's like having an accurate digital readout for your voltage (For about $20 it is indispensable - I have 2 of them - CLICK THIS)
You can check the voltage and you can monitor the current too.
Posted Wed Jul 16, 2008, 7:06pm Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
I checked the variac with a multitester. I was definitely pulling more volts than I thought. I turned it down to just over 110 on the dial and it's now set to 116V. That may explain it.
harmolodic Senior Member Joined: 8 Aug 2006 Posts: 65 Location: DC Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Jul 17, 2008, 6:16am Subject: Re: I drank the Kool-Ade
Did you have anything else running on the same circuit? I'll trip a breaker if someone turns on the microwave or toaster oven while I'm using my Behmor.
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