Endo Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 804 Location: , location, location. Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: machine is < important than... Grinder: !
Posted Sat Jun 11, 2011, 6:24pm Subject: Behmor "Full Stop" Cooldown Method
I've been roasting for the last 2 years with the Behmor 1600 with good success.
I use a few different techniques to get the roast the way I like it best (preheating machine, door-opening, etc). One that I find really improves the roast is to remove the hot chaff tray and drum at 2C (using oven mits) and quickly hit the "cool" button again on the machine for the usual 13 min cooldown period. While the machine is cooling, I dump the beans on a wide pizza tray (outdoors) to cool in the optimal 5 min period.
I try to minimize the time the machine is stopped without cooling to avoid the temperature "soakback" that could damage heat sensitive electrical components. I've managed speed up my removal time, so the machine is only stopped for about 10-15 seconds, so I seriously doubt there is enough time for the temperature to rise high enough to do any damage. Besides, by removing the large thermal mass of hot beans, drum and chaff tray, the machine cools MUCH faster ...possibly improving reliability?
I've seen that others use cooling fans with the door open, but I'm not interested in doing this (no chaff snowstorms for me!)
While I've been running my machine successfully this way for 6 months now (post warranty though) and have no intention to stop, I'm wondering if anyone out there using this technique has thermocouples installed inside and can comment on the temperature spike when doing a full, uncooled stop. Or has anyone using this technique had their machine stop working?
Posted Sat Jun 11, 2011, 11:03pm Subject: Re: Behmor "Full Stop" Cooldown Method
Can you imagine...a contest to see who can remove both the hot chaff tray and bean drum and get the cool down cycle punched in the quickest time! LOL
(from shutdown to cool down re-started, 11 seconds....ta-da!) I don't do that anymore...did it a couple of times and felt CONSIDERABLE euphoria, eventually tempered by remorse, shame, guilt, and finally a feeling the Joe Behm HIMSELF was looking down from on high, saying "shame on thee, geekster."
As I was one of Joe's beta testers, I can attest to the hardiness of the 1600, but I haven't the knowledge of electronics to know if this is not such a good thing to do. So, I do the open door fan thing, first sweeping out the chaff...not sure why folks are so up in the air about chaff, but then again, I roast in the garage, where chaff on the floor is DECORATION.
Posted Sat Jun 11, 2011, 11:54pm Subject: Re: Behmor "Full Stop" Cooldown Method
I'd guess you're all worried about nothing. The electronics are the behind the keyboard in a separate compartment and the 10 or even 30 seconds it takes to remove the drum will probably make no difference in its electronics life.
Endo Senior Member Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 804 Location: , location, location. Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: machine is < important than... Grinder: !
Posted Sun Jun 12, 2011, 3:44pm Subject: Re: Behmor "Full Stop" Cooldown Method
efilive Said:
I'd guess you're all worried about nothing. The electronics are the behind the keyboard in a separate compartment and the 10 or even 30 seconds it takes to remove the drum will probably make no difference in its electronics life.
I agree (though I think I've seen some sensor electronics on the sides as well).
I figure this method is discouraged mostly out of fear someone would either burn themselves, or forget to turn the cooling back on and ruin the machine.
Honestly, I don't see any more personal risk than operating a BBQ or opening a pizza oven.
I'll let you know if my machine dies any sooner, but honestly, I'd be very surprised to see any problems.
In any case, the roasts turn out so much better, so I probably won't be changing my method any time soon. Even if I go through 2 machines, it's still cheaper (and can roast more) than a Hottop.
Prof Senior Member Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 631 Location: Seattle Expertise: Pro Roaster
Espresso: PV Lusso, Enrico of Italy Grinder: Pharos 696, Zass Drip: Brazen, Aeropress Roaster: Behmor, TO/SC, Poppery I
Posted Sun Jun 12, 2011, 8:03pm Subject: Re: Behmor "Full Stop" Cooldown Method
I've got one of the early 1600's. For cooling I just open the door, remove the chaff tray, and let the beans cool. Within 5 minutes it is usually cool enough to handle so I don't sweat that phase of things any more. Yeah, I roast outside so chaff going about is no problem.
I just cut a hole in the lid for the strainer/collander (small stainless wire type, not the huge hole type), and a second hole for the shopvac wand.
My procedure when I'm done (usually during a rolling 2nd crack):
Shopvac hooked to the bean cooler bucket, turn on shopvac. OveGlove on left hand OFF on the Behmor Open the door (sometimes the chaff is sparking, ignore (but you DO have a fire extinguisher handy, right?)). Batch is usually rolling 2nd crack. Remove the chaff tray, place on top Remove the drum COOL on the behmor, (about 15 seconds elapsed - in this time, the temperature stays right around mid 400s - no huge rise in temperature, usually a small drop because of the influx of ambient air). use my pen (I'm recording temps manually) to pop the latch of the drum. Dump beans into cooler. 2nd crack is slowing, within a second of being dumped into the cooler it stops abruptly. within 15 more seconds, the beans can be handled manually without glove (about 115°F). Usually when the cooldown timer reads 12:45 to 12:00, the beans are pretty much ambient/cool. Bit quicker in winter. Bit quicker for smaller batches.
During the bean cooldown, the Behmor has been cooling with the door open and nothing in it for over a minute - the interior temp is only about 225°F at this time. It would normally still be in the high 300s if I used the normal cool cycle, and the 2nd crack would have continued for a significant amount of time afterward - upwards of an additional 30 seconds.
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I've got a thermocouple in the back of the Behmor and monitored many roasts. The cooling cycle of the Behmor actually starts out pretty good, the first two minutes or so of cooling are pretty quick so I let the Behmor cool the beans for the first two minutes (sometimes with the door open) before pulling the drum. This also cools the drum down so it's not so hot when I grab it with the Ove Gloves. I'll then dump the beans in my home made bean cooler and quickly restart the Behmor cool cycle.
The cooling curve of the Behmor starts to slow down after the third or fourth minute, I suppose because of the heat mass of the metal that makes it difficult for it to reach room temp.
Get some "Ove-gloves" and really cut your removal time down! :) I do the same thing after letting the cool cycle run for two minutes. Ove-gloves (five fingered oven mitts) make it a LOT easier to get the drum out without burning yourself or fumbling.
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