Does anyone have experience of these? I see Hasbean have them on offer until Christmas for £250 which seems pretty cheap. But it might not be the bargain that it seems if consensus is there are better options available. I'm in no rush to start roasting but will want to give it a go at some point, so might be some sense in picking one up at this price if they are reasonable.

@"Gagaryn"#p141 It seems a very good price considering the Behmor on it's own is listed on their site at £380 and everywhere else, it's considerable more expensive, even in the USA! The first Behmors many many years ago were bigged up immensely but had a lot of issues, one hopes many of those were resolved with this model, but I don't know? I guess the question to ask is….why is it that cheap as a Christmas bundle, they must be selling them close to cost price, or even at cost price. However, for £250 it's probably worth a go, and I am sure people here would benefit from any feedback you have.

I’d buy one if I were in the market for one. Some members on CF uk have it and enjoy it.

I imagine they are either dropping Behmor completely or there is a replacement model in the pipeline. I think it's probably worth a punt, I'll have a look at reviews and make my mind up.

I saw that deal and my reaction was identical - either clearing stock prior to stopping doing them, or prior to a replacement model. However ,,,, does that matter? Certainly, I'd argue in the latter case, not much … unless the new model (if there is one) has some must-have, killer new features. In my own case, I was hovering between Gene Cafe and the Behmor, but I am starting to thing either the Sandbox or something like the Ikawa might be a better bet. Yes, a lot more expensive and yes, limited capacity but that limited capacity means roasting more often. And that is both an advantahge and disadvantage. The more I investigate, the more I feel the need to learn about roasting, and THEN doing small batches and being able to keep almost all parameters fixed and consistent (via profile) makes it much easier to learn the effects of changing just one parameter. Also, the bigger the batch, the more expensive any batch-ruining cockups will be. I can stomach the extra up-front cost if I need to, but avoiding the hassle of buying the wrong machine and having to sell and buy again is important for me to avoid. But the whole thing is so new to me that picking the right TYPE of roaster, never mind brand/model, is not easy.

I think you are reading my mind. Was just back looking at the Sandbox, seems the Bella Barista 25% discount offer is no longer valid. But if the Ikawa produces decent results the lack of hassle would be worth the extra expense I think.

I think (note - THINK) the BB offer is still valid but it wasn't entirely clear, I grant you. It isn't on the "current offers" bit, but I did find a page with a date suggesting it was still on. If I decide on Sandbox obver Ikawa (and am leaning that way) I'll ring and ask them. The decision between Ikawa and Sandbox is closer if it isn't still on.

I've had a Behmor for about 5 months now and have been enjoying using it a lot but I don't have anything else to compare to as it's my only experience with roasting. I like the fact it's really quick to preheat and get to roasting, it takes me about 20-25 mins to roast 400g from start to finish. It's got a bit of information on temperatures, exhaust and "drum" (though it states it a thermostat near the drum and not in it) so I can now judge when beans are about to crack pretty well and have had a few consistent roasts recently! The pre-set profiles seem to be working nicely too, and there's the option to adjust things on the fly, but I've not ventured that deeply, yet.. I dislike the drum. It's a absolute (can we swear here, I won't just in case…?) twit to get the drum out sometimes unless you have a thin heatproof glove (which I still don't so it's slightly self inflicted) which makes the cooling process a tad clumsy at times. Also, the cooling function is a bit useless as it stays really hot for a fair few minutes so I always dump the beans into a separate cooler (AliExpress, £44, brilliant!) Happy to answer any more questions, and I'm roasting later on so happy to take photos etc if wanted.

> @"Del_UK"#p219 into a separate cooler (AliExpress, £44, brilliant!) I’ve been recently doing this with the Gene, to finish off the cooling process. I made the cooling with a cardboard box and a colander, attached to a Henry hoover. Gets rid of chaff and cool down pretty quickly. I’ll take a photo later, as having trouble uploading images at the moment.

@"MediumRoastSteam"#p223 I did have something that I lashed together using a 6 inch extractor fan, but after it began falling apart and nearly took the tip of my thumb off, I decided £44 isn't that much to spend.

@"Del_UK"#p225 - have you a link to it?

Behmor Roaster

Rob1

@Gagaryn

Price difference between the Sandbox (with cooler) and Ikawa is not that huge really - £970 vs £695. If the Ikawa offers similar results then the extra cost is worth the convenience to me - smaller, neater, all-in one with no external cooling and no chaff flying around the room etc.

I don’t think you get chaff flying around the room with the Sandbox. The Ikawa is an air roaster and without saying one will be better than the other the results will be different.

@CoffeePhilE

The Pro versions have much more control, for instance over both inlet and exhaust vent air temps, and apparently, either by inference or sensor (not sure which) bean mass temp. The idea is to test/develop rost profiles on the Ikawa that can then be transferred to commercial roasters that do have bean mass temp probes.

You can’t transfer profiles from the Ikawa or any other air roaster to a larger drum roaster. It might be somewhat possible to transfer to a larger batch air roaster but I think even that would be unlikely to be an exact transfer as batch size, temp control and airflow will mean you need to make changes. These are ‘sample’ roasters for cupping. Excellent for roasters and importers to assess green beans and very useful in that they are portable so can be taken to farms to sample coffee. Not really good for exploring what flavours you can get when you roast at a larger scale (though you’d at least get an idea) but good for cupping, assessing defects and coming up with some flavour notes.

I think when you buy these air roasters you’re paying mostly for the software, and in the case of professional portable options the use case for importers and roasters make it valuable.

CoffeePhilE Again, due to circumstances, getting more roasts done in a short period of time accelerates the learning curve. For me, doing two or three a week is a good thing, compared to doing two or three a month, for larger batches. I agree that usually those small batches would be a negative, but for me, I think they’re actually a positive. Maybe I need to explain why. Let me think about that a bit.

I’m not sure it will accelerate the learning curve the way you think it will. You will learn how not to get terrible results quickly but you could very easily just end up in confusion especially when you’re just learning if you try to do things more complex to alter flavour notes. When you’ve been roasting a bit maybe four small batches would be good and then you can run a final one that should hopefully be the one you use over and over again. The problem is coffee will change and it can be quite a substantial and unpredictable change over a period of time, and not even necessarily linear i.e. flavours evolve over time and don’t just go from not there (needs resting) - there (rested) - losing notes on the way to going stale. I’ve noticed significant changes in roasts from week 1 all the way to week 6-8 before the changes become predictable (i.e tailing off on the way to going stale) with some really being at their very best right up to the end of that window. If you’re making 100g batches you’re not going to taste them for 6 weeks…..though I guess you could make the argument that you would only be interested in roasting coffee in such a way that it’s ready to drink within a week even if that means it’s not the best you could get out of it. Of course, you can still do repeatable small batches and let some rest for long periods. My point is you aren’t necessarily going to be learning faster doing 3 or 4 roasts a week compared to 1 a week once you get past the initial few batches and can get something approximating a decent roast, which should happen fairly quickly if you use good coffee and don’t make the mistake of buying something cheap to learn with.

MediumRoastSteam

SteveBRS , @Del_UK - I have succumbed and bought a Behmor, from HasBean, again, 11 months later. I just hope this time I manage to actually roast beans with it and it has no mechanical issues, or any issues. 🤞

I’ll then have the Behmor and Gene side by side, so looking forward to being able to compare both.

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam Be very interested to hear how it goes….did you get it on the £250 deal?

Del_UK

MediumRoastSteam
Nice! Hopefully it’ll be a nice experience this time and no faulty unit!!

SteveBRS

MediumRoastSteam great, congrats, hope you will be having more fun and success with it this time.

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK did you get it on the £250 deal

I did indeed.

DavecUK

When we have the get together, perhaps you can bring it with you

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK perhaps you can bring it with you

And the Gene :-)

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam Yeah, I forgot, I don’t have one of those anymore….almost wish I’d been able to keep my big 1kg gene as well

MediumRoastSteam

The moment when you buy a coffee roaster and receive a microwave oven…

🤣🤣🤣🤣 - sorry couldn’t resist.

MediumRoastSteam

I have to say that this time, it’s working perfectly. The previous one I had had a misaligned shaft, the control panel had spongey buttons, and who know whatever else as I didn’t even managed to roast 100g of coffee in it because I couldn’t deal with the screeching noise and the drum stuttering. It was painful to watch.

Thankfully Hasbean back then gave me a full refund (whilst Behmor CS just told me there was nothing wrong with my unit and were rather dismissive).

So here I am, 11 months later, with the Behmor. It’s so different from the Gene in terms of usability - In that regard I prefer the simplicity of the Gene Cafe, as well as the fact you can attach a vent hose and vent smoke out of the window. The Behmor has a smoke suppression system, which, in all honesty, seems to work well, as I just did a roast indoors, near a window and it’s not bad at all.

Comparing to the Gene, the Behmor requires more work to keep it clean, and it’s a little bit messier due to chaff flying around, specially if you want to cool the beans externally.

SteveBRS

MediumRoastSteam The control panel with the buttons has a protective plastic film over it. Took me a while to figure out it’s meant to be taken away, but it’s not a peel off one, so use a sharp scalpel blade to run gently along it’s edges to remove.

MediumRoastSteam

Del_UK Also, the cooling function is a bit useless as it stays really hot for a fair few minutes so I always dump the beans into a separate cooler

When you do that, do you literally open the roaster’s door, remove the chaff tray, the drum, dump the beans and re-activate the cooling cycle? Do you do so with with the chaff tray and drum back in the roaster (more swearing to attach it!!!!) or do you leave those outside?

Del_UK

MediumRoastSteam

I hit the stop button, remove the beans and cool them and then close up the roaster and hit cool. I usually leave the metal bits in the floor as I roast in a garage with nice heat proof concrete!

I think as long as the roaster internals are cooling it’s good.

SteveBRS

MediumRoastSteam

Yes, chaff collector and drum left outside, close door, press cool. Vacuum up the loose chaff inside the Behmor after stopping the cooling cycle. Main action is getting the hot beans with your heatproof gloves quickly out of the drum into your cooling strainers.

One word of caution re bean drum insertion. The lids’ clasp is a bit flexible, and twice it opened whilst I inserted it in the holding fork. Rebending it that it clips a bit firmer seems to help. No fun scooping beans out from the preheated interior.

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam

SteveBRS - Thanks SteveBRS. I was aware of the plastic cover. Trust me, that one I had before was a real lemon! This one, even with the plastic cover on the buttons, is nothing like the one before. Getting stuck beans in the drum is a right PITA. In that sense, the Gene beats the Behmor hands down.

Couple of more questions:

Any recommendations for good heat proof gloves?
Any recommendations to keeping it clean? (They recommend Simply Green, but I don’t think that’s an UK thing - I’m sure you can get it, but if there’s something else more conventional I’m all ears) :-)

SteveBRS

MediumRoastSteam

I use builders leather gloves.

Re.Behmor cleaning, I found “VORTEX APC Citrus Concentrate All Purpose Cleaner Degreaser” on fleabay.

Light spray, leave 1 minute, wipe off with kitchen paper. Seems to do the trick, also great on bathroom tile grouting.

A short 100gr auto program to burn off after drying and a cooling with the door open

DavecUK

Why didn’t they allow cooling cycle to run with the door open?

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK - you can. In fact, it’s in the manual. But chaff will fly everywhere.

Del_UK

https://www.simplegreen.co.uk/

I got some from here, it’s very effective at getting the insides clean, but I’m only “properly” cleaning it every 5-6 roasts, I usually just vacuum the dust out and give it a quick wipe.

MediumRoastSteam

Del_UK - Thank you.

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