How I Roast A Full Pound Of Green Coffee Beans With My Behmor 1600 Plus Roaster in an Automatic Mode

  1. Using the standard instruction-book instructions, I was never able to roast more than about 3/4 pound of beans to Full-City-+ roast level (using the 1-pound settings of my Behmor 1600 Plus) until I read a bunch online and discovered the key to roasting a full pound. Without these extra techniques, I'd never achieve the start of second crack, and sometimes not even make it through first crack. So in an attempt to simplify your search, here's how I am consistently able to roast a full pound of green coffee beans with my Behmor 1600 Plus.
  2. I always roast coffee outdoors in my Behmor 1600 Plus, with no extension cord, at any outdoor temperature from about 10 to 90 degrees F. I won't roast indoors and stink up my house, or risk fire. I always roast outdoors.
  3. I measure one pound of green beans (I buy mine from Sweet Maria's) and put it in the roaster drum, then put the drum and chaff collector tray into the Behmor roaster.
  4. I start a timer for 3-minutes and 30 seconds, press the 1/4 pound button on the Behmor Roaster, then press start. (this 3:30 additional roasting time is enough to fool the roaster into giving me more roasting time than it normally allows without triggering an over-temperature shutdown)
  5. When the timer goes off, I press the stop button, then the 1-pound button, then P4, then the D button.
  6. I start a timer for 17-minutes and 10 seconds, then press the Start button and go indoors to relax for my 17 minutes and 10 seconds.
  7. When the timer goes off, I hurry to get outside and press the Start button within 30 seconds, then the "Time Increment +" button several times until it no longer has any impact on the remaining roast time display.
  8. I stay outside with the Behmor at this point and listen for first crack, which sounds like popcorn popping. It's usually a sporadic deep popping sound, spaced out over, perhaps, a 1- or 2-minute period. Each bean achieves first crack at a different time, resulting in a slow popping sound as each bean individually reaches the temperature at which it pops.
  9. After the first crack ends, there will often be a 30 second or longer interval where no sounds are heard. Then the second crack will begin. Second crack sounds like Rice Krispees when milk is poured over them. The depth of the first crack sound is totally absent. It sounds like a higher-pitch sound, and is usually much more rapid and consistent from bean to bean, in other words, once second crack begins, all the beans will reach second crack quite quickly. Second crack is usually accompanied with an increase in the smoke produced by the roast.
  10. When second crack first begins, I press the Cool button and open the door of the Behmor and set a timer for 13 minutes (the time required for beans to cool) and I go inside to relax for my 13 minutes. Stopping the roast just a few pops into the second crack is called a "Full City Plus" roast, and this is the one that's easiest for me to achieve since it's easy to hear when the second crack begins and therefore easy to stop it just after.
  11. If you want a darker roast, stopping at the middle of the second crack is called Vienna Roast. Any origin characteristics of the beans are eclipsed by roast at this level.
  12. If you want a darker-still roast, stopping at the end of second crack is called French Roast. Roast character is dominant, little of inherent aroma or flavor remains.
  13. Darker still is when the beans become black and shiny, Italian Roast. Burnt tones are more distinct, and the coffee will have thin body.
  14. Now then, if you're prescient and can predict when second crack will occur (perhaps because you have experience with the particular beans you're roasting), you might be able to stop the roast at:
  15. Regardless of the level of roast you desire, when the roast is complete and the 13-minute cooling cycle finishes, I take two collanders outside. I dump the beans from the roaster drum into one collander, then I cool my beans further and eliminate any remaining chaff by pouring the beans from one collander into the other, then back, outside, hopefully with some wind that blows the chaff away quickly. I repeat this until the chaff has all been blown away by the wind, then I put the beans into my airscape coffee canister and start using them a day or two later.
  16. I clean the Behmor every four roasts by spraying Simple Green into it, letting it work for 30 seconds, then wiping it off with a paper towel. I put vinyl gloves on before doing this to avoid getting stinky hands. The manual says to clean especially the right side of the chamber where there are temperature sensors. I also clean the drum and the chaff catcher in this way, and I also remove the grating in front of the heating elements before cleaning (also cleaning that grating). To remove the grating, push the right edge toward the left, pull it out from the chamber holes, then swing that right side toward you and pull the left side out of the holes that constraint it. I didn't originally do such a thorough cleaning job (I didn't remove the grating, and was therefore unable to clean behind it), and lost the ability to roast a full pound of green beans. When I began cleaning more thoroughly, I was able to again roast full-pound batches. After doing this cleaning, I put all the parts back together in the roaster and press the 1/4 pound button, then Start to burn off the Simple Green residue.