I've been thinking about getting into roasting recently, and the options that I've realized have been fitting into my budget are mostly the Behmor 1600 package from Sweet Marias, (roughly 310? top of my budget)
What other roasting options from around this price range are good? I will be roasting espresso for myself and another, and also coffee for 4 more people when I get better at it.

The Behmor is a good starter roaster but its lack of control makes it tough for me to suggest it for roasting espresso. Also it really does not roast 1lb of beans very well and performs best around 8oz batch sizes so roasting for 6 people total is a lot of roasting especially with the 1hr cool down between roasts like they suggest.

You may want to look into building you own roaster, lots of great designs and ideas here and at CG to build something that will have full control and do 1lb-2lbs.

I regularly roast 12 + oz. loads for espresso with my Behmor. There is no problem going deeply into 2nd crack - using the faster profiles like P1. However, if it is cold outside - I roast outside, usually (though the Behmor is also designed for indoor use) - the slower profiles will extend the roast out past 20 minutes - and getting deep into second crack - with one of the slower profiles and 12+ oz of beans - in the cold may be difficult. (P1 will still do the job, though)

Well I said I would not recommend it, I didn't mean to imply it couldn't be done. I like roasts done in a drum in under 16 minutes, I like my of my espresso roasts at FC or a few snaps into second crack, and I like 4-5 minutes time from the start of first crack to the finish of the roast. The Behmor cannot do this.

I'd say, 1lb espresso and 1lb regular coffee per week

I really think the BM machine is overdone.

All you need is a heat gun and a bowl-within-a-bowl (or a nice double-walled bowl, or some way to keep from transferring the heat right out through the bowl) plus a way to cool the roast.

Adding a bread-machine is unnecessary, but will make roasting more convenient. I think people are intimidated by the level of effort required to adapt a bread machine when they could just dive in with a heat gun and start roasting, then when they bitch and moan about how their arm gets tired, *THEN* worry about upgrading.

I think *all* roasters should at least mess around with a heat gun, even if that isn't the method they end up using. It's a great fall-back in case your primary roaster bites it, very minimal in terms of outlay, and very satisfying. Nothing like the smoke in your eyes and chaff in your hair, smell in your nose and hearing the cracks super clearly. You notice little things, like when the chaff comes off the beans early in the roast, and again later as the crease opens; the puffs of smoke (steam?) announcing that 1st crack is imminent; you can see the changes in the bean continuously, without a trier, how they plump out and smooth out.

Heat Gun is like a range-finder 35mm camera with full manual control.
Behmor is like a full auto camera with 8 different "modes", but no manual control at all.






Oh, crap, you're too young to know what a rangefinder is

Hate to say your right!

Do you know what "film" is?

Kids these days.....



Suffice to say, a heat gun gives total control, and I think you will learn a lot. You might even come to enjoy it.
I think that the ingenuity of youth can lead to some innovative designs. Just don't burn your house down. Remember, design for safety. And there should only be *TWO* cracks, at most. DO NOT TRY FOR THIRD CRACK.

I know what film is! but yes I know not to try for a third crack, I thought there was none! I think at most I'd go a little into second crack