Totally new to the Behmor 1600 Plus.

I'm not quite sure what the Programs A-D are for. The manual is pretty sketchy on how to use them, or even what they do. I've read the Tips page, but honestly, I have no idea when to actually press the Program buttons, which one to press and why.

Help!

Thanks.

A, B, C and D just extend the roast time. Some of them only work sometimes. Press P3, then Press A, B, C or D and watch how the time changes if it changes. It will change for some settings and not for others.

In auto they change the roast profile. Go to Behmor's website and research the various guides. Sweet Maria's also has tips.

There is a good community of users on the Coffee Geek forums, with Mr Behmor himself chiming in at times. The main improvements on the Plus are the manual controls and learning how to use them will increase your chances of getting better results going forward. Haven't used auto since upgrading the panel.

A, B, C and D just extend the roast time. Some of them only work sometimes. Press P3, then Press A, B, C or D and watch how the time changes if it changes. It will change for some settings and not for others.

That is basically correct. You'll also notice that it does not at all change for P1 because P1 doesn't really have a "profile" to it. It's just 100% power (heat) the whole time so rather than extending the length of the profile, you can just add more time with the + or - buttons. I pretty much stick with P1 for all of my roasts at this point. If I want to get a roast curve like P3, then I use P1 and just add more beans. It slows the roast down all else being equal. P2 on the old behmor is somewhat useless now with the new panel because once you hit first crack, you can press C and then change the power settings to your liking and manually control the rest of the roast. This manual control feature is another reason I've begun just sticking with P1 at the start. (which then needs to change to P5, or 100% heat, after you hit C...) As I'm explaining it I'm realizing how somewhat unintuitive the system is but once you learn it, you'll do just fine. I suppose he could have spelled it all out on the panel but that would have been big panel...

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. I'm just getting started, so, I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about the roasting process. I'll spend some time experimenting! I bought this from Sweet Maria's, so, I'm reading their tips etc.

Thanks everyone.

Devin H wrote:That is basically correct. You'll also notice that it does not at all change for P1 because P1 doesn't really have a "profile" to it.

Actually, it's just a flat profile and the letter buttons don't do anything because of safety concerns. The slower the profile, the more time they allow.

And they may not work at all on the Plus, I know 1lB P2 B is different on the old one and the Plus.

Ira

Great question Andrew - I have been using a Behmor 1600 since gifted one back in 2009, and I found it extremely confusing. The first thing to think about is abandoning the use of the term 'program', because as stated in this thread, they are not 'programs', but time modifications on the preset times for various profiles and chosen weights.

You will have to do a bit of reading to sort out if you want to use those A-D buttons (I don't), and if you wish to add time manually (only way I do things). I don't have the new keypad yet (am going to upgrade when I get back from an overseas work assignment, left roaster home), but at least on the first generation behmors the best way you had to customize a roast was to vary how much time you added before hitting start, and after hitting start. Before start adds the time to the whole roast which is balanced in terms of the chosen roast profile - each power level is modified by percentage of the new time. Adding time after start only modifies the part of the profile you are currently in.

I believe the Behmor manual is confusing on this, as it only talks in percentages of the cycle. In some descriptions it makes it look as if adding time after hitting start adds to the one leg of a profile you are in, but it also seems to say that subtracting time after start can modify the last leg only. While I think the manual is just too confusing on this, this complex user interface is a big complaint about the Behmor, which otherwise is a very competent home roaster. I am hoping a panel upgrade makes it lest confusing, or I am going to eventually go Hottop, which ideally would wait until I've Strega'd up my rig.

Is the confusion getting deeper or is it being rehashed? Wasn't this issue of "time added before or after start changes heat level proportions" settled in a long ago thread?

The confusion just isn't going away. The manual has never been that clear and the misrepresentations of reality run rampant on the web. The reality is, the plus, minus buttons only change the last leg of the roast or the overall length of the roast, however you care to look at it. i.e., they do not change the time into the roast when each profile step is reached. Only the the letter buttons and the weight buttons do that.

At least that's how my software shows it and I spent a fair amount of time making sure it worked correctly after it all hit the fan. And other than knowing 1 lb P2 B is different on my original Behmor and the one with the Plus panel I have only ever used a Plus for about 4 roasts. I lost 2 of them to ERR7, built FrankenBehmor the following week and the Plus has been on a shelf in the garage ever since.

Ira

maybe we could convince Joe Behm to add a pure manual setting to it. In roasting there's no such thing as a 'set and forget', so you are sitting there anyway, looking, smelling, and listening carefully for cracks. Perhaps they could add a real-time power adjustment so that you can tweak power adjustment on your own as you sit and watch the beans. Pure manual profiling, although it would make it hard to reproduce. Still i would prefer it over the lunacy of the P's, weights, program letters, and +/- time tweaks.

My usual is to roast 1/2 pound on P3 (although some beans I want more heat early and go P1) and add 2 minutes prior to start. I want to get the time up enough so that I can always be the one to stop the roast, and not the machine. Depending on the development I stop it when i get as close to 2nd crack as I prefer for the bean. Then I hit cool, open the door, and enjoy the chaff blowing all over the place.