My popcorn popper died this weekend, so I've decided to upgrade to something that allows me to control the roast a little better. I'm torn between the Behmor and the Gene Cafe', and was hoping that those of you with experience with the two could offer some insight...

I have a Gene, no experience with a Behmor. I followed the same route you are, thrift-store poppers for three years and then moved to the Gene.

Total roasting time in the Gene is about 16-20 minutes depending on ambient temp. I roast to the very first snaps of second crack using the full amount of beans (3 of the supplied scoops - about 300g) then start the cool cycle. The cool-down is the major weak point of the Gene (next paragraph). I don't have any "profile" other than full heat. I just vary the roast time or the amount of green beans if I want darker/lighter etc. The Gene has a max temp of 482 deg F, which is supposedly measured at the exhaust, so the drum temp should be higher than that. Time to reach full temp is about 5 minutes. I get very even roasts and everything tastes good to me.

The cooling is the weak point because it takes about 10 min to cool 300g (green weight) to 140 deg F, which is where the Gene shuts off. It is easy to get used to, but some are put-off by it according to their posts on the subject. With a popper, I would roast a little into second crack, so to get the same results with the Gene, I start the cooling earlier and it coasts into second crack. The drum cools down enough in about 20 seconds so that 2nd crack stops, then the rest of the cool down takes 8-10 minutes.

I have had the Gene for about a year with no reliability issues. I have a full (long) review at CG. There's lots of reviews for both the Gene and Behmor too. Apologies if that's a breach of forum decorum.

Bill

If you can tolerate or perhaps even enjoy the baked flavor associated with air roasting your coffee, get the Gene Cafe roaster. If you want more roasted flavors that you get with a traditional professional roaster, get the Behmor or the Hot Top.
Adrian

If you can tolerate or perhaps even enjoy the baked flavor associated with air roasting your coffee

Bit of an off the mark generalization. A more typical air roast generalization might be clean roast (compared to old style drum roasters with poor air flow) that accentuates brightness and less body. A too long air roast will taste baked sure, same for any other roast method.

That said 9 years home roasting most air roasts I've experienced pushing 20min tend to be baked. OTOH air roasts in the 10 to 13min range tend to have very good balance in the cup.

A profile controllable air roaster is capable of a better result than either the Gene Cafe or Behmor IMO.

That said generally speaking my CCR HotTop roasts beat my dual variable boosted voltage controlled split wired Rosto roasts and my USRC 3k roasts beat my CCR HotTop roasts.

Between the Gene Cafe & the Behmor 1600 and their associated quirks I'd take a Behmor.

Thanks for all the feedback. I had read that the Behmor was a little difficult to get to dark roasts, but that there were some work-arounds. At 60% of the cost of the Gene Cafe, it might be the safer "starter" roaster from a cost standpoint. I'm also very curious about the difference in drum roasting vs. air or fluid-bed roasting. As someone pointed out, the drum roasting gives more body, which is my preference. Eventually, I would like to buy a good commercial sample roaster, but that is a different post for a different time.

What I'm most excited about in using something other than the popper is being able to control the roasts a little better. I've tended to gravitate toward darker roasts, but plan on doing a cupping on the same beans, just different roast levels to really get a sense of how the "experience" of the coffee is impacted by the roast. Planning on using a Puerto Rice Yauco Selecto AA for this, unless someone has another suggestion.

Randy G. wrote:Roast level is also dictated by method of brewing and the beans you are roasting. A roast that might be delicious as drip could very well be disgusting as an espresso. Additionally, the level of roast degree is just one factor. The level is the destination, there are many roads that lead there.

It sounds like I will need to try the different roasts, each in a different brew method. This could take years! That may not be a bad thing. Time is going to pass either way, might as well enjoy a lot of cups of coffee along the way.

Randy G. wrote:Currently, the best home roasting appliance in terms of user control is the Hottop KN-8828B, but if the Gene is too expensive for your budget, this one is out of the question.

It isn't so much the cost of one item; it is the cumulative cost of a lot of stuff, over a very short period of time. 6 months ago, I drank Starbucks coffee at home in my drip-brew Krups. Then, I have a friend introduce me to home roasting, and suddenly, I have 50 lbs of green coffee, a new roaster purchase, and a list of espresso machines and grinders to choose from to outfit my kitchen, all purchases that I absolutely need in pursuit of my perfect cup of coffee. "Need" here is probably the same type of need that my wife has for shoes, so I have to convince her that it is all a great investment of time and money. I'm trying to ease into this without too much shock to the system. I tell myself that I can upgrade "down the road." How far down the road is being hotly debated between my wife and me!

My coffee website is exactly one week shy of celebrating 8 years of online activity.

ALL BEST WISHES RANDY!!! and big thanks...

Run. Run like the wind. RUN AWAY, NOW, before it's too late.

C'mon! Just after first cup, it's already far too late. And good - make a cup for your wife and give her a present and then go coffee-shopping together!