How to adjust roast profile based on the bean?

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
thedannyroast
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#1: Post by thedannyroast »

Hey everyone,

This may be a dumb question... I'm trying to figure out how to develop my roast profile for this NATURAL processed EL SALVADOR. How would you guys adjust your roast profile based on the bean?

To give some context.. I had a great 1LB batch of Yirgacheffe Ethiopian which was a dense, hard bean and could handle high charge temperatures and the hottest temperature on my Behmor 2000AB.

Now? With this EL SALVADOR NATURAL, I'm having trouble getting the Behmor to roast this bean into FC. I've tried a similar approach to Ethiopian where I'll enter manual mode and blast this with full power, then when it starts browning switch it down to P4.. But I've cruised through FC into SC... Then I tried entering manual mode in P4 settings and cruising around 300F (Temp B) gauge and all of a sudden there's no FC (I fear these may now be baked beans...).

Would appreciate any advice! I recently acquired Scott Rao's Coffee Roaster's Companion and am down a deep hole...

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Almico
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#2: Post by Almico »

You want to enter 1C between 8 and 9 minutes. If you do, you won't be able to blast though 1C into 2C.

If you are roasting a full batch, it's hard to believe you can roast a Central coffee that much faster than an African.

FWIW, I don't make many changes in roast profile from bean to bean, only from roast level to roast level, but I don't roast on a Behmor. If I did, I would use a small enough batch that I do not need to depend on a lot of heat momentum pre-charge.

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mckolit
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#3: Post by mckolit »

If you're having issues getting to 1C, try using a lower dose. On my Behmor, I can only roast 12 ounces max. Anything above that and I'll have 20+ minute roasts. See if going down to 14 or 12 ounces works for you.

thedannyroast (original poster)
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#4: Post by thedannyroast (original poster) »

Thanks for the tip, was reading and thinking it's hard to control the roast with smaller batches. Currently roasting with 4 ounces in the chamber and that might be why it's roasting so quickly as well.

Planning tomorrow to do a 8 ounces or 1/2 lb batch so that I can get more control on the roast profile and thinking this will slow down the roast a bit.

I'll try manual mode with highest setting then turn it down once it starts browning to still have enough momentum into 1C.

thedannyroast (original poster)
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#5: Post by thedannyroast (original poster) »

Yeah my problem is probably roasting TOO low, which is making it much harder to control small batches..

mckolit wrote:If you're having issues getting to 1C, try using a lower dose. On my Behmor, I can only roast 12 ounces max. Anything above that and I'll have 20+ minute roasts. See if going down to 14 or 12 ounces works for you.

Milligan
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#6: Post by Milligan »

When I used my Behmor I did 8oz batches. 12oz would be as high as I would go on there. Typical rule of thumb is 75% of rated capacity is the true max capacity for a good roast in under 12 mins. Funny enough this is typically true from something as small as a Behmor up to huge Diedrich roasters (sometimes even lower capacity for older model Diedrich.)

As for your specific beans. Ethiopian beans heat quite quickly due to their density. El Salvador can be larger, lower grown beans and may take a bit longer to get rolling but if they have too much momentum then they can blow through development. Unfortunately with the Behmor you are flying blind since you don't have access to something like Artisan.

On the surface if you are blowing through FC then you need to pull more heat during Maillard.

thedannyroast (original poster)
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#7: Post by thedannyroast (original poster) »

When you mean pulling more heat during Maillard reaction, do you mean increase temperatures when you start to visually see the browning phase?

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mkane
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#8: Post by mkane »

Decreasing heat throughout a roast is good practice.

Got lucky here.