ECM Synchronika / Baratza Forte

I've been roasting with the FR 800 for about a year, and experimenting with roasting techniques.

I've watched every available video, read all can find on it, and tried the following experiment...

Beans: Kenya AA Lenana, 8 oz.

Roast Profile: "Standard" / Roast: City+ / 470 degrees
Start: Fan 9 / Power 4
Minutes / Power
1.5 5
3 6
4 7
6 8
7 7
8 5
Throughout, I kept the fan adjusted to keep the beans gently rolling. No blowing all over the place... And not "stuck." The roast finished in 8.25 minutes.

Roast Profile: "Speed" / Roast: City+ / 470 degrees
Start: Fan 9 / Power 4
Minutes / Power
2 / 8
Same as above with the fan, and the roast finished in 6.5 minutes.

I have zero ability to describe flavor profiles, but the "Standard" roast is far superior in every aspect of flavor. It even looks "better" in the cup.

Anyone try anything like this?

What are your temps doing?

Although the probe is underneath the beans, it does give a data point for duplicating roasts..

I use something similar to your 'standard' roast, but I have the Razzo tube (9.5") that keeps my temps up with lower power values.

I start with 200g..
Fan/Power at 9:3 for about 3 minutes then adjust fan as you do..

at 3 minutes, I up my power to about 5 .. my goal is to reach 1st crack about 6 -7.5 minutes for a total roast time of about 8-10 minutes.

With my Razzo tube as I decrease the fan, my temp shoots up so I don't need to twiddle power too much.. I can almost adjust the heat simply by decreasing the fan.

I preheat to about 300F and then charge 200g.. with Fan/power at 9:3
then dry for about 3 minutes and then increase the power to about 5 ..
I look for about 375-400F on probe at about 4-4.5 minutes..
First crack will be about 450 on the probe and I try to start that about 6 min ..
Then I just adjust the fan and power to keep the probe temp from exceeding 500-525.. ideally I like to keep about 480-500.

Its hard to know how your roast compares because you may use the stock tube and your ambient temp (which makes a huge difference) might be different.

I don't know about the Razzo tube? How does it improve the overall roasting compared to the stock tube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InDvsQ74-fw ...Nevermind.

Bluenoser wrote: I preheat to about 300F and then charge 200g.. with Fan/power at 9:3
then dry for about 3 minutes and then increase the power to about 5 ..
I look for about 375-400F on probe at about 4-4.5 minutes..
First crack will be about 450 on the probe and I try to start that about 6 min ..
Then I just adjust the fan and power to keep the probe temp from exceeding 500-525.. ideally I like to keep about 480-500.

Its hard to know how your roast compares because you may use the stock tube and your ambient temp (which makes a huge difference) might be different.

@Bluenoser Curious if you use this method for both naturals and washed? If so, do you get any tipping on your roasts?

Benos wrote:I don't know about the Razzo tube? How does it improve the overall roasting compared to the stock tube?

I've only had my SR800 for a year but I would recommend if your going to invest in any mod, start off with the chaff collector expansion. If your handy its pretty easy to DIY.