We have finally received word that the first production run Behmor 1600 has been completed and the first container is on the way. As a Distributor, we have been given permission to begin accepting pre-orders. If you wish to place the order, please do so only for only the Behmor or only for items you want to ship with the Behmor. The reason is that we will NOT charge your credit card until they arrive sometime in November, and double charging leaves too many places for error, and none of us want that. So anything you order with the Behmor will be placed on hold until they arrive.
And now, a little background.... The Behmor is the brain and love child of Joe Behm. Some 8 years ago he had some fresh roasted coffee, was blown away and found that few good roasters were on the market. What do to? Build your own. So he did and what we have here is the result. A 1 lb coffee drum roaster. Now, coincidentally, I had been working on nearly the same thing, just many years later, i.e. I was attempting to put together a rotisserie convection oven that would roast cocoa. I was just coming to the conclusion that there was not a convection oven on the market that would do the job when I had the opportunity to test out a pre-production model of the Behmor 1600, with Joe Behm there.
Much to his horror (at the time), I loaded the drum nearly to capacity with cocoa beans, let it to the first of five settings (more on this below) and hit start. 20 minutes (and a crowd of people smell chocolate) later there were a few snaps and pops indicating the cocoa was done. I stopped the roast, pulled the beans and was very pleased with the results. Soon after I left with a Behmor 1600 to start testing extensively.
First off, as this is Chocolate Alchemy, I will be focusing on how the Behmor behaves for cocoa roasting, not coffee. For a ton on information on coffee roasting, and some different perspectives on how to use the Behmor, I would suggest this Wiki page. So, without further ado, go to Cocoa Roasting in the Behmor 1600.