Fresh Roast Plus 8 COFFEE Roast

StylingFairlooks like a small toaster oven and about the same size (17.5"x10.5"x12.5").  It has a black and stainless steel exterior.

Ease of Use--Good to Very GoodIt uses a different roasting philosophy than other roasters we've used, so it takes a little getting used to.  Once you understand it, it works well.  Practice with a few small batches to get used to the way the Behmor 1600 roasts before you launch into a full one pound batch.

Batch Size and FlexibilityExcellentIt roasts anywhere from 1/4 to a full 1 pound of green coffee.  It has 5 preset roasting curves to choose from and you can make limited modifications to the roast on the fly.  You can initiate the cooling cycle at any point.

Smoke ControlExcellent--It has a small electric afterburner that eliminates the vast majority of the smoke.  While it's not smokeless, it certainly smokes less.  We roasted a full one pound batch to a Full City profile, and only a little wisp of smoke came out.  Our range vent was more than adequate to handle it.  Roasting by a window or under the range vent is very doable.  This can be a particular asset for those of you in cooler parts of the country.  If you try to roast darker, say into a French roast, it does smoke quite a bit.

Roast Profile FlexibilityGood, BUT--The roaster is not designed for darker roasting. There are several admonishments in the owner's manual against darker roasting.  Full City to Full City + (no surface oil) is as dark as you should go with this roaster, but it handles these profiles well. There are some built in limitations that will prevent very dark roasting with a full one pound batch.  In our trials however, we roasted several batches to a dark oily French roast by using a smaller batch size.  Just be aware that if you choose to roast beyond a Full City, you can expect some visible smoke. Also, like all roasters that cool the beans inside the machine, you have to anticipate the roast profile just a bit and start the cooling cycle just before your beans get as dark as you'd like.  Not hard, just takes a little practice.

Evenness of the RoastExcellentThe continually rotating roasting basket and baffle placement assures uniform bean agitation.

Bean VisibilityFairThis was the thing we liked least about the Behmor 1600.  The fine mesh screen of the chaff collector is like looking through the mesh on a microwave door, and the small viewing window and the single interior light make it difficult to see exactly how dark the beans are getting, but if necessary, you can always crack open the door and sneak a peek.  You pretty much have to listen for the first and second cracks and to learn how long to carry a roast by keeping good notes on batch size, profile setting, time, type beans, and results.  After a few trials, it isn't hard to get the beans to the profile you want, but there is a learning curve involved.

Noise ControlExcellentThis is the quietest roaster we've used, and will operate at 55db or less.

Bean Cooling--Good--The full cooling cycle takes about 13 minutes.  You can open the door during cooling (a little chaff may escape) which will dramatically decrease your cooling time.

Chaff CollectionGoodThe chaff falls through the mesh in the roasting basket onto a removable tray.  The roaster comes with a paint brush to use as a "broom" to sweep out any chaff the collector misses.

Quality of the CupExcellentThe coffee we cupped from the Behmor was very nice. It actually produced some of the better home roasted espresso coffee we've had.

Warranty:  1 year from Behmor.  You'll have to register with Behmor to activate your warranty.

Bottom Line?  In the plus column

Please note that due to shipping insurance hassles we do not ship these items via US Mail.

The manufacturer, Fresh Beans, Inc., () provides an excellent one year warranty on the roaster, and the roasting chamber is warranted for six months.  If you encounter a problem with your roaster, you can reach them at 1-805-501-7731.  Because this roaster is UL certified, Fresh Beans has asked us to refer all warranty issues directly to them.

If you wish to order coffee with the roaster, consider either our Fresh Roast Combo Pack which includes 6 different pounds of green coffee, or the Big Box which includes a roaster and 10 different one pound size bags of coffee.

Changes for this updated model include an aluminum base ring for the roasting chamber and a different way of attaching the ring to the glass which makes it more durable, a 40 degree cooler roast temperature to allow more even roasting and help decrease the amount of smoke produced during roasting, and an 8 minute timer, allowing a longer roast cycle to compensate for the cooler roasting temperature. 

The mechanical timer is as simple as twisting a knob to the desired setting and letting it run. It includes a 2 minute cool down cycle. The chaff collector is efficient.  The Fresh Roast Plus 8 is also one of the quietest roasters available, a feature that you'll come to appreciate.

-Roasts the full spectrum: From American to Espresso and Spanish.

-Comes with The Captain's Coffee exclusive "Roasting 101" instructions and tips.

The Fresh Roast Plus 8 is a "fluid bed" roaster--this just means it uses hot air to both roast and agitate the beans instead of convection heat like a traditional commercial drum roaster.  This allows the beans to roast comparatively quickly.  Many experts maintain that hot air roasting helps preserve the brightness, or crispness, of the cup.

When these new models arrived, we decided to "test to destruction".  We did rapid multiple roasts, and repeatedly put the chamber through the dishwasher and still it works like new.  We do not recommend our test.  We are certain that we have decreased the overall life expectancy of our roaster, but we wanted you to know that in our decidedly unscientific test it held up well. 

The Fresh Roast Plus 8 is extremely simple to use.  Basically, you put the green beans in the roasting chamber, put the chaff collector on the top, and turn the knob to the desired roasting time.  You can add or decrease roasting time by simply twisting the timer knob during roasting if you need to.  The body and flavor of the coffee develop better than in earlier models due to the slightly cooler roasting temperature and longer roasting cycle.  Actually, longer is a very relative term.  When compared to other similar roasters, the Fresh Roast Plus 8 is still the fastest roaster we know of.

This newest version adds a variable resistor to the fan motor circuitry to help maintain a constant blower speed despite fluctuations in household voltages.  This results in better bean agitation and more even roasting compared to earlier models.  It also features a redesigned roasting chamber that should be much more durable.  New factory testing methods help insure better uniformity in the blower output.

We have personally used 3 different models of Fresh Roast roasters.  One thing that has always impressed us about these roasters is the way the manufacturer, Fresh Beans, Inc., has listened to the user.  They have continuously modified and improved the Fresh Roast Plus 8.  It is a very different roaster than the first one we used back when we first started home roasting.

Roast enough coffee for a pot of coffee in as little as 6 minutes.

Small Mesh Roasting Drum FOR Small Mesh Roasting Drum .