Gene Cafe CBR-101 Home Coffee Roaster - Red

If you're looking for reviews of the Gene Cafe coffee roaster, you're likely also researching the Behmor 1600 and 1600 Plus coffee roaster. I own both of them, and have, at the time of this writing, 38 roasts on the Behmor 1600 Plus and 38 roasts with the Gene Cafe. I think I can provide a non-biased review of each. But you came to see the Gene Cafe, and that's what I'll review here.In the past, I roasted green coffee beans using modified air popcorn poppers, and while you can get some great results, the amount of coffee you can roast at a time is really tiny. I got tired of that, and decided to move up to an appliance that was engineered and manufactured specifically for roasting coffee.The Gene Cafe is, from all appearances and experience, well built and has some ingenious engineering. The off-axis drum rotation results in very even roasts. The aesthetics are appealing, quite unlike the toaster oven appearance of the Behmors -- for what that's worth.You are given two controls over your roast: temperature and time. You can adjust both at any time during the roast, resulting in a lot of control over your roast. The control knobs are ergonomically placed and have a nice feel to them when they are turned. An internal temperature reading is displayed during your roast. I find this very helpful when duplicating roast profiles. Unfortunately, you cannot save your roast profile and no pre-programmed profiles are provided, as they are with the Behmor.Maintenance and cleaning are easy, for the most part, with the Gene Cafe. Clean the inside of the roast chamber by first removing the separator, and then using hot water and soap. Thoroughly rinse and allow to dry. Same for the separator itself. Then carefully replace the separator into the chamber. There are no internal nooks and crannies to clean, which is a great advantage over the Behmor. Clear out accumulated chaff from the chaff collector by simply removing a cap. I use my small shop vac, but you can tap the collector and let the chaff fall out. There is also an area on the bottom of the unit with slots covering a cold air intake fan. The slots need to be brushed out from time to time to clear out any debris that accumulates. I also use my small shop vac for this. The one difficult area to clean is inside the chaff collector. There is a metal mesh screen that oils and chaff tend to stubbornly cling to, and they're not easy to get to if you want to really scrub them. This level of cleaning does not have to be done very often; I've done it once in my 38 roasts (and counting). The entire chaff collector can be submerged in hot water and soap. I used a brush to reach the bottom side of the screen but I was not able to get them shiny clean again. The oils can be stubborn. The top side of the screen is very difficult to get to as there is limited access. I'm trying to figure out a better way.The chaff collector is large and effective. It is made to attach a dryer vent hose to route the smoke and exhaust as desired. The roasting chamber has a very clever mechanism with a blade that cuts the chaff up as the internal flow of air is used to push it into the chaff collector. This adds a rather loud "thump" each time the chamber rotates; a minor annoyance.There is high visibility of the beans during roasting. They're right out front for you to see. This is a tremendous advantage, as the appearance of the beans is an important roast control factor. In this regard, too, the Gene Cafe trumps the Behmor 1600.There are two important shortcomings of the Gene Cafe, however. The first is that it is difficult to hear the cracking sounds during the roast, including both first and second crack. While it is not a loud roaster, there is a whine to the motor that is rotating the roasting chamber, the thump of the chaff cutter blade, plus the sound of the beans sliding across and down the internal vanes of the chamber and the glass sides. These sounds combine to mask out what can be delicate sounds of the cracks you need to hear. To counter this, I (very carefully) place my ear close to the exhaust of the chaff collector. I can best hear what's going on inside the chamber in this manner. The Behmor is much better in this regard, with first and second cracks quite audible. Secondly, the bean cooling process takes too long. The cooling cycle will run until the internal temperature is 140 degrees, however long that takes. The average time for me is about 10 minutes. I have found the beans themselves to be about 135 degrees when the cooling cycle ends and I dump them. I then place the beans in two steel colanders and toss them back and forth until they reach room temperature, which is about 4 more minutes. I use an infrared thermometer for temperature monitoring of the beans once out of the roasting chamber.I have roasted as much as 8.5 ounces of green beans in one roast, even with quite a bit of chaff, to great success. I have roasted as little as 4 ounces also with great results. This roaster will readily produce French Roasts and even darker, if you like. I have found the roast quality to be excellent.It is tricky to insert the roasting chamber into the unit itself. Things must be precisely aligned and there are odd angles involved. If you meet resistance, do not force the chamber. It should fall into place. If not, keep making micro adjustments until it does. This is a real inconvenience at times.Thorough illustrated documentation is included, although the translation to English can be quite amusing.I do have concerns, based on what others have written, about the longevity of this device. I have not had any problems yet, but at this price point, I expect a device I can use for quite a while. I have not had to utilize the manufacturer's support yet, which is now handled in the USA by Batch Coffee. I will update this review in the future if and when my experience with the roaster and the service provided by Batch Coffee changes. The various parts of the roaster are available for purchase separately should they fail in the future, but installing them looks to be an exercise in small appliance repair. Batch Coffee has online videos showing how to make various repairs. I'm not sure I want to be disassembling and repairing the Gene Cafe myself. Shipping this hefty unit around for warranty or repair service would be an expensive venture, no doubt.In summary, I would list the pros and cons thusly:Pros: High visibility of beans during roast. Easy maintenance and cleaning. Direct control of roasting time and temperature. Capable of a dark, full French Roast and even darker. Effective chaff collection. Effective smoke solution. Even roasts.Cons: Price. The Behmor has double the roast capacity at much less cost. Manufacturer's (Genesis Company located in South Korea) support level (provided by Batch Coffee in the USA) is unknown by me and not widely reported. In comparison, Behmor has outstanding customer support and is widely reported. Difficult to hear the bean cracks during roast. Bean cooling cycle too long, which can result in a duller flavor in the cup. Fussy process to insert roasting chamber.The bottom line: I've enjoyed using the Gene Cafe and have produced many rewarding cups of coffee. I would recommend it, IF you're willing to spend the extra money compared to the purchase of a Behmor 1600. That may be a big "IF." I see that the price of the Gene Cafe has once again increased, even as Behmor releases the new 1600 Plus, which now offers the same manual individual time and heat controls as the Gene Cafe, adds a two-speed roasting drum, two internal temperature readings, and other features the Gene Cafe lacks. I would encourage you to compare the Gene Cafe to the Behmor 1600 Plus and determine which advantages and features are most important to you.

Word of warning - do NOT use this thing in your house or inside your garage. It was a great model for almost 18 months. I loved it and raved about it. It was used about 100 times. Then it CAUGHT FIRE in a dry, safe, 79 degree covered environment sitting on a level surface and plugged into an appropriate outlet. There was no chaff in the collector. The chaff collector and roasting chamber had been recently cleaned with soap and water. There was 3 scoops of beans (slightly below the guideline on the canister) that were only half roasted when the fire started. The fire department couldn't figure out why it burned after they kicked in my door and broke down my fence to put out the fire. They think it was a short within the unit itself. So, if you are going to get one - put it in the building away from your house and anything else you value. Then sit next to it at all times while it is running with an extinguisher in hand. I have been roasting coffee for 16 years and this is my 3rd roaster (the first was too small for the amount I roast and the second was dropped in a move). This is the first time I have had one catch on fire. I store my units in their box when not in use, clean regularly, and roast conservatively (City, not Italian roasting levels). This unit has never been dropped. In the picture you can see that the melt point in near the motor in the rear right corner that made the firemen think it was wiring since it is back and under the motor. That is the table it was sitting on and it's not been moved other than to rinse off the char.

I read several reviews and write ups on numerous coffee roasters. I was looking for something that would create consistent roasts and very simple. Yes, I could see the benefits of more advanced machines, but I just really wanted to get a better understanding of this beverage I drink daily. While I’ve been drinking coffee for over 20 years, I’ve never put too much thought into the bean. I have a Jura super aromatic, and have 2 americanos every morning, sometimes an espresso. I’m not much of a fan of milk based drinks, and drink the coffee black, so the bean, grind and other factors are very important!I’ve found having this roaster for nearly a year now has really added to my understanding of coffee, and dialing in exactly what I like. The unfortunate part of course, is it makes going to Starbucks... a horrible reminder of the lack of taste or quality.I’ve roasted about 50 pounds of coffee so far, I do about 2 roasts per week for the office and my family.The only think I wish was better is some sort of ambient temperature correction. Basically, roasting coffee outdoors in summer vs winter, I have to adjust the time to get a consistent roast output. I wish this thing would realize its 45 degrees or 100 out, and adjust accordingly.