Gene Cafe CBR-101 - a popular and proven coffee roaster for the home

[@akquicksilver]

I've had my Gene for over 15 years and I love it. I went through two heating elements before the manufacturer upgraded the element and I've been running the same heating element now for about 13 years. I roast primarily single origins with my favorite being Ethiopian Yirgacheffe washed and I take it to a full city just before 2nd crack. I roast 230g batches and I dry the beans for 10 minutes at 365ºF and then crank up to 471ºF for 6 minutes and use the auto cool cycle. I have poor hearing (70 year old ears) and I can hear first crack just fine.

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thank you for your valuable feedback and for sharing your roasting profile for the Yirgacheffe 🙏

[@planetfabulous5833]

If you have Air Pods you can turn on the "Live Listen" mode and it acts like a hearing aid and you can hear the first crack really easily!

[@akquicksilver]

@@planetfabulous5833 Thanks!

[@conradcrisafulli8269]

Thank you for sharing your profile for the Yirgacheffe. Do you preheat the Gene Cafe if you do to what temp?

[@akquicksilver]

@@conradcrisafulli8269 What ever temp I intend to roast at is what I preheat to. I preheat until it reaches that temp. I hit the emergency stop, quuickly add the beans, stick the roast chamber back in the Gene, hit the off button and restart at the same temp. After the batch has begun, I measure out another batch of green beans so I can repeat the process in the same manner. I only roast two batches at a time to prevent the Gene from over heating and shutting down. When the 2nd batch is done, I use the same emergency shut down procedure, empty the bans into my cooler, replace the chamber and start again and immediately dial the timer button back to begin the cooling cycle. The last batch of Ethiopian I roasted at 460F and I believe it was quite a bit smoother tasting. Also it is a good practice to empty the chaffe collector afer two roasts. I use the large collector.

[@paulkelly3140]

Hi just bought this machine, I’m watching your videos before I do my first roast. I found it very useful to get an explanation of how it works before I start. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos in future. 👍

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thanks, happy to hear, that it helped!

[@anduril2973]

Thanks a lot for your comprehensive demonstration of this roaster. I intended to go from roasting in the oven to get a roaster. After being shown what to expect from, and how to use this roaster, I'm confident it's the one I'm going to order. Gut gemacht, danske schön!

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thank you for your feedback. I'm curious to get some news from you once you started working with the Gene roaster. It's a very simple machine but roast quality is really great in my opinion.

[@gaagail]

Nice video and thanks for sharing. I use gene cafe roaster for quit time and now using a cooling system it was very helpful.

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Using an external cooling is really important, you will immediately taste the difference.

[@KellyanneGill]

I just got my roaster today, and I've done 3 roasts today, and with 5-10min left in the roast, I used internal cooling and the beans came out nice and cool

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thanks you for your kind feedback. Great to hear, the coffees are nice. Nevertheless, I would recommend you to try external cooling and compare the results.

[@KellyanneGill]

@@CoffeeRoasting Shall do :)

[@AlanGresham]

‘Until first crack’ I am familiar with first and second crack. But do you consider it ‘first crack’ as soon as I first identify it or should I wait until it’s been in progress for a minute. Or two minutes?

[@AlanGresham]

Awesome tip on how to hear the crack. I’ve had mine for years and have been getting it wrong all this time :-/

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thanks for your feedback.

[@AlanGresham]

@@CoffeeRoasting I can add to it now: I’ve mapped the profiles that you’ve listed on you Gene page to my beans, as best I can, and am getting far better results since then. Thank you!

[@valicourt]

I’ve had the machine for many years. When you get a problem with temperature control don’t worry. Just clean the filter underneath the machine. I have even removed the filter.

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thanks for your feedback!

[@Leafie8468]

how can you disammble the filter?

[@valicourt]

@@Leafie8468 open the machine up and then you can pull it right out

[@lastiendasdebenja-tost.dec7407]

hola. cuánto tiempo debo precalentar el tostador antes de introducir los granos de cafe.. gracias por responder..

[@CoffeeRoasting]

I preheat around 7 minutes.

[@shawnee3]

Enjoyed your video very much. How do I change temp display from C to F. Thanks. I live in the U.S

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thanks for asking. I don't think you can change it. But roasters bought in the US (110V network) are set to F anyway.

[@gideonstein7369]

what is the total roasting time in this video. did you lower the temperature, also ,before the first crack to create more sweetness and if yes to what temperature and for how long ?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

I don't remember, how long the roast in this video took. I assume, about 12 to 15 minutes. I always lower the target temperature when FC starts. Did you see the roast profiles on our website: roastrebels.com/en/roasting-knowledge/coffee-roasting/gene-cafe

[@planetfabulous5833]

I love your channel, I'm subscribing!

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thank you 🙏

[@allisonb.8356]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT VIDEO!!! I am Brand New to roasting and super excited as your video was Terrific! My only problem is I have a new gene cafe roaster and it now has some kind of emergency beep that shuts down your roast if you do not hit the correct button. I am not real sure what to do as your video didn’t address this because you were probably lucky enough not to have this issue in your roaster. Do you have any advice for me? Thanks so much and I am so Glad I Found You!

[@mikekerr236]

It’s a safety feature to avoid people walking away from something potentially dangerous. It goes off twice at two different temperatures, just tap the blue button when it beeps.

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thank you for your kind feedback, Alison and thanks for helping, Mike!

[@nikosraptis1985]

Excellent review! I have the same machine for few years now. What temperature usually you use for medium roast? I usually start and finish with the same temp. and i usually use it at 235 c . Do you think is a good idea to go full blast and then lower after the first crack? Thank you very much for sharing :-)

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Yes, especially if you roast high density beans and are looking for roasts with clarity and acidity, I would recommend that.

[@sissoft]

Question..what advice can you give for roasting less than 250gm? i.e., I'm roasting for one person...so 250gm is a bit too much for a batch. What's a good compromise on batch size - my gut feel is 100gm is too small. Probably I would go with 150-200gm. Is this advisable and also how does it affect the roast duration, temperature and roast profile? Thanks!

[@CoffeeRoasting]

You can start from 100g. When roasting less beans, you should be lower in charge temperature. And in general you can add less heat (which is a bit difficult to control with the gene, but having a lower charge temp will already help).

[@edwilmoth2377]

Can you please show how to change between C and F temperature settings? Thanks for the informative vid’s.

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thank you for asking. To my knowledge, you cannot. If I'm wrong and anybody else from the community can help Ed, I would appreciate it.

[@sissoft]

just bought this machine from you. :) keep up the good work

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Nice to hear. Have fun with the roaster, it's a great machine.

[@dylankennedy8140]

So can you taste the difference between this and say a Fresh Roast roaster? Or a hottop with profiling ability? If they all roast the beans evenly then how much difference does it make to the tastes of your average coffee consumer?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

You couldn't directly taste a difference between the different roast systems. The main difference is the control you have (e.g. temperature readings) and the ability to influence the roasts (controls of the roasters). Therefore with the more sofisticated roast systems it will be easier for you to do a roast that is according to your taste.

[@TheHallberger]

Would you say that Bhemor is closer to a commercial roaster than Gene?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Thank you for asking. I wouldn't compare Gene or Behmor with commercial roasters. Of course you are able to roast coffee in the same quality, but the possibilities to control the roaster are less with both machines than with a commercial roaster. So you might struggle to acchieve the consistently same quality that you need in commercial roasting. Therefore you should have a look at machines like the Hottop or Aillio Bullet (drum roasters) or Kaffelogic (fluid-bed roaster). Gene Café and Behmor are great home roasting machines that offer great quality at a reasonable price.

[@jimmyhumphries953]

Hi Great video, I have moved to Bogota Colombia and am looking for excellent roasts. What was the name of your favorate roast ?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Hi Jimmy Thank you for your comment. I don't fully understand your question. Are you asking for my favourite beans, roast degree,...? Kind regards Ingo

[@jimmyhumphries953]

@@CoffeeRoasting Hi, I am looking for the best Colombian roasted beans that i can have.

[@addertooth1]

@@jimmyhumphries953 I will give a fuzzy answer. I tend to be very general with "favorites". Weather patters shift every years, and one year a specific type/farm will produce an incredibly good bean, but the next year it may be lackluster. I participate in online forums for roasters. This way, I let someone else spend the money and try the beans to see how good that year's crop is. If a bean from a region/farm get rave reviews, then I buy some (if any are left at that point). I have even seen (what are considered top beans), like Kona go through these cycles. One year will be worth every dime for the premium price, and the next year will be lacking. For example, this year is a bad year for Kona Purple Mountain. Some beans which have been historically great, can become less fantastic as a farm will seek to capitalize on its reputation. I won't name specifics on this, but almost everyone has noted a decline on many Ethiopian beans the past few years.

[@Mohd.Rafeea]

How to know the temp whether it is in C or F?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

In my videos, it's always °C. If you've got a Gene roaster and are not sure, if it's measuring F or C, you will quickly find out, once it starts. by checking the temperature at the start, which should be about the same as your room temperature.

[@SLVBULL]

Does this destroy the machine not allowing it to cool down completely until 60c when it would normally switch off?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

When the roast is finished and if you are cooling the beans externally (what I recommend), put the chamber back in the roaster and go through the cooling process if it's the last roast (or prepare for the next roast).

[@MrJeepStone]

on your website a lot of your roasts, you state that go 150c for like 6 minutes in the drying phase. Why is this?

[@CoffeeRoasting]

Hi. Slowing down the roast during drying phase often leads to more sweetness in the cup. But be careful not to make this too long - keep the roast max. 1 minute at around 150° / 160°C.

[@MrJeepStone]

@@CoffeeRoasting hi again. Do you mean 1 minute at 150c at the start of roast? because on your website it says 150C for 6 mins

[@conradcrisafulli8269]

@@MrJeepStone I did not see a reply to your question. Did you get an answer?

[@Anarchsis]

How many roasts can you do back-to-back?

[@addertooth1]

I have done as many as 8 roasts in a single roasting "session". However, because I externally cool my beans I always run a *cooling cycle* between each roast for TWO reasons: 1. It is more gentle on the heating element in the roaster and extends its life. 2. It creates a "known" starting temperature for each roast cycle. The completion of the cooling cycle is when the exhaust air has dropped below 140 degrees F (60 degrees C). The machine automatically stops once the temperature has dropped below that threshold. A few minutes later, the Gene shuts completely down if ignored. To produce repeatable roasts, which give the same results.. the roaster needs to start at a "known heat-energy level". On most roasting equipment, the first roast of the day is the most unpredictable, but once the heat is better normalized (and known), the results tend to be more consistent. The cooling cycle gets the Gene to that "known heat energy level" after a roast.

[@dazpower1234]

It’s not loud trust me