Café Naturêve Blog

IBTS stands for: Infrared Bean Temperature Sensor.

The biggest difference between the IBTS and the Bean Probe: the IBTS only gives real-time data, while the bean probe is cumulative. Many people have discarded the use of the traditional probe because the reading varies according to batch size and ambient temperature. (and the bean probe’s size itself.)

When the batch size is bigger, the probe is covered by a bigger bean mass, which means the reading is higher.
When the air is colder, the reading is lower.
When the drum speed is lower, the reading is higher.

Even though there are lots of variables, I still refer to both of them, because coffee roasting plays a lot with the control of moisture content. The bean probe is capable of detecting the leak of moisture content at the very first second.

Too much moisture content leaving the beans leads to crash of a curve, which, in my opinion, is not the optimal interpretation of a bean.

The best part of the IBTS is that it is not affected by batch size and ambient temperature. I always use its reading to decide when to drop the beans (when finished).

Be careful, the IBTS gives real-time data, while the bean probe is cumulative. This means, the reading of IBTS can be a big fluctuation when the moisture content isn’t well controlled. It may be 209°C now but reads 207°C at the next second, which is actually even lower. If the reading of the IBTS fluctuates a lot, there might be an issue in the roast.

On the other hand, the bean probe’s being cumulative means, the subsequent readings will always higher than or equal to the previous ones.