Author Topic: Buckeye coffee roasters  (Read 20654 times)

Offline donnie cole

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Buckeye coffee roasters
« on: March 08, 2017, 08:28:17 PM »
Anyone have any experience with Buckeye Coffee Roasters. I'm considering the Phoenix Oro 2.5 but haven't seen any reviews on them.
Thanks Donnie

Offline hankua

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2017, 07:03:45 PM »
Randy at Buckeye was an active member on coffeeforums before starting Buckeye, and had an early Artisan V5 fluid bed machine as well. I think he started around the same general time as Steve at MillCity.

One of the big differences between the two (afain); MillCity sells one brand of Chinese roasters and Buckeye sells multiple brands of Chinese machines. I got a bit of an inside look on this last year, helping someone self-import a Chinese coffee roaster; eye popping FOB pricing by the way.

Randy has some positive feedback on HB, on the Santoker and BC series. He claims to fire up every machine testing the overheat cutoff and if it's working properly. Nice touch!

Because the "Oro" looks like the North says nothing; in China there are knockoffs of the knockoffs. Kind of a "Wild West" you might say, where trusting some alibaba ad could turn out great or a disaster.

The best advice I can think of is to get some leads from Buckeye and call his customers, better yet bring your own greens and test drive the machine in question.



Offline donnie cole

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2017, 12:17:18 PM »
Hankua, Thank you for the insight. That's a great Idea... I'll see if Randy can get me in touch with some Oro users. I guess my main reason for considering the Oro was the the use of a double wall drum. Seems like a good attribute. Not sure if that makes it a better option over the North though.

Offline peter

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2017, 03:04:56 PM »
I'm curious why you think a double-wall drum is a positive attribute...   not trying to threadjack or start a discussion...  just curious.
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Offline hankua

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2017, 03:35:34 PM »
Donnie
Double wall drums are a feature of some high end European machines such as Probat. Randy might have switched manufacturers on the Oro as well, at least it looks so.

The guy I was helping in Chicago was a novice and wanted a 2k machine, in the end talked him into getting a 1k. I'm not a fan of the 2k size in the realm of Chinese roasters, mostly due to price vs size. For the majority of drum roaster, users roast less than full capacity with a few exceptions (mill City 1k). My thinking is the next step up from a 1k is a machine capable of roasting 5lbs of finished coffee taking into account 15% weight loss. It gives you entry into commercial accounts which can be kind of a "bread and butter" gig.

Just took a look at the Oro and there are a lot of things I like such as: precision damper vs adjustable air fan, ribbon burners, some cast iron components. The specs have some typo as well, I'd have to communicate with him to clear them up. Randy rates his machines in pounds instead of kilo's so you have to be careful there.

If you notice the front section of the drum has a cast iron hub and ring; it needs to be faced/turned on a lathe. Could end up being fairly precise; what is the gap between the faceplate and drum? Again, fancy European roasters often have this feature.

Offline hankua

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2017, 03:50:27 PM »
I'm curious why you think a double-wall drum is a positive attribute...   not trying to threadjack or start a discussion...  just curious.

Great question!

I think one of the reasons for the double drum is to prevent scorching. On the flip side when you make a burner adjustment, it may take longer to take effect due to the air gap. Also assume this type setup has the burners under the rotation drum.

It's something seldom seen on smaller machines, maybe because it's not necessary?

Not to mention we're value shoppers here.... ;D

Offline sea330

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2017, 04:05:15 PM »
I have always roasted on cast iron drum and never have had any scorching once I got the hang of it, have never roasted on a SS drum but I have purchased coffee from a guy that did and scorching was evident. I have been looking to upgrade from a 2K to a 10K, cast Iron would be a must.

Offline Ascholten

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2017, 06:20:30 PM »
One would think a simple baffle plate / diffuser on the bottom could avoid most scorching, as well as learning your machine too :)  Cast iron has nice mass to it which helps for heat stability.

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Offline donnie cole

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2017, 08:48:52 PM »
I'm curious why you think a double-wall drum is a positive attribute...   not trying to threadjack or start a discussion...  just curious.
My thinking is that the double wall distribute heat more evenly and eliminate hot spots you might get on single wall. I'm this doesn't apply to the more expensive roasters.

Offline hankua

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2017, 09:02:29 PM »
I have always roasted on cast iron drum and never have had any scorching once I got the hang of it, have never roasted on a SS drum but I have purchased coffee from a guy that did and scorching was evident. I have been looking to upgrade from a 2K to a 10K, cast Iron would be a must.

There aren't many roaster lines with cast iron drums; Ozturk and Yang-Chia for example. I know the Feima/Yang-Chia dealer in Taipei, the top of the line 4K machine goes for around $10,000.

The Oro literature mentioned "cast steel" and there may be a translation issue. It looked like a stainless insert was bolted in place with the vanes welded on.

Offline donnie cole

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2017, 09:32:19 PM »
Donnie
Double wall drums are a feature of some high end European machines such as Probat. Randy might have switched manufacturers on the Oro as well, at least it looks so.

The guy I was helping in Chicago was a novice and wanted a 2k machine, in the end talked him into getting a 1k. I'm not a fan of the 2k size in the realm of Chinese roasters, mostly due to price vs size. For the majority of drum roaster, users roast less than full capacity with a few exceptions (mill City 1k). My thinking is the next step up from a 1k is a machine capable of roasting 5lbs of finished coffee taking into account 15% weight loss. It gives you entry into commercial accounts which can be kind of a "bread and butter" gig.

Just took a look at the Oro and there are a lot of things I like such as: precision damper vs adjustable air fan, ribbon burners, some cast iron components. The specs have some typo as well, I'd have to communicate with him to clear them up. Randy rates his machines in pounds instead of kilo's so you have to be careful there.

If you notice the front section of the drum has a cast iron hub and ring; it needs to be faced/turned on a lathe. Could end up being fairly precise; what is the gap between the faceplate and drum? Again, fancy European roasters often have this feature.
Thanks... Some good points you make there. I'm a novice my self. Been roasting on an RK Drum for couple of years. It's good way to get into roasting. But want go to the next level and be able log data. The 1k range would be ideal for me.

Offline Ascholten

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2017, 05:18:37 AM »
I use an electric Fluid Bed roaster, the Artisan 6.  Can do 5 Lbs plus at a shot and is really easy to master and figure out.  Being electric, the heat rate is very fast and changes happen very fast too so you don't have to worry about tweaking something then waiting 2 minutes to see if it's enough or too much.  I paid 3,000 for mine, but just got the roaster body, I didn't get the chaff collector and fans etc etc because I roast pretty much outside and just let it blow, so that saved some money.  For the money you are looking at putting into a roaster, this one would allow you to roast up to 5 Lbs (it can actually do about 7 if you are careful) or down to 8 oz at a shot for sample roasting.  A lot cheaper too.

Aaron
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Offline hankua

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #12 on: March 12, 2017, 06:44:15 PM »
Let us know what you end up doing.  :D

Offline donnie cole

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #13 on: March 12, 2017, 08:52:45 PM »
Will do. Thanks for the input!

Offline Joe

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Re: Buckeye coffee roasters
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2017, 02:18:59 PM »
Yeah Buckeye, MCR and AWC are all rebadged Chinese roasters, I know that was discussed earlier on in the thread. My opinion remains the same get it through Alibaba if you are considering a Chinese roaster. Going through Buckeye et. al. is simply throwing money to a middleman for absolutely no real benefit only IMO a perceived easier transaction.

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