Author Topic: Hottop Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks  (Read 81175 times)

psedillo

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Hottop Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks
« on: October 29, 2008, 05:37:36 AM »

I roast out on my back patio and with the weather getting cooler in Houston (crazy I know) I was wondering if I need to compensate for the drop in temperatures? If so what should I be doing?
« Last Edit: February 27, 2017, 09:36:23 AM by Joe »

Offline Mlee

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2008, 06:18:21 AM »
I find myself having to preheat to about the 175-180 mark (instead of the preset beep point of 167)to compensate for the initial heat loss when you drop the beans. Other than that it hums right along. There may be slightly more time between cracks but nothing that really matters. Wind is more of a factor than the cool to me.. Hope that helps

Mike
Prov 3:5-6-Trust in the Lord with all your heart
                Lean not on your own understanding
                Acknowledge Him in all your ways
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psedillo

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2008, 12:28:26 PM »
I find myself having to preheat to about the 175-180 mark (instead of the preset beep point of 167)to compensate for the initial heat loss when you drop the beans. Other than that it hums right along. There may be slightly more time between cracks but nothing that really matters. Wind is more of a factor than the cool to me.. Hope that helps

Mike

Mike - Thank you for the reply, that is the info I was looking for!

Offline 5thumbs

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2008, 02:47:00 PM »
Mike (and others),   How far do you push the lifetime of the Hottop filters (top and side), or do you change them regularly?  I rinse them out once in awhile to "double" the suggested lifetime of them.  Also I pull the back filter partially out after 1st crack, and fully out after once 2nd crack has started and during cooling.   Has not been a problem for me but just wanted to know if you have "pushed the limits" with the filters and if you have noticed any effects.
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Offline Mlee

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2008, 05:51:46 PM »
I shoot for about 40-50 roasts with the rear filter and about 100-110 with the top one. Really dont notice much difference in letting them go that long.The times and results are pretty consistent...
Prov 3:5-6-Trust in the Lord with all your heart
                Lean not on your own understanding
                Acknowledge Him in all your ways
                And He will make your paths straight

Offline staylor

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2008, 07:06:39 PM »
Hahaha, don't worry too much about the Houston temps (since they are generally the same as Team Sugar Land) it will never get cold enough here to worry about the temps. I used to put my Hottop in stamped down snow (in Canada) and take it up to pre-heat temps of approx 170 and drop the beans in, I could see when things were getting to pre-heat temps based on the radius of melted snow. ;-)

If it got below -20 I would still roast outside and would just choose a windless day and add a few more degrees of pre-heat. I've found wind affected things more than temps, once things get a bit cooler outside. If I needed beans and it was a windy Canadian winter day I would roast in the garage. I've roasted in temps below -40.

As for filters, for the top filter I don't track it by number of roasts, I just look at it top-down while the roaster is roasting and if I can see the roasting element through obvious gaps in the filter material then I reorder a new one, I'd say they last for approx 100 roasts. For the rear filter the Scottish blood in my stretches the life cycle out on that bad boy for A LOT of roasts, once I see an obvious build up of residue on the filter material I boil some water, put a little bit of Cafiza on a deep plate, pour the water on the Cafiza, mix it up and then rest the entire rear filter assembly in the Cafiza'd water. I agitate the water a bit to help release some of the particulates and a couple of minutes later I take the assembly out and use a low pressure jet spray from the sink to get rid of the dirty water - be sure to use really, really low pressure or you will tear the black filter material. Set the whole thing outside in the sun to dry. Wallah, an almost eternally lasting rear filter.

cfsheridan

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2008, 07:27:37 PM »
Interesting...

After a few roasts with my hottop, I decided to test out a bit more preheat.  I liked the results, and have stuck with a profile designed around me dropping the beans in at 250? F.

The only annoying thing is that the machine insists on having to go back down to 165?F before starting another cycle.  Every time I roast, it makes me want to install a new control system, but I know where that rabbit hole leads...

Offline staylor

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2008, 10:19:14 PM »
I got distracted the other day and missed the pre-heat warning beep and ended up pouring the greens in at 220 or so, I didn't even blink an eye, I don't sweat that stuff too much now, there's thousands of roasts still to come. ;-)  I bet in a year I'll get all OCD about finding "the perfect drop temp for each bean", poor John.

It is a bit annoying having to wait until it gets below 165 so you can start a new roast cycle, I just put the nozzle of my industrial wet/dry vac on top of the green feed chute and reverse blow all the hot air out of the chamber, it gets the temp down pretty quickly as compared to just letting the ambient air do it. Give it a try.

Pyment

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #8 on: October 31, 2008, 05:01:38 AM »
Are we talking about F or C?

With my Toper I am using Celsius. It has a lot of metal to heat (it weighs in the 130-150 lb range). So if I don't preheat pretty well, I get pretty long profiles because I am heating the steel besides the beans. If I drop at lower temps (under 200 C), I get really long profiles- up to 25-30 min. I haven't scorched beans with temps up to 250C. My first step is to find the drop temp for various beans.

I have come to realize that my bean probe isn't really measuring bean temp with a 1 lb load (what I have been using so far). I think  that early in the curve, It runs closer to environmental and later it is closer to actual bean temp (presumably as volume expands). I am still using visual, smell, and sound to track the roast and am still trying to adjust the probe placement. I want to get it into the bean mass but not touching the drum surface. I may have to sneak a second probe into the bean mass.

I can vary the rate of heating by restricting air flow. I am starting to use pauses at critical temps, but this slows the roast. When I do that, it is hard to regain momentum. I worry about baking the beans.


cfsheridan

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2008, 06:26:55 AM »
All my temps are ?F.  I've dropped as high as 300?F in the hottop with good results.

I put a fan on in front of the machine, and I am usually down to 165?F by the end of the cooling cycle.  Blowing out the chamber with compressed air to clean out the chaff also helps.  That said, it seems silly that I have to go that low, when I'd rather just take the roaster down to 250-300?F for the next roast. 

I remember that the CCR (Computer controlled roaster) hottops that some folks produced took care of this "feature", which is one (among many) of the reasons I'd like to convert this machine (if the bug to get a commercial roaster doesn't give me the tactic to convince my wife first).

Offline staylor

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2008, 06:38:10 AM »
Yeah, it is silly that we all have to go back to 165, I'm now in the habit of blowing out the chamber to speed up the drop then wandering over to my green bean closet and weighing out a batch and writing down what I have put together, by then the Hottop is usually at temp again.

Ohhhhhhhh, that commercial roaster bug, I feel your pain. I'm sure my wife would be ok with a "real" roaster purchase but I'm still pretty happy with the Hottop overall.

Offline John F

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #11 on: October 31, 2008, 07:05:17 AM »
I've roasted in temps below -40

I hope you roasted close to the sled dogs at least to give them a tiny bit of warmth to huddle around.

-40..... unthinkable.

Remind me to make sure it's August whenever I come visit you some day up there in the tundra.

-40.... madness.


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Offline staylor

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #12 on: October 31, 2008, 07:46:59 AM »
No, what's unthinkable is... no coffee. ;-)

Pyment

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2008, 08:13:47 AM »
I have to cool my unit to 176F before shutting down to avoid warping the drum. That was probably part of the thinking by the Hottop folks. We don't want the homeroasters warping their drum and having to do a lot of servicing.

I just readjusted my probe again. I found out that it was wrapping around the center axis. It was too long. I have shortened it and will see if this works. I am figuring it needs long enough to be below the trier and short enough that it won't catch one of the vanes and wrap around the middle.

I am warming the drum now to roast 1 kg of a Kenyan. This is actually my first 1 kg roast. All the rest have been 500 grams. I plan to drop at about 235C (~455F) and pause (1 min) between 190C and 200C (~370-390F)  to enhance sweetness.  Then take it through 1st C (227C/440F) hold here 1 min, then take it up to 232C/450F and finish either after a minute here or start of FC whichever comes first. My wife prefers coffe with more sweetness and less acidity.

I am guessing this will be somewhere between 25-30 min.

staylor, When I am ready to move up to a bigger roaster (I have my eye on a USRC 3K), I'll give you a good price on this one.

Offline staylor

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Re: Hottop and colder weather
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2008, 08:51:40 AM »

staylor, When I am ready to move up to a bigger roaster (I have my eye on a USRC 3K), I'll give you a good price on this one.


Killin' me. ;-)