Need a new roaster

[Lektrk]

I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new roaster, my I-Roast is dying. Anybody have any ideas as to which is the better roaster between the I-roast 11 , Behomr 1600, or Nesco 1010? I prefere a dark roast on all most all my beans. If I understand things it can be difficult to get a good dark roast with the Nesco or Behmor. Any comments / suggestions greatly appreceated.

[milowebailey]

Hottop would be my choice for a home roaster... yep it's more expensive, but better built and you can burn the coffee if you want to.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

Home built.. Behmor 1600 fine mesh drum... $20
portable table top gas grill                        $20  (unless you catch one at garage sale)
variable speedelectric drill to drive drum      $20  (unless you have one)
odds and ends to tie it all together            free

fresh roasted coffee from roaster you built..  priceless

[mp]

If you do not want to build your own ie SC/TO then what Milo said.

 

[Nucer]

Have to agree with Milo.  I have been roasting with hottop for about 3 years with no real complaints. 

(happy with my roaster in Benbrook, Texas)

[MGLloyd]

This question is posed all the time in the roasting forum of Coffeegeek.  It seems that most of the time, the Behmor is recommended and then purchased as representing the best price/quality ratio.  You can most assuredly get dark roasts in the Behmor if you know what you are doing.  For me, the deciding factor in buying the Behmor was the batch capacity.  About 90% of all my roasts are one pound batches.

[BoldJava]

Since you seem used to the vacuum roar of the I-Roast, I would fall back to an I-Roast original, given the options you put before us.  You can buy 3 of them at that price (compared to the Behmor) and roast simultaneously and more uniformly.  Storing the profile never seemed like a big deal to me.

I have had and used all three ... if you would like more info, contact me offline.

$109 thru 1st-Line, shipping included.

http://www.1st-line.com/machines/home_mod/hearthware/index.htm

B|Java

[hatethis]

I wouldn't buy any of those.  I have tried the nesco and iroast and prefer what I made 1000x more.  I took a simple nut roaster and made a custom lid with a panel that I can lift to add/remove beans and check the color of my roast.  The total cost was about $18, the only drawback is you have to turn it by hand.  I can get a perfect roast on up to 1 1/4 pounds and can almost evenly roast up to 1 3/4 pounds at a time.

[donn]

my I-Roast is dying.

I have had quite a few hot air popcorn poppers die on me, and it's easy to be philosophical about it.  They didn't cost more than a couple bucks, if that much, they were headed for the landfill anyway, and they weren't designed to run that hot.  I had one Hearthware die on me, and I said "no more of that s***!"

If I were going to buy a new roaster, that would be a major attraction to the Hottop - my perception that it isn't going burn itself out in a couple years.  But since I have used neither the Hottop nor the I-Roast, I can only ask - suppose you're going to sell life insurance for electric roasters, what life spans would folks estimate for them?

I don't hear much about the Gene over here, but it would be on my list, if I had money to blow and if I weren't perfectly happy with my gas grill & drum.

[Tex]

I've only used an air-popper, UFO/CO, and Sonofresco. One of the things I'd want is at least a 1-pound capacity or I'd be roasting two or three times a week. The UFO/CO & Sonofresco fill that bill nicely.

[JoshInCA]

At the risk of offering info on something you didn't ask for in the slightest, I use, really like, and would advocate considering a bread machine / heat gun roaster.

Plusses:

• Capacity -- 1-2 pounds of green beanz (I've been fine up to 1.5 or so and would think it could take more)
• Cheap (bread machines are free, sometimes, on Craigslist or through freecycle, or cheap at garage sales, white-elephant sales, etc., or less-cheap-but-still-not-much at the Sally or Willy; heatguns are a tenspot at Harbor Freight)
• Even roasting -- I really don't think you can get an uneven roast from this setup, or at least it would be hard to do
• The X-men factor: you can create a fascinating mutant superhero roaster  by adding a lid, temperature sensor, gadgies to control the height and temp of the heat gun, and so on
• Maybe others I can't call to mind right this second

Minuses:

• Capacity -- it's not easy to roast small quantities. I'd guess that half a pound or so would be the minimum that would work easily and well
• Kinda noisy -- but you can still hear FC and SC
• Lacks a built-in cooler (but you can build one from a colander, a shopvac, and a plastic bucket with a lid)
• And again, maybe others I can't call to mind right this second

I cobbled one together, and I am far and away the least "handy" person I know. (My superhero name is Dangerous With Even A Spoon Man.) And again, I really, really like it.

FWIW.

Sez me.

[garybt3]

Saw this on eBay today, and thought of your post  :-)

( I did not edit it at all).... (Sorta):   
   
#5 pound Coffee roaster BRAND NEW just been build green   Item number: 220410148620

Free shipping from Spring, TX !

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220410148620&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Gary

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

Saw this on eBay today, and thought of your post  :-)

( I did not edit it at all).... (Sorta):   
   
#5 pound Coffee roaster BRAND NEW just been build green   Item number: 220410148620

Free shipping from Spring, TX !

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220410148620&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Gary

Wow.. those guys are stepping it up.... I have been watching their little one pound stove top roasters 

5 pound roaster for a penny... free shipping... yeah

[Tex]

Saw this on eBay today, and thought of your post  :-)

( I did not edit it at all).... (Sorta):   
   
#5 pound Coffee roaster BRAND NEW just been build green   Item number: 220410148620

Free shipping from Spring, TX !

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220410148620&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Gary

Wow.. those guys are stepping it up.... I have been watching their little one pound stove top roasters 

5 pound roaster for a penny... free shipping... yeah

Wonder if it's got NSF certification?

I bought my Yama 5-cup table top vac pot from them. The owner works very hard to make sure you're happy with his products.

[garybt3]

I was thinking about getting one, and roasting out behind my place in a shed.
I'm all about function over looks, as long as the price is right.

(I was a Bradley Fighting Vehicle commander, the 25mm Bushmaster was not pretty at all, but man she could sling rounds all day long ;-)

Anyone know anyone that has one of them there 5# roasters?