Zach & Dani's now is Nesco

[Pyment]

It is new and improved. Made in Wisconsin. From Burman's website, Here is what is new:

The only American built roaster.
Comes with a one year warranty (Zach and Dani was 6 months) and with improved roasting that produces better tasting coffee in a shorter time.
Now distributed and warranted directly by a major manufacturer, Nesco of Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

A recommended roaster for those with inadequate ventilation, or are sensitive to smoke.

Now with improvements:

- Longer warranty - Comes with a full one year warranty.
- Roasts at an higher temperature to help reach those darker roasts and increase the brightness of your cup.
- Warranty support directly from a major appliance manufacturer.

A Very easy to use roaster, comes with a great guide.

Great roaster for those with smoke issues. The Nesco Pro roaster has a catalytic converter/ceramic filter to reduce the smell and smoke that come from roasting.

Start by filling the roaster to the upper fill line. Make sure the back seal is connected to the top and not the tower, and that the top is well seated. Set the timer for 24 minutes the first time. Add more time and /or reduce the amount of coffee to the lower fill line if necessary for a darker roast. Keep the screen in the top clean. This roaster has a nifty smoke reduction system and is definitely the choice for those who don't have adequate venting. Yields enough for 15-20 cups per batch.

Excellent for medium roasts, but roasts dark too. The Nesco Pro home coffee roaster delivers a full 4-5 oz (by weight) roast in about 25-30 minutes. Its smoke free design allows you to roast, without venting, leaving no lingering smell.

Excellent value for the new home roaster!

Garry has the first 25 with full production starting any time now.

[peechdogg]

The price looks good, but it seems that taking 25-30 minutes for a roast is still a bit long. Think I'll wait for some others to road test this one. I bet the smoke-muncher thing is appealing to those who live in cold weather areas where smoking becomes an indoor sport part of the year.

[Pyment]

I am thinking about buying this one for the in-laws. I get the impression that the roast is good enough quality wise for my brother-in-law and simple enough that my wife's sister will use it.

[Gatewood]

I have one; am getting ready to get another. I have four FreshRoastPlus8's and two of them are constantly breaking. My Zach and Dani's roasts plenty dark enough; in fact, too dark some of the time.

[cuemaker]

I just got the Nesco Pro today from Burmans and roasted up a batch.Filled to the fill line or a little more and 24 minutes later (including 5 minute cool down cycle)they were done to a dark
chocolate color.
I`m new at this so not sure what the right name for this roast color
is,but they were all evenly the same color.
Not as fast as my popcorn popper but a lot more even and no smoke.
The beans came out very clean with most of the chaff in the collector cup.

[Pyment]

If anyone sees fit to mention the GCBC when they order from Burman, that would be good. They have been good to us (behind the scenes). It doesn't hurt for them to get a little business from us in return.

[BoldJava]

The price looks good, but it seems that taking 25-30 minutes for a roast is still a bit long. Think I'll wait for some others to road test this one.

I wrote some articles in exchange for the new Nesco Pro.  I am convinced that Nesco (the manufacturer of both the Z and D and the Nesco) goosed the heating elements because my beans finish between 13-16 minutes (5 minutes on top of that is "Cool" mode).  Joe's Lekempti finishes in about 13.25 minutes.

My one wish would be that they would have a minute:second read-out instead of just a minute.  There is a heckuva difference between 20 and 21 minutes, for example.  I am starting to use a stop watch so I can catch and record both minutes/seconds.

The catalytic converter works...it really does eat the smoke (you are only doing 145grams of beans).  It is a delight to use indoors during the winter.  Within a month or so, the Gene will get dusted off when the windows can again be opened.

B|Java

[Lozano]

How hard is it to dump the beans and cool manually rather than let the machine do it for 5 min?  I know with the Freshroast 8+ you have to blow it cool a little bit because the base of the roast chamber expands with heat and locks on like a dog... well, it locks on til you hose it down with air.

[peechdogg]

Hmm. Sounds like B|J had some promising results with this.
This is the type of roaster that my sister would see fit to use, I bet. Her birthday is coming up soon.....

[BoldJava]

How hard is it to dump the beans and cool manually rather than let the machine do it for 5 min? ...

I am not prepared to do that.  I think (as opposed to know) that would be too hard on the unit.  This is a $150 unit and probably needs all the help it can get returning to ambient temp.  The unit can clearly be stopped by unplugging it (this is no on/off switch, only recall/start/cool) but I don't think the circuitry is built for that kind of shinanigans.

Hmm. Sounds like B|J had some promising results with this.
This is the type of roaster that my sister would see fit to use, I bet. Her birthday is coming up soon.....

It is a perfect beginner's unit (and a wonderful unit for Upper Midwest Winters).  The learning curve is very short and a budd, who visited, picked it out (of the four roasters I showed him) to begin his roasting.  For him, it was the catalytic converter that sold him on it.  He loves it.

The rap against it (and the Gene) is that cooling within the unit 'flattens' the taste, taking the edge off a very bright coffee.  I go back and forth on this and once the weather warms up, I am going to prepare 3 roasts from the same bean (probably a bright Central) on the:

1)  Gene Cafe
2)  Nesco
3)  I-Roast 2

I will ask the Cabal to blind cup them and we will see if we can pick out which machine did which roast. 

By all means, consider the Nesco for her.  Burman's has the best price.

B|Java