RK Drum

[BoldJava]

I have a open gap of about 24" by 1.75" at the back of my grill.  Could be problematic this Wisconsin Winter. I had a mechanical engineer consult today (Schotzieheim & Associate, LLC). I got the associate; older gent.  His team suggests a piano hinge or two with a simple aluminum strip or stainless steel strip attached to them that can be clipped open or dropped shut.

Stay tuned for more blueprints and photos as the project develops.  

Anyone using a welding blanket or two for winter insulating properties?  http://bit.ly/9Bg3tG

B|Java

[headchange4u]

Anyone using a welding blanket or two for winter insulating properties?  http://bit.ly/9Bg3tG

B|Java

I mentioned the welding blanket a few posts back. I've read they work well for insulating smokers so I think they would work well on a grill. I plan to order one soon and put it to the test. Look for blankets made from fiberglass. Ebay has some decent deals.

[BoldJava]

I mentioned the welding blanket a few posts back. I've read they work well for insulating smokers so I think they would work well on a grill. I plan to order one soon and put it to the test. Look for blankets made from fiberglass. Ebay has some decent deals.

Missed that.  I am trying to make whatever mods that I am going to make, make them at one time.  Every time you add a mod, the profiles need rework.  Who am I kidding?  It is all good, so long as I am learning.  Would like to have it winterized so I am ready for that -7 degree roast come January.

B|Java

[JimsJava]

I mentioned the welding blanket a few posts back. I've read they work well for insulating smokers so I think they would work well on a grill. I plan to order one soon and put it to the test. Look for blankets made from fiberglass. Ebay has some decent deals.

Yeah, I saw some of our smokers at work wrapped up in these during their smoke breaks last winter. Seemed to do the trick!

    

[Richdel]

I was looking at the "Hardware and Equipment" section of this forum,
but there is no RK Drum pinned thread there, so I hope you won't mind if
I ask a few dumb questions here.  I currently have a 6 month old Gene Cafe,
and I have quickly found the limitations of roasting 224grams at a time.  While
I do not have a business/following for my coffee yet, it is an idea that I have
thought about quite a bit over the last year.  I thought my next step roaster might be
either a Sono or an RK, but wanted to make sure that I still had the flexibility with both
to do smaller roasts.  With the Sono being a 1# or 2# roaster, I would assume that flexibility
does exist. 

But what about the RK, specifically the 4# and 6# models.  I have read quite a few positive
reviews where current owners say the only mistake they made was NOT buying the next size up. 
I understand that as business needs expand, the desire to have a roaster capable of larger
batch sizes is desirable.  So planning that in advance would make sense.  But what if the buisiness
didn't/doesn't/won't pan out, can a 4# or 6# roaster still act as a personal roaster,  Can I still
roast as little as a single pound with either drum? 

One other question, I thought during my surfing some time ago regarding the RK Drum, I came across
a listing of commonly sold Gas BBQ grills (those sold at Lowe's, Home Dept, Target, Sears,...) and
their compatability with the RK Drum.  But I can't seem to find it now.  The forum at the RK site is
new not much help.  If anyone knows where this info is located, could you please post it.   

Thanks, and sorry for sidetracking this thread, although I may join in on the group buy after
some serious reading, thinking, and evaluation.

[Jeffo]

Can I still
roast as little as a single pound with either drum?

I've done 1/4 lb. roasts in the 4 lb. drum. I routinely do 1/2 lb. roasts now and it works great. A single lb. would work out very well.

[peter]

One of the Monkey Club cuppers, Jeffo, "Mr. Palate" himself, uses an RK drum (I believe it's the standard 4# drum) and can roast as small a batch as he wants.  If you're doing .5# batches in your Gene, you should be able to replicate that in the RK.

Jeff beat me to the post.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I don't believe the sonofresco will do a smaller batch too well.. (maybe with the milowidget

the bbq drum roaster is more hands on.. you have to pay more attention to the roasting process.. the sonofresco you can set it start it and it pays attention to the details (this does not mean you can start it and walk away, just that the profile is set by the sono's electronics)

[Jeffo]

Shoot. I could have not posted and let Peter speak for me which he always does well.

I still don't know what these alternative roast level terms mean. We had such a hard time in the past just getting FC and FC+ straight.

[mp]

Shoot. I could have not posted and let Peter speak for me which he always does well.

I still don't know what these alternative roast level terms mean. We had such a hard time in the past just getting FC and FC+ straight.

I would say it would be the promoter's sensationalism.

 

[headchange4u]

A single lb. would work out very well.

I would be interested in your 1# roasting method/profile as well as other info anyone can provide for roasting small batches with the 4# drum. I normally don't do less than 2 lbs.

[headchange4u]

I followed the 1-2 lb profile on the RK site and it was dead on. Roasted 3 X 1# batches. The first batch, starting with a cold drum, hit FC at 11:31 and was pulled at a little over 13 minutes. The other 2 batches hit FC at around 10:50.

Roasting Profiles for small loads up to 2 lbs
 
1.       Preheat grill to 470 degrees, give it time to stabilize
2.       Load a cold drum with greens
3.       Install the drum in the grill, and close lid, working as quickly as possible, so as not to loose too much heat.
4.       The grill will drop to about 395 to 420 degrees. It should come back up to temp in about 6 to 7 min.
5.       Adjust if you have to but be patient. Keep the grill at 445 to 455
6.       First crack should start between 11 min and 13 min depending on the amount of greens.
7.       I leave the grill at 465 to 470
8.        Second crack should start between 12 and 15 min. depending on the amount of green you are roasting
9.       Just as second starts, I cut the heat back to low and let it coast to desired finish. Remember it will take a little time to stop the motor, pull the pin (I use needle nose pliers), get the drum out of the heat, open the door and dump the beans into the cooling tray, so stop short of your target about 15 to 20 sec. to hit the target roast. Make sure you use gloves that can with stand 500 degrees, for about 20 to 30 sec.
 
If a city of light full city roast is desired dump the beans before 2nd crack occurs, or just a snap or two into 2nd crack
It is good idea to have a fan and a perforated or screened cooling tray, to cool the beans and stop the roasting process.
You may have to adjust your temps, each grill is different, and smaller loads tend to roast faster. I found that a grill that is to hot will cause fast roast times and uneven roasts.

[thcoffee]

Has anyone upgrade to the new latch system for the RK Drum?



I've read horror stories about the cotter pin coming out and dumping the entire contents of the roasting drum inside the grill. Fortunately this has never happened to me, but I am still thinking about upgrading to the new latch system. I also think that the new latch would be easier to manipulate when wearing gloves. Sometimes the cotter pin can be difficult when I've got gloves on.

I just updated mine to the new latch and to me well worth it. I can get the beans out a few seconds quicker than with the old style pin. For $15 worth every penny. I should have done it sooner

[headchange4u]

Thanks for the report.

I'm mainly just tired of losing the cotter pin. I have extras and it's attached to the drum by a wire, but sometimes it just comes off, almost always at the most inopportune moment. Somehow the pin came off just before, at the moment of, or just after loading the drum into the grill. After about 30 seconds I started to hear beans hit the metal pan in the bottom of the grill and I knew something was up. Sure enough the pin was MIA, and the door had opened just enough for a few beans to fall into the bottom of the grill. And of course I could not locate the extra cotter pins and had to quickly substitute a paper clip.

[headchange4u]

What's the model number/part number on your latch?