Diedrich IR-7 Opinions

[Halen]

I've been kicking around the idea of upgrading from my current home roaster to a Diedrich IR-7 (used). My goal is to get a much firmer handle on my roast profiles. Has anyone here used a Diedrich roaster, if so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this machine.

[Ascholten]

I am not familiar with that roaster but as with any used machine, check it VERY carefully.
Why is he getting rid of it?  Getting out of the business?  Upgrading?  ... or not a really good reason,... just because.....

If possible, ask if you can see him do a roast live or do a roast yourself on the machine, by yourself I mean with him overseeing of course etc, but basically you want to see that it's in decent working order and you are not buying someone elses woes.  Check the cleanliness too, that can also be an indication how well it's been taken care of too...On that if it's super dirty, that can turn into a super nightmare trying to clean too.    It'd be like me getting a car, running it for 60k miles, never changing the oil in it, just adding more when it's low, I sell it to you, at 65k the engine blows and I look at you and go what the hell?  What did you do?  it ran fine for me all these years, what did you do to it?

Otherwise, well.. you know these rabbit holes and where they can lead us to 

Aaron

[Halen]

Thank you for the response Aaron, very much appreciated. I've reached out to the seller and will go through the things you've mentioned to insure it's a roaster worth buying!

[peter]

What I hear you asking is, will the Diedrich be responsive to my intended profiles, and is there a marked difference in how it responds vs. other gas roasters.  Am I close? 

I would ask about your "firmer handle on my roast profiles" and what that means.  Firmer handle before getting the Diedrich?  Firmer handle once I have the Diedrich, as I learn how to roast on it?

In my estimation, the whole idea of having a wide array of roast profiles for various coffees is a bit absurd and often pretentious, an idea floated by snobs who think they're in the elite of the roasting world.  I know, I know... "we have to get every last iota of goodness out of every bean" is a great goal.  And who would admit that they're not striving for that perfect roast?  It's just that I believe 99% of coffee isn't that fussy, and a good all-around profile is way more than adequate.

[Halen]

What I hear you asking is, will the Diedrich be responsive to my intended profiles, and is there a marked difference in how it responds vs. other gas roasters.  Am I close? 

I would ask about your "firmer handle on my roast profiles" and what that means.  Firmer handle before getting the Diedrich?  Firmer handle once I have the Diedrich, as I learn how to roast on it?

In my estimation, the whole idea of having a wide array of roast profiles for various coffees is a bit absurd and often pretentious, an idea floated by snobs who think they're in the elite of the roasting world.  I know, I know... "we have to get every last iota of goodness out of every bean" is a great goal.  And who would admit that they're not striving for that perfect roast?  It's just that I believe 99% of coffee isn't that fussy, and a good all-around profile is way more than adequate.

You are spot on with everything you mentioned, especially the last sentences which I wholeheartedly agree with.

[Ascholten]

Some coffee's have things that they 'prefer'   ie for a Kona, take it up slower as an example.    for a Sulawesi, pour the coal to it.. as an example.   Very few have a 'MUST DO IT THIS WAY' step to them.

Also, well, different strokes for different folks.  Some people love a certain taste profile over others, so what I think is the god spot on a certain bean, someone else may say, oh yah that's good !!! BUT.... I prefer it  THIS way, and then share how they like the bean?

Who's correct?

BOTH... remember, this is about making the beans perfect for YOU,  making the flavor profiles something YOU like,  not what I like, not what the other guy posting likes, but what YOU like !!

I personally like lighter roasts,  others prefer heavier roasts and when you tell them, I rarely take it much into second crack they are like, oh really, you HEATHEN !!!

Here's a free tip.
If you figure out how to NOT have the fire department show up when you roast, then you are doing something correctly !

Aaron

[peter]

Now, OTOH, the Honduras I sold earlier this year...  I bought it based on my rep's recommendation (she's great and knows her stuff) and once I got the bag home and did a few roasts I thought, "I need to talk to Jeri, her palate must be off" because it was adequate, but that's all it was.  So I moved some here at the Club and sold some roasted to customers, and never got any feedback.  Then, on my very last roast at the end of the bag, I stumbled onto what turned out to be the perfect profile; this coffee was actually way better than I thought it was.  Go figure.

[Dante]

Great insight here, guys. I have been roasting coffee for close to 20 years now and what you said is what I have learned over that time. I might tweak my roast to suit the brewing method that I want to try with the coffee. I find, for example, that a lighter roast does not pour well in my espresso machine, no matter how much I adjust the grind size and the tamp, etc. So, it is good to have a roaster that allows control on heat and airflow, as a minimum, so that you could get your coffee to the desired doneness. Then there is drum vs fluid bed, which could also have some effect on the roast. I've been down in this rabbit hole for a while and still enjoying it. Cheers!

[Ascholten]

Dante, glad to see you posting here !

The drum .vs. fluid bed.  yes that's the standard  chevy .vs. ford argument there.   I have gotten wonderful roasts out of BOTH methods, and No one is NOT brighter than the other, most of that stuff can for the most part be controlled by YOU !!

LEARN YOUR MACHINE !!

Now that I think of it, wow, Ive been roasting oh god, 16 years now I think?  Where the hell did my life go!   When I first started roasting, I was a bit out of the navy and wondering where my life will end up next.  Now I find myself retired from my SECOND job .. and my life ended up here.  N E V E R.... seen that coming in a million years !!

Dante hits this one the head, you HAVE to have a versatile roaster, especially if you are going to do any kind of roasting for anyone else or really 'get into it'.  Some people like it dark, some don't.  Some coffee's need a TON of heat to get going, others not so much.  That is one thing that always got me on the Behmor and doing Sulawesi's, you'd watch the timer drop down to zero and not a thing you can do about it, and juuuust about the time it'd FINALLY get into crack, the thing would go into cool down.   The newer ones don't do this anymore though I have heard.

Your comment on the light roast not wanting to do well in the espresso machine.  Don't want to sound like an ass but... have you tried other machines?  I never had any problem with it BUT can absolutely see how it might affect it.  Darker roasts, more 'fuzzies' lets call them, are burnt off, bean may be hardened a bit.  Think krikostats vs wobomurmurs... so it's less of a torturous path for the water to have to find it's way through.  Can you adjust the pressure on your machine?  oh enough you are old enough to know this stuff

At the end of the day though, ENJOYING it is what it is all about.    I see some people they have a fkn nasa chem lab set up on their roaster and they lament EVERY roast,  oh this took 2.3 seconds longer than this did / should have etc.  They get so caught up in their pedantic minutia, that they forgot to have fun and ENJOY what they did get !!  It's like Dude!! you got 30k of gadgets on this thing, and you still are crying about the coffee?  go back to folgers, then you'll have a real reason to cry!

Peters comment on the last roast was the best, I don't know how many times Ive had this.  I roast a coffee and it's ohh it's good!, then pick out the highlights for my cupping notes, then 3 weeks later ill roast another batch for a roast customer and do it a bit differently and it's WOW!  but wait... I already put my notes up and been selling it !!  if I go and change them up now, people are going to be PISSED !!    Also again, what am I using it for?  If it's being blended with an espresso, maybe I want it a bit darker and muted to blend with the theme.  or maybe I want it brighter to bring some pep to the earthen mix? 

My personal preference now, and perhaps I am a bit biased, but I love the electric roaster I got now,  the Artisan 6.   It's powerful, it's fast, and its clean.  no need to fiddle with gas pressures, or worry about a leak.  I also have solar on the house, so don't have to worry about running out of gas.. or IMC power outages either !!  The machine is built like a tank and if you do have to fix stuff, it's about as close to plug and play as you can get really.   

aaron

[Halen]

Thank you Aaron, Peter, and Dante for sharing your vast knowledge!

[peter]

Let us know if/when you score the Diedrich, and let us know how it goes.

[Stubbie]

I've been kicking around the idea of upgrading from my current home roaster to a Diedrich IR-7 (used). My goal is to get a much firmer handle on my roast profiles. Has anyone here used a Diedrich roaster, if so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this machine.

Sorry for raising this thread from the dead...I don't get here as much as I thought I may.

I roasted on an IR-12 for about a year out here for a local cafe. Very competent roaster, although this one had some issues firing the IR burners. During the winter months, the pilot would lite just fine but would take it's sweet ass time (anywhere from 10 mins - 2 hours) lighting the mains. This one was a mid '90's model and very simple in it's controls, but I turned out some superb coffees from it.

It's something else being able to roast that much coffee at time! Game changer for sure...

-Stubbie

[Ascholten]

That sounds pretty cool but why would it take so long to light the mains?  That sounds like a malfunction of sorts.

Aaron

[Stubbie]

That sounds pretty cool but why would it take so long to light the mains?  That sounds like a malfunction of sorts.

Aaron

Oh, it was...and I couldn't get the owner to have a tech come out and look at it. Likely a sticky gas control valve with it getting worse in colder weather.

Stubbie