SC/TO Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks

[milowebailey]

Y'all should take very big bows.
If you hadn't given me all the pointers,
loaned me bits,
sent me parts,
insulted me,
nudged me,
flattered me,
and generally included me....

I'd never have gotten this far....

And here I am......at the beginning of another journey....

Whoopee.....

No maam.... you take the big bow... you did it, and may be the first female to do it...at least that I know of.

Nice work from the photos too.  Looks like you could be a machinist almost

[Tex]

No maam.... you take the big bow... you did it, and may be the first female to do it...at least that I know of.

Nice work from the photos too.  Looks like you could be a machinist almost

Susan has gotten her hands dirty with a lot of coffee-related projects. She can strip a near-antique Gaggia down and rebuild it like new. She has a Rancilio MD-50 that she tore apart for cleaning & put in new burrs. There was a Bunn ES-1A that she stripped to the frame and acid-bathed (this one she did lose interest in before reassembling it - so she sold it to a friend).

Yessir, that is a talented person, unafraid to go where no female has dared to tread!

You go Gal!

[SusanJoM]

awwwww shucks......

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I like that foil tape idea for the aluminum spacer... looks simpler than the springs (and I don't have to paint my SC pink)

[SusanJoM]

I like that foil tape idea for the aluminum spacer... looks simpler than the springs (and I don't have to paint my SC pink)

That was BW's idea....
Thanks, BW.

Susan

[ButtWhiskers]

I like that foil tape idea for the aluminum spacer... looks simpler than the springs (and I don't have to paint my SC pink)

I've been doing that for years.  It has to be replaced every 3 months or so at my rate of roasting, and the adhesive will mark up the riser and the popper some, but it is very handy, is quicker than RTV, fills small gaps easily, and doesn't get caught on things like springs.

You are welcome Susan!

[dmankin]

...and may be the first female to do it...at least that I know of.

There is a woman who goes by Javajabbers on various coffee sites who did a UFO/TO build about 2 years ago - right after I did mine.  So Susan is not the first female to jump on this particular project, but that takes nothing away from her expertise & abilities - she knows her stuff!

How's that first batch taste, Susan?  inquiring minds want to know.

David

[SusanJoM]

How's that first batch taste, Susan?  inquiring minds want to know.

David

Absolutely delicious.
It is amazing how completely differently it tastes from anything I ever did in the IR2.
Everything about it was just.....hmmmmmm.......rounder tasting.
My IR2 is herstory !!!!

Susan

[dmankin]

Absolutely delicious.
It is amazing how completely differently it tastes from anything I ever did in the IR2.
Everything about it was just.....hmmmmmm.......rounder tasting.
My IR2 is herstory !!!!

Susan

I knew you were gonna say that!  Bet everyone else did too!  You're gonna enjoy trying tons of varieties - 'cause its a new game now.  Try beans you didn't like in the iRoast.  You might be pleasantly surprised.  I'm thinking your old favs will be even more to your liking roasted this way.

BTW - I'm waiting on my new switch for the Bunn - I hope to be back in 'business' before long.

David

[mp]

Ok ... I guess this question will be addressed to those who have both a drum roaster, SC-TO, and a FR8+ ... what is the difference in taste between these 3 roasting methods.

Thanks

[Tex]

I have TurboCrazy, UFO/CO, Sonofresco, air popper roasters, but no drum roaster, yet. I wouldn't expect a difference from one machine to the next - if you can match profiles.

An air popper is pretty much a balls to the wall proposition; there's not a whole lot one can do to alter the roast profile.

The UFO/CO is a lot more tailorable, but profiling is still hit-or-miss since it's so hard to reproduce a successful roast. I've tried lots of things; multiple PIDs to let me hit particular temps and hold the roast there; multiple timers so I could predict when 1st & 2nd crack was about to occur, etc. Nothing really helped because there were so many variables that I just couldn't manage enough of them.

The Sonofresco has 9 preprogrammed roast profiles. I'm still playing around with them, but so far I prefer levels 3 & 4 best. Looking at my roast notes I know I can hit a City roast (426?F) time and again, and the Yirg Koke I roasted today will taste the same as what I roasted last week.

Unless one can reproduce a successful roast then the results will obviously be unpredictable. Not necessarily bad; because I invariably got some very drinkable coffee from my TurboCrazy, UFO/CO, & air popper. I just couldn't pick up the same greens I'd roasted last week and know what they were going to taste like this week. That's the only difference I've noticed.

[Tex]

How's that first batch taste, Susan?  inquiring minds want to know.

David

Absolutely delicious.
It is amazing how completely differently it tastes from anything I ever did in the IR2.
Everything about it was just.....hmmmmmm.......rounder tasting.
My IR2 is herstory !!!!

Susan

Yahoo Susan!

Now what can we talk you into? We've gotten you to toss your worthless old grinder in favor of the Tranguillo & MD-50. The Krups steam toy was abandoned in favor of a host of real espresso machines. Someone's talked you into modding the Gaggia espresso machines and now some fool's got you hooked up with a real suicide roaster.

Where does it end Gal?

[mp]

I have TurboCrazy, UFO/CO, Sonofresco, air popper roasters, but no drum roaster, yet. I wouldn't expect a difference from one machine to the next - if you can match profiles.

An air popper is pretty much a balls to the wall proposition; there's not a whole lot one can do to alter the roast profile.

The UFO/CO is a lot more tailorable, but profiling is still hit-or-miss since it's so hard to reproduce a successful roast. I've tried lots of things; multiple PIDs to let me hit particular temps and hold the roast there; multiple timers so I could predict when 1st & 2nd crack was about to occur, etc. Nothing really helped because there were so many variables that I just couldn't manage enough of them.

The Sonofresco has 9 preprogrammed roast profiles. I'm still playing around with them, but so far I prefer levels 3 & 4 best. Looking at my roast notes I know I can hit a City roast (426?F) time and again, and the Yirg Koke I roasted today will taste the same as what I roasted last week.

Unless one can reproduce a successful roast then the results will obviously be unpredictable. Not necessarily bad; because I invariably got some very drinkable coffee from my TurboCrazy, UFO/CO, & air popper. I just couldn't pick up the same greens I'd roasted last week and know what they were going to taste like this week. That's the only difference I've noticed.

Hmm ... that's interesting.  Thanks for your perspective. 

I got curious when Susan said that her SC/TO beans tasted far superior than IR2.  This is a better roaster than the FR8+ and it sounded like close to drum roasting.  I get your point that if you ace the roast unless you have a program to duplicate it over and over again then every roast the beans taste will vary.

Hmm ... I wonder what the cheapest roaster setup would be to work well with the Milogadget setup?

 

[ButtWhiskers]

Ok ... I guess this question will be addressed to those who have both a drum roaster, SC-TO, and a FR8+ ... what is the difference in taste between these 3 roasting methods.

Thanks

Drum roasts are more 'roasty' and 'smoky', with more body and less high-end.   

TurboCrazy has more high end, with less body, smokiness, and Maillard roast products.   

FR8+ results are really dependent on how much control you have.  Off the shelf and unmodified it is a burning machine, with poor ramping and development.  With a variac and a smaller load, you get something more like a TurboCrazy than a drum. 

[peter]

I have TurboCrazy, UFO/CO, Sonofresco, air popper roasters, but no drum roaster, yet. I wouldn't expect a difference from one machine to the next - if you can match profiles.

Matching profiles is only part of the equation; even if you can precisely match time/temps, the method used to apply heat to the bean, and the air-flow, will produce huge differences.

The UFO/CO is a lot more tailorable, but profiling is still hit-or-miss since it's so hard to reproduce a successful roast. I've tried lots of things; multiple PIDs to let me hit particular temps and hold the roast there; multiple timers so I could predict when 1st & 2nd crack was about to occur, etc. Nothing really helped because there were so many variables that I just couldn't manage enough of them.

I admit that I'm biased toward the SC/TO, but this statement is something I totally disagree with.  You can give me any profile's time/temp plot and I can hit it, ten times out of ten.

I'm not being contentious Robert, nor am I defensive about the SC/TO as my pet roaster.  Just trying to clarify what I believe is some misinformation.

Unless one can reproduce a successful roast then the results will obviously be unpredictable. Not necessarily bad; because I invariably got some very drinkable coffee from my TurboCrazy, UFO/CO, & air popper. I just couldn't pick up the same greens I'd roasted last week and know what they were going to taste like this week. That's the only difference I've noticed.

That's the crux of the matter isn't it?  (the bold, italicized sentence)  From my experience with the SC/TO you're revealing more about the roaster than the roaster.