Sonofresco vs Hottop - early comparison

[Tex]

I've done my 1st roast on my Hottop and can make these observations;

1. The Sono is far & away the simpler machine to use!
2. The flexibility of the HT is very apparent after just 1 roast!
3. The chaff collection system of the Sono is FAR superior to the HT!
4. For 1/3 the cost of the Sono, the HT is a much better buy!

Some questions I have;

1. Cost to operate? I had 51 roasts on my Sono, still using the 1st tank of propane.
2. Durability? The Sono seems to be nearly bulletproof in design, with the exception of the glass roast chamber. If something does go wrong it's easy to access any part needing replacement.
3. Replacement parts cost? The Sono replacement parts are VERY expensive ($200 for the glass roast chamber alone). The HT parts list seems a lot more wallet-friendly.
4. Ease of modding? It is impossible to mod the Sono roast profiles using the stock hardware/software. The HT roast profiles seem to be nearly infinitely modifiable.

[John F]

The HT costs a lot to operate, is very fragile, parts are expensive, and can not be modded or upgraded in any way.

I will give you $20 for that pile of junk.

[Tex]

The HT costs a lot to operate, is very fragile, parts are expensive, and can not be modded or upgraded in any way.

I will give you $20 for that pile of junk.

I would feel guilty if I saddled you with my burdens!

[John F]

I would feel guilty if I saddled you with my burdens!

You are good like that.

I tried to take the awful old lever machine off your hands for $50 before and you looked out for me there too.

Thanks? 

[MMW]

The HT costs a lot to operate, is very fragile, parts are expensive, and can not be modded or upgraded in any way.

I will give you $20 for that pile of junk.

You're right.  My HT is a piece of junk.  You can have it (if you send me a Sonofresco  )

[Tex]

The HT costs a lot to operate, is very fragile, parts are expensive, and can not be modded or upgraded in any way.

I will give you $20 for that pile of junk.

You're right.  My HT is a piece of junk.  You can have it (if you send me a Sonofresco  )

I just did my 2nd roast on the HT & I think you'd be making a bad swap!   From what I've seen so far the HT is superior to the Sono in every way except batch size. The Sono's a good roaster for what it is, but I wanted a roaster I could learn on and the Sono just didn't have much to teach me.

The guy that bought the Sono did so with the intent of turning it over to operators with no roasting experience, so they'd be able to roast at a farmers market with little or no training. For that it's a perfect fit.

Now if I could just figure out how to disable the 356° & 410° deadman cutoffs I'd be very happy with my Hottop!

[John F]

Now if I could just figure out how to disable the 356° & 410° deadman cutoffs I'd be very happy with my Hottop!

Spoken like a guy that wanted to run alcohol in a Gaggia boiler and takes midnight strolls in the slums of Disney world....

 

[Tex]

Now if I could just figure out how to disable the 356° & 410° deadman cutoffs I'd be very happy with my Hottop!

Spoken like a guy that wanted to run alcohol in a Gaggia boiler and takes midnight strolls in the slums of Disney world....

 

The Ramones - I wanna be sedated

[cfsheridan]

Interesting.  I almost never get to those cutoffs with my profiles (except when I run a preheat without beans to the 356 cutoff).  Of course, I am running with a smaller batch size (200-227g), and I am always trying to keep the ET down as low as possible while keeping things moving.

[peechdogg]

Spoken like a guy that wanted to run alcohol in a Gaggia boiler and takes midnight strolls in the slums of Disney world....

 

Oh man... that's just plain scary 

[mp]

Spoken like a guy that wanted to run alcohol in a Gaggia boiler and takes midnight strolls in the slums of Disney world....

 

Oh man... that's just plain scary 

Nah ... Robert is a pretty level headed guy ... its just that when he sticks his head over the fence to take a look at his bikini clad neighbor somehow the chemistry gets all out of whack in his brain.