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

[Tex]

(snipped)

Preheat to 350F as measure by the BT probe, let temperature stabilize for at least 5 minutes.

(snipped)

Isn't 5 minutes a bit long to preheat? There are no heavy objects needing that long to bring to a stable temp. If you roasted in an enclosed chamber it might make sense to preheat for a long period, but all you're doing is pouring heat into the atmosphere.

Or, am I misreading what you're saying? Are you holding the temp at 350° for the full 5 minutes or are you just bringing the temp to 350° and shutting it off and waiting 5 minutes?

[blzrfn]

(snipped)

Preheat to 350F as measure by the BT probe, let temperature stabilize for at least 5 minutes.

(snipped)

Isn't 5 minutes a bit long to preheat? There are no heavy objects needing that long to bring to a stable temp. If you roasted in an enclosed chamber it might make sense to preheat for a long period, but all you're doing is pouring heat into the atmosphere.

Or, am I misreading what you're saying? Are you holding the temp at 350° for the full 5 minutes or are you just bringing the temp to 350° and shutting it off and waiting 5 minutes?

I am holding the temp at 350 for 5 minutes so that the roasting chamber (base, spacer and glass top) are all up to temperature allowing the beans to do the majority of the heat absorption.  Dumping beans in without preheating would waste a lot of the heat output as the roast chamber absorbs the heat as well.  5 minutes may be more than needed, but I'd rather err on the safe side.

[chuckmartin]

On Supentown.com, they have three TO tops, the 2000, 2002, and 2007. From the pictures, it appears that the 2000 and 2007 have the handle with the switch that turns the oven off, and that the 2002 has digital controls. I gather from BW's comments earlier in this thread that the 2007 is too much trouble to fit to a UFO/SC bottom, and has less power (because of the increased height from the shape of the glass?). Is there any reason to prefer the 2002 (at $65) over the 2000 (at $55)?

Chuck

[peter]

I wasn't aware that there was a power difference between the various Sunpentowns.  But then I've never seen much if any difference in roasting between my Decosonic w/ 1275W and Galloping Gourmet w/ 1400W.

Stay away from the digital controls.  I think they all have the switch on the handle.  You can open it up and bypass that switch, or you can fashion a new handle out of something like a coat hanger so you can lift the TO up w/o raising the stock handle.

My money would be on the SO-2000.

[chuckmartin]

I like it when the best is the cheapest! <g>

You don't say why, but I assume the analog controls are better because they are easier and faster to operate. At least that's what it looked like to me. But I asked because it was not clear whether the digital controls allowed more control.

I'll take your advice, and get to work on my old popper base and spacer. And I need to find a new sensor for my digital thermometer, as the last one stopped working after I dropped it in the brew pot when making beer!

Thanks for the help.

Chuck

[chuckmartin]

The 2000 it is. Just ordered it, and I'm looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, I got my old StirCrazy down from that high shelf where it has resided for years after many years as a popcorn popper. Man, that thing was nasty! I took it apart and soaked it in a hot GloJo solution. It has a metal shaft, but a kind of plastic spacer of some sort. I'm soaking it in GloJo to get the grime off. Then I'll figure out if I need to replace the shaft with a bolt, or just replace the spacer with some nuts.

On my SC, the heater was easy to remove. I see no reason to reinstall it. I'll bag it and hold onto it for a bit, but I don't see that it will be needed.

I'm not too sure the motor will be up to the task. It was struggling to start turning before I tore it down to soak everything (except the motor, of course). We'll see.

Chuck

[peter]

I've got a spare motor if yours is shot.  You wouldn't think so by looking at it, but the motor is not the weak link it appears to be.

I'd suggest leaving the shaft as it is until you see it won't cut it.  It's a PITA having a meltdown in the middle of the roast, but it's more of a PITA if your shaft mod isn't perfect and it impacts each batch.  With your SC heating element disabled, I doubt that you'll ever get hot enough to ruin the stock shaft.  Sometimes the plastic shafts just get fatigued and break, but it's still smart IMO to leave them alone until necessary.

[chuckmartin]

Looking at the parts more closely, I see that the top part of the shaft is metal, but that there is a plastic spacer between the top part and the motor. I'm inclined to leave the plastic piece there and see how it goes, since the part that will be heated is metal.

Thanks for the motor offer. I'll reassemble and test everything tonight.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

Looking at the parts more closely, I see that the top part of the shaft is metal, but that there is a plastic spacer between the top part and the motor. I'm inclined to leave the plastic piece there and see how it goes, since the part that will be heated is metal.

Thanks for the motor offer. I'll reassemble and test everything tonight.

that metal threaded peace i the best.. my collection has one of those and it has held up very well (guess I jinxed it now).. the all plastic with a metal insert added after the plastic threads melted comes loose easy so I will be working on the socket+bolt+jb weld mod when I set up a second roaster

[sea330]

This is a mod that I made for my motor and stir arm, seems to work great. I found a Motor that would run at 15 RPMs it has a 1/4 inch shaft.

[sea330]

Stir arm for my roaster

[grinderz]

This is a mod that I made for my motor and stir arm, seems to work great. I found a Motor that would run at 15 RPMs it has a 1/4 inch shaft.

Wow, that shaft mod looks awesome! Do you have a part number that you'd be willing to divulge for the motor? How many ounces of beans can you manage at a time?

[sea330]

I found these motors in China, I was able to get 4 of them at a local appliance store they were kinda expensive like $35.00 each however I can get them at a affordable price but they want me to order 500 at once.I would order them if I could get enough interest in them. Just need to  get my money back.As for the drive shaft and stir arm, I made them by hand. Know that I got it figured out I can make them pretty fast.I have done 1.5 lbs with this stir arm, but I am thinking that I will trim a little off to get down 16OZ.The higher rpms really makes a big differance in a more even roast.Rich 

[chuckmartin]

The motor's dead. Well, very sick. <g>

PM sent to Peter.

Chuck

[reedvilleroaster]

Want to do larger batches.  I posted a pic of this on the roaster forum earlier, but thought I'd post it here, along with an update, since it is a close relative of the SC/TO.  It is a Krups ice cream machine base for the motor, a Farberware electric skillet and the Turbo oven.  I made a shaft out of a bolt, a tee nut, some copper strip and a wingnut.  I can control the heat with both the TO and the thermostat on the skillet.

It does larger batches- I usually do around 1 # plus 3 or 4 ounces depending on the coffee.  I could easilly get a 2 # batch out of it if needed.
I recently did 5 # (roasted) on back to back batches recently and had no issues.  So far I've done about 15 # in it total for Christmas and all.  It is great.  

Just thought I'd share this in case anyone using the SC/TO was looking for something that can do a little larger batches.  Cost about 30 bucks to build with everything except the nuts and bolts being found at Goodwill.