RK Drum

[windowrx]

Congrats on the RK. You'll love it!
I've roasted about 800lbs in mine. I've only got a 35k btu grille but haven't had any problems yet even on a couple of 20 degree nights.

[coffeefanaddict]

Just wondering if you might have a picture of your fine insulation work? I did a search and found that stuff to be reasonably priced.

Are you folks using any insulation?  I bought some 2300?F ceramic fiber insulation sheeting from McMaster-Carr to fully insulate the roasting chamber.  I'm looking forward to attempting sub-zero roasts in the wind...   

Also I had some dissappointing roasts when my propane got low. Does anyone use a large tank or hook up to natural gas?

Troy

[shep]

I was wondering about propane monitoring myself. I would hate to run out in the middle of a 4 pound roast! I suppose once you have gone through a tank you would have some idea about how many roasts you can achieve.

Shep

[Jeffo]

I was wondering about propane monitoring myself. I would hate to run out in the middle of a 4 pound roast! I suppose once you have gone through a tank you would have some idea about how many roasts you can achieve.

Shep

I get 50 roasts out of a tank. I keep notes on every roast and number them. I also pick up the tank and swirl the propane around to feel how much is in there.

[madbadger2742]

Hey- RK-heads!

What's the diameter of the RK drum?  I'm trying to salvage my previous purchases for my roaster design, and I want to know if the drum will work...

Thanks!
-Brock

[coffeefanaddict]

8" diameter on my 4lb RK

[madbadger2742]

cool.  thanks. 
I'd have asked Ron, but I didn't want to bug him.  I imagine he's pretty busy right now. 

Thanks again!
-Brock

[shep]

My RK came today. I have been crazy busy so I had little time to devote to it. I do have it all together, lined up and ready to try out. I had a little trouble lining things up as my grill seems rather wide. Mainly it was my lack of focus and attention though. I was just too busy to mess with it but I could not leave it alone! I sent Ron a note with a question and he wrote me back 3 times. This man provides great customer service! I ordered mine on Thursday, he built it that night and shipped it out the next day.

Shep

[shep]

I just wanted to update my experience with my new RK Drum. I have now ran 19 roasts and about 40+ pounds of coffee through it. About midway the Char-Broil thermometer started acting up so I cannibalized the thermometer off my home grill...much more accurate now. I have experimented with batch size some. I have some equipment coming that will allow me to cool 4 pounds but it iis not here yet so the largest batch I have done is 2.5 pounds. My last effort came out perfect. I have roasted in some pretty strong wind and in temps down to about 35 degrees with no problem. Although I am not a fan of the French Roast I roasted up the most beautiful Mexican Chiapas Decaf French Roast that I have ever produced. My neighbor loved it! I just recieved a thermocouple and am looking at mounting it...just for fun! Love the drum and highly recommend it.

Shep

[nimbus]

I recommend a second propane tank. That way if it dies, you're not screwed. You can swap it out in a minute, which will affect your roast, but you won't lose it.

[shep]

I recommend a second propane tank. That way if it dies, you're not screwed. You can swap it out in a minute, which will affect your roast, but you won't lose it.

Yes, good idea. In fact, I not only cannibalized my temp gauge, I stole the tank off my other grill as a backup until I can purchase another one. I ran a roast today of the Puerto Rico coffee and used my thermocouple for the first time. I noticed that it jumps around a fair amount. I thought about slipping it through some copper tubing as I saw someone else do. Think this would help control the erratic readings from the thermocouple? I also observed that even though the termocouple probe and the thermometer are both inserted in the front of the grill in a similar location, there was an average of 80 degrees differenced in reading. The thermocouple was probably an inch or more closer to the drum, which may explain some of that.

Shep

[nimbus]

I don't have a thermocouple myself, but I feel like i read somewhere about someone wrapping some aluminum foil arount the thermocouple to help prevent the fluctuations. I think he said it worked. Maybe someone here remembers or knows....

I bought a replacement thermometer for my stock one, but never installed it. Anything that is reproducible should give you good results....Enjoy!!

-nimbus

I recommend a second propane tank. That way if it dies, you're not screwed. You can swap it out in a minute, which will affect your roast, but you won't lose it.

Yes, good idea. In fact, I not only cannibalized my temp gauge, I stole the tank off my other grill as a backup until I can purchase another one. I ran a roast today of the Puerto Rico coffee and used my thermocouple for the first time. I noticed that it jumps around a fair amount. I thought about slipping it through some copper tubing as I saw someone else do. Think this would help control the erratic readings from the thermocouple? I also observed that even though the termocouple probe and the thermometer are both inserted in the front of the grill in a similar location, there was an average of 80 degrees differenced in reading. The thermocouple was probably an inch or more closer to the drum, which may explain some of that.

Shep

[crholliday]

On the thermocouple idea:

I have a large temp monitor that used to be on one of my espresso machines. I bought a thermocouple that could take 600+ degree temps without melting (important) and drilled a hole through my grill just below the handle or right about where I think the bean mass sits. I put a sheet pan and some broken ceramic tiles (in the sheet pan) over the elements and then ran it for a while. There was about a half inch gap between the sheet pan edge and the side of the grill and naturally heat and flame would leak through that gap.

I then switched to a slightly larger sheet pan that goes all the way to the grill edge. The recorded temps are 100 degrees different. I added an oven thermometer (mechanical variety) as a sort of gut check. It confirmed the new readings. The truth is that I experimented until I found what I though were useful temps. When I ran Ron's number (ramp to 470 then to 500 then back off a bit) it would take almost 16 minutes to get to first crack. Eventually I found the right temp for my grill and the thermocouple said 580 F. After replacing the sheet pan I realized the difference.

I guess absolute temp readings aren't really relevant but consistent readings are. Just a little tidbit of knowledge sharing.

[coffeefanaddict]

Just a quick question to crholliday

Did you end up keeping the sheet that went all the way to the edges? if so what are your total roast times?

Thanks

I got a k-type probe for xmas, I will be installing it soon. I want to have best placement. I too saw the copper tubing install and I am leaning toward that type.

Troy

[crholliday]

Did you end up keeping the sheet that went all the way to the edges? if so what are your total roast times?
Troy

I did keep the aforementioned sheet. My total roast times vary between 12 and 18 minutes depending on things like: size of batch, ambient temp, beans, roast, etc.