The perfect roaster - be part of something amazing!

[peter]

But isn't there a good reason why roasters (especially with the features we want) are so expensive?  Don't you suppose if someone was able to bring a fully loaded 1lb. or 2lb. roaster to market for a couple grand they would do so?

[djbetterly]

The bullet looks great, and I was ready to preorder but I was disappointed by their commutation and lack of updates.  They are way behind schedule and I have yet to see one in anyone's hands.  I've emailed them several times regarding preorder, delivery times, if they have a working model, videos, US vendors and I received no response from them. 


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[Joe]

But isn't there a good reason why roasters (especially with the features we want) are so expensive?  Don't you suppose if someone was able to bring a fully loaded 1lb. or 2lb. roaster to market for a couple grand they would do so?

Yes of course. But there is also some not so good reasons and better reasons to look at alternatives. Overhead costs are not insignificant. The ability to be small and scaleable is something that isn't valued as much as it used to be. Determining where that threshold is...tricky.

Something that is often not thought of these days is that while when oil and gas was extremely cheap out sourcing to china and Taiwan, etc. made a lot of sense. Local manufacturing is making a comeback especially in the rust belt and when you factor in some of the unplanned challenges of outsourcing. Looking for US manufacturing and available parts is the ideal on this.

[Joe]

The bullet looks great, and I was ready to preorder but I was disappointed by their commutation and lack of updates.  They are way behind schedule and I have yet to see one in anyone's hands.  I've emailed them several times regarding preorder, delivery times, if they have a working model, videos, US vendors and I received no response from them. 


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I agree, going off of what I have seen in the past that stuff gets sorted out once they see the actual demand. I expect that the bullet will be a similar launch as the gene cafe.

[djbetterly]

Anyway, I'm not much of an engineer, but I do like the idea and would be more than happy to chime in.

I would love to see this integrated with Artisan software.  I've tried both Artisan and Cropster and I really think artisan is superior to cropster provided you don't need inventory databases and such.

The boys who built that are incredibly talented and I'm sure they would have good input as well. 


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[Joe]

doesn't artisan and alike just take temp readings from thermocouples and place data on a graph?

[djbetterly]

Well, that's the basics.  But artisan can also control heating elements, both gas and electric, as well as fans, dampers and drum speed if you want it to.  They built a lot of functionality into the software and they updated it fairly regularly and best of all its FREE!!  Cropster starts at like $100/mo and doesn't offer any of the automation that is built into artisan.  If you want to see any of the outputs from artisan let me know.

[Joe]

I don't think we would want to be dependent on a software interface that wasn't proprietary if it was controlling more than inputs on a graph for tc's. It's always great while it's free and supported but I personally would prefer either a proprietary system that the roaster depended on or a more manual controlled option with live TC feedback. If the artisan software was the preferred interface to control gas and air etc that could be a user hack that wouldn't be supported. In other words if artisan breaks it, your fault.

[ptrmorton]

I don't think we would want to be dependent on a software interface that wasn't proprietary if it was controlling more than inputs on a graph for tc's. It's always great while it's free and supported but I personally would prefer either a proprietary system that the roaster depended on or a more manual controlled option with live TC feedback. If the artisan software was the preferred interface to control gas and air etc that could be a user hack that wouldn't be supported. In other words if artisan breaks it, your fault.

I'm enjoying this discussion, although I don't have much to contribute at this point, but I'm not sure I understand your point on this Joe.  Could you elaborate? Thanks.

[Joe]

Yeah if you have a software that controls stuff. You develop your own so you have control over it. If you let outside developers develop software even free then when/if something goes wrong you weren't in control of any of that, but you are liable.

[djbetterly]

I understand where you are coming from, that makes sense.  With that in mind, what are your thoughts on opensource software, or building it to allow the user to their choice of software?

[Joe]

I understand where you are coming from, that makes sense.  With that in mind, what are your thoughts on opensource software, or building it to allow the user to their choice of software?

I would actually go the opposite direction personally unless I wanted to spend lots of money and time to develop a control panel and software. I think it's easier to have a PID controller and an interface and let people do their own thing unsupported as they need more control. I think you have modified your quest to do such a thing. I have pid' poppery 1's etc..

[djbetterly]

Exactly...that was kind of what I was implying with the artisan, but I may have spoken wrong.  Essentially what I was thinking was to consult with the software coders, so they know what hardware (relays, thermocouples, zero cross detectors, motors, etc) you are using so they can build that into the software for people who would like to use it in combination.  Hottop recently did that with them, and now if someone wants to they can completely control the hottop with artisan.  However if someone wants to, they can use other software as well.