Green Coffee Buying Club
Coffee Discussion boards => Hardware & Equipment => Topic started by: YasBean on October 27, 2016, 02:12:36 PM
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This forum has been awfully quiet, lately, which is really sad. I started my roasting many, many years ago with this group, and am grateful for all the experience and friendship. I just finished reading the thread on the North roaster from MCR, and found out that, yes, B|J did go off to other things, and that Peter has finally graduated from DB/HG to MUCH bigger toys. Good for you, Peter!
So, just to keep things alive a little longer: I pulled the trigger in the last days of the Bullet R1 pre-order. After several delays, the Bullets finally started flying (well, actually, shipping), but I ordered the 120v version. Then, I elected to wait for the improved heat sink. Then, they ran out of other parts. Now, I am still waiting, but that is fine. I knew there was a certain risk in buying something that did not even exist, yet. In the end, I suspect that I will get a great roaster -- and it comes in only one color.
I tried breaking out the old CaffeRosto, and ran that for a few batches, but finally put it away after wasting some perfectly good beans. I now am almost to a free bag of beans from Temple. Hopefully, that free bag will be my last bag of commercial (although really quite excellent) coffee, and I will be roasting 100g-1kg batches of GCBC coffee, again!
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Keep us posted, Yasbeans!
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Yes, I'd be interested too.
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I've had a new 220v Bullet for over a month now but have been working so much overtime I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. :-\
kp
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For shame!
A Bullet is a terrible thing to waste.
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Shipped on the same day as my L1 and E8!
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I will be really interested to read some hands-on experience with the 120 volt version.
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I've had a new 220v Bullet for over a month now but have been working so much overtime I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. :-\
kp
Rodney is that thing kicking butt? It looks really cool from the videos I have seen.
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It's out of the box now but just sitting on display. When I get to the point where I'm not working 7 days a week, I'll give it a spin. Got a Behmor Plus that's sitting in the box waiting it's turn also. ::)
kp
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Geez Rodney :-/ what the heck? You and John must be related.
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I feel for you guys, I done that crap earlier in the year, the 7 - 12+'s for a few months. When you do finally get some free time, that coffee will taste all the much better for it I'm sure.
Aaron
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When you work for an electric utility there can be long periods of OT as some of you on this site know. Retirement is within 6 months so it is good to stash some cash before going.
As far as the Bullet, I am a long time Behmor user and have a source for getting them at a very good price. I still have one of the first ones that came out with many more in between. I remember going to Joe's house in San Diego and watching him roast a batch on a prototype in his kitchen before they hit the market. They suit me well so there's a slight possibility I may sell the Bullet before I try it as it would then still be in new condition.
kp
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When you work for an electric utility there can be long periods of OT as some of you on this site know. Retirement is within 6 months so it is good to stash some cash before going.
As far as the Bullet, I am a long time Behmor user and have a source for getting them at a very good price. I still have one of the first ones that came out with many more in between. I remember going to Joe's house in San Diego and watching him roast a batch on a prototype in his kitchen before they hit the market. They suit me well so there's a slight possibility I may sell the Bullet before I try it as it would then still be in new condition.
kp
I used to work in Fiber optics for quite some time. A lot of it is on High power electric poles etc. those were the days of 70+ hour weeks. = no fun.
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I also pulled the trigger in the last month or two of Bullet pre-ordering, and opted for the improved heat sink, and suffered the long wait. My 110V R-1 arrived earlier this month and I've done 6 roasts on it so far--4 to season the drum and as general shakedowns, and 2 for realsies.
There were some initial difficulties in the seasoning roasts (all of them 700-gram affairs), including the falling out of one of the screws holding the drum motor to its mount, but once I got that back on (using Loc-Tite on both screws and in a couple of other spots as well) and swapped out the spacer shim on the front of the drum axle for the thinnest one available, things went much better.
I've been roasting by ear/eye/display readouts as I don't have a Windows machine to run the Aillio software, and there has been a LOT of information to try and absorb on the Facebook discussion group. The first two keeper roasts (both 600g) came out lighter than I prefer, and still need a day or two more of rest, but this morning I blended some of each with a bit of Bajawa Ngura (thanks, Peter!) roasted 3 weeks ago on the Swissmar and made a very passable pot for myself and houseguests.
Can't wait to see how they are on more rest, and unblended.
I'm really loving the Bullet and am excited at the prospect of mastering it. Will try to post more-comprehensive notes going forward.
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Glad to hear it's working out, and thanks for the input!
I ordered mine a couple of weeks ago. Now i have to wait to get my greasy little hands on it.
Keep us posted on how it's going!
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Heh, something of an update:
In order to use the Aillio roasting software, I've been spending a lot of time trying to install Windows 10 on an old Asus laptop someone gave me. He was messing around with Ubuntu on it and it stopped working for him. Replacing the hard drive with a blank one is a no-go, booting from a DVD with Windows ISO burned onto it ditto.
Meanwhile I'm putting our old furnace on Craigslist to make some room in the basement for the Bullet. Going to vent it up the service chimney as I used to with the Swissmar. (Have been heating the house with a Jotul gas stove in living room, which does an amazing job given the size of the house.)
Too cold in Portland lately to roast on the deck, and I need to put more of a dent in what I've already roasted. It's a whole new world roasting over a pound at a shot, rather than 8 oz. But once the furnace is gone and I'm set up downstairs, oh boy!
I'm looking to experiment with 300 to 400g batches. The Yirg. Kochere improved on further rest but next time I'm going darker. It's from 2013 . . . trying to clear out my older stash while getting to know the Bullet.
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Well, I finally replaced the broken housing and face plate for the control panel. (Things got banged up in the shipping.) The USB did not talk to the computer, so I also replaced the back PCB. Along with these warranty parts, they also shipped the new bean temp probe. All put back together (minus one screw - darned!), I finally did my first roast with full computer read-out. That was much more satisfying than the previous few roasts. I have been sticking with 454 gr and 227 gr roasts, just because GCBC shipments come in pounds. Yesterday's 1/2# Purple Mountain Kona came out smelling like Kona heaven. This morning, it was still not quite ready, but I could taste that wonderfully rich Kona flavor trying to come out. This roaster should be the end all for me. Match that with the Londinium L1 (also some warranty work) and E8 w/red speed burrs, and I should be done with acquisitions for a while, and busy with coffee. I have been well caffeinated, and have fallen back in love with the occasional espresso shot here and there. Each one is so easy and delicious!
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Hey guys - I'm interested in building a roaster and tripped across the Bullet R1. Looks great and its hugely efficient if it can really do 1kg with 1500W in a reasonable amount of time. Part of the efficiency (I assume) is that the induction heater just heats part of the drum as it passes by and you aren't losing huge amounts of heat to the rest of the roaster or to exit air. There are other ways to accomplish this - but induction heating makes sense.
So I've looked for pix & vids of the Bullet drum and induction coil to see just how it's put together - but no luck. Are you aware of any pix or diagrams for this ?
My other question is about air-flow. I've seen a vid where someone disassembles the 'tail end' of the Bullet, near the drum motor, and I see that there is a chaff-catcher there, that requires manual cleaning every couple roasts. But what exactly happens to the hot air after the chaff filter ? Is that dumped into the room (heat loss) ? Is it returned to the drum chamber ? If it's returned do they run it through a catalyzer or something to remove smoke ?
I believe the drum (is it a screen or solid ?) is open on one end which allows them to use a funnel-in and dump-out as well as a thermowell temp sensor on that end. Can you confirm ?
It also appears they are using one IR temp sensor - but what exactly are they measuring with it ? Beans ? Drum ?
thanks in advance.
btw - I am not trying to rip-off their design, but it's always educational to see what others have done, and this roaster has a lot of good ideas.
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Steve,
The drum is solid, open on the front for charging and unloading. The induction heating is built into the drum, not a separate element, so yes, very efficient! Exhaust exits from the rear, after passing the chaff chamber. It is not filtered, so some people build venting systems. I just run it under my kitchen hood. The IR sensor detects drum temp, and a there is a separate bean sensor.
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WOW - I sincerely appreciate the description. I did find a pix of the Bullet roasting chamber on a Korean site eventually, but it doesn't exain enough.
So the squirrel-cage fan is pulling hot smokey air from the front of the chamber, down the "long tube" above the RC to the filter and then out ? Is that right ?
Nothing wrong w/ that, but in a closed system you might want to consider pushing clean cool air into the system rather than pulling hot dirty air.
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I had a chance to watch a couple of roasts on the Bullet yesterday at a cafe. We were experimenting with the Tonino roast color meter and using the Bullet for the test. From my perspective it looks pretty easy to use if one has some basic parameters to follow (charge temps/settings).
The display is conveniently placed, controls easy to figure out, and can toggle between ROR/drum temp. On this unit 1C was @184c a lot lower than my other machines (194-200c), something you just get used to. I can see where the chaff collection would prevent continuous use, however the machine could be used for "light cafe" roast production; as was obvious in this setting.
I would be comfortable roasting without datalogging on the Bullet using the ROR and a paper graph to get a handle on its characteristics.
The fact it can roast over 500g (800g?) on a standard 110v household outlet using induction technology is revolutionary.
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500 gram is about a pound, on 1500 watts, not a huge deal. Behmor was kind of onto the idea when he came out with his unit way back when, with a little more designing he could have easily done it. I think the UL listing thing kind of shits on a lot of dreams too. I have seen some pretty stupid things that need to be done for a 'ul' listing, whereas stuff coming from China... not so important to have that listing. Well from a marketing standpoint it should be but you know how that goes. Induction heating would get around some of the problems with heat transfer, and a gentle air flow to vent the smoke so it don't taint your beans during the roast, yet not too much to suck out all the heat with it, and you got yourself a good setup. If you really wanted to nerd it up, you could build a crude baffle system, kind of like a preheater like we use at the power plant, the hot air with smoke going out, heats up the air it's sucking in so you get to reclaim some of the heat as well.
Aaron
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I think the Bullet is sold/marketed as a 1K Roaster; what the actual number is YasBean could elaborate on.
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Since we buy in one pound increments, I have been roasting either 454 grams or 908 grams. I think 908 gr is easier, but I have gone as low as 228 for my Kona. I have been loving my Bullet, so far. It is definable difffrom the HotTop, but a step up in most ways.
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Aillio's software (which they continue to update, often responding to user feedback) has improved by leaps and bounds, and the community of Bullet users continues to grow. People post their roast profiles/protocols on the R1 Facebook group (along with questions/tips/requests for improvements), and there are some excellent results.
Folks are reporting success with batches as big as 1100 grams and as small as 350g (maybe even less; it's really hard to keep track of developments via the Facebook page, especially as I go weeks at a time without looking at it).*
Aillio has been asking for beta testers for a Mac version of their RoastTime software (so far it's only been available for use with PCs).
There's a lot about roasting I don't understand, but my confidence levels are rising lately as the Bullet's mechanical and software kinks get ironed out. A higher-capacity chaff collector began shipping last year (standard on new machines; earlier adopters needed to pay for it), and before that, the improved bean probes mentioned in an earlier post (free of charge).
A couple of weeks ago I did four 600g roasts back to back with no mechanical or software problems. May not sound like a big deal, but it was a first for me with the Bullet. Having things go wrong was really making for a steeper learning curve; I'm encouraged now to roast more frequently. And am finally getting to the point where I'm comfortable giving away what I've roasted, instead of having to wait till I've finished drinking all the results to roast more.
Cheers!
*Besides the FB group, which is really difficult for me to track information down on, Aillio has their own page (I believe it's for Bullet owners only; definitely requires signing up to gain access) that is easier to use (but is less used): community.roast.world. There is also an unofficial Bullet R1 users website, VERY few posts there. The most useful/helpful resource I know of is Therese Brøndsted's coffeenavigated DOT net. She's done a lot of work pulling together information and explanations.
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I was interested in a Bullet about a year ago when looking for a new roaster. Wasn't aware that there were so many hiccups with it. Glad to hear that they are continuing to iron things out.
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I did not experience any hiccups. Oh, and I have roasted as small as 250 g and as large as 1,000 g. Going strong!
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I also have a Bullet....one of the original pre-orders from mid-2016. I am extremely happy with it. I do 450g batches, and feel its a bit overkill for me, but the software makes using the unit a joy. Yes, there are quirks, but isn't there with everything?
-Mark
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I have one of the newer units. I believe I am the next to most recent batch shipped (early Jan 2018). So far very happy with it. No problems except user error and getting to know a new roaster. I think it roasts best with a larger volume and have been roasting 1kg batches but have roasted as little as 600g with success.
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Welcome to the club! It is a great roaster!
I have gone as small as 200g with little trouble, but usually roast either 454g or 681g.
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I put my name on the list at SM...they are hoping for an early June restock at the latest. Fingers crossed
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So, looking at this next set of bullet's and trying to convince myself not to take the plunge....
Is there anything new, or improved with them?
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My name is on the list as well but at this point I am not sure I want to purchase a product from a company that can't produce the units. They have been working on this roaster for a few years and they still dribble to market. These units were initially due back in January. The situation does not provide a comfortable feeling that the company will be around long term for service and/or parts.
PR
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Good things are worth the wait!
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Anyone out there suffering through the new RoastTime 2.0 software?
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Anyone out there suffering through the new RoastTime 2.0 software?
Nope. Loving the latest Artisan release on my Huky tho ;)
Seriously, sorry for your troubles. It sux when things we use and rely on get broken by a software update.
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I haven't had any problems with the old software so I've been holding off on downloading and installing the new one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it....I guess.
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Until they brick it to force you to upgrade, a la Apple. (grrr).
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I haven't had any problems with the old software so I've been holding off on downloading and installing the new one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it....I guess.
Very wise choice! I was thinking of uninstalling the USB drivers and going back to V1, but then decided to just keep going with the V2. I always stay on Debian testing, too, so I guess I just like the feeling of continuous improvement over boring reliability.
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I recently installed the new infrared bean temp module, and it is changing how I roast. Unlike the original thermocouple probe, that has a one minute lag, this new IRBT gives instantaneous readings. For example, when beans are charged, the bean temp reading instantly begins to risen no dip then runt-around. Plus, no more glass window over an IR drum temp module to clean! I recently roasted a few 200gr batches, and had very precise bean temp readings, with FC at the same temps as with a 680gr charge. Cool!
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I'm on the list for the new upgrade. Unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to have the plug and play control board so I will need to replace that as well.
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Or, you could take your board to a local cell phone repair shop and have them solder for you. Cheaper and faster.
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I was looking at the Artisan 3e for my next roaster, but then they upped the price by 30% overnight, so screw them.
I then stumbled across the Behmor Jake (looks to be a new competitor to the Bullet), but general consensus seems to be that one is better paying a few hundred more bucks for the new and improved Bullet due out later this year, rather than going for the untested v1 of the Behmor Jake.
My name is hopefully going on the SM list tomorrow and then things will come together around Thanksgiving...from what I've seen on YouTube, the Bullet looks to be very sturdy and offer the exact jump in quality and control that I want in my next roaster.
Oh, and it appears that the roasting software can now run on Linux, so fingers crossed on that. Not like I was going to put OpenBSD on bare metal any time soon...
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The Bullet is absolutely fantastic, but very different from the Artisan in that it is a drum roaster, and different from all other drum roasters in that it is induction heated. The upcoming V2 will be the fully mature version, although V1 was already pretty mature. The company, Aillio, is also really stand-up. The software is a work in progress, and is actually developed on Linux, then cross assembled for Windows and XOS. The only limitation with Linux, though, is that it currently depends on systemd, so it will not work on Slackware, et al. You will not regret going with the Bullet.
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The Bullet is absolutely fantastic, but very different from the Artisan in that it is a drum roaster, and different from all other drum roasters in that it is induction heated. The upcoming V2 will be the fully mature version, although V1 was already pretty mature. The company, Aillio, is also really stand-up. The software is a work in progress, and is actually developed on Linux, then cross assembled for Windows and XOS. The only limitation with Linux, though, is that it currently depends on systemd, so it will not work on Slackware, et al. You will not regret going with the Bullet.
Thanks for the heads-up. Guess I'll be keeping my OpenBSD installation as a VM for the foreseeable future...current Linux distro is SysD friendly, so there are no problems there. Fingers crossed now that nothing goes awry with SM's shipment, I'd really like to avoid the import duties if possible.
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Well, you will be paying import duties one way or the other. If you do decide to order directly from Taiwan, DHL is very good with handling the import duties (I was one of the pre-release buyers, and imported my Bullet directly from Taiwan), but going through SM will provide you with that extra layer of support.
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Well, you will be paying import duties one way or the other. If you do decide to order directly from Taiwan, DHL is very good with handling the import duties (I was one of the pre-release buyers, and imported my Bullet directly from Taiwan), but going through SM will provide you with that extra layer of support.
And 8# of "free" greens!
But actually, the cost of the roaster is the exact same on the Aillio site and SM, the only difference being that ordering direct from Aillio there's a currency conversion charge and import duties. I suppose it's possible that SM ups the cost even more once they get their shipment, though.
Well, and the fact that the Bullets are actually IN STOCK on the Aillio website.
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Oh, well then, buy from SM!
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Well, you will be paying import duties one way or the other. If you do decide to order directly from Taiwan, DHL is very good with handling the import duties (I was one of the pre-release buyers, and imported my Bullet directly from Taiwan), but going through SM will provide you with that extra layer of support.
Raising this thread from the dead to announce I'm also a new owner - have only done my seasoning roasts so far, but very excited to move up from the SC/TC I've been toiling over since selling my commercial roaster back in '15. I also bought directly form Aillio and it only took 6 business days to show up at my door from Taiwan. I've noticed with the IRBT the temps are about 20 degrees higher than the bean probe - which one do you use?
-Stubbie
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Raising this thread from the dead to announce I'm also a new owner - have only done my seasoning roasts so far, but very excited to move up from the SC/TC I've been toiling over since selling my commercial roaster back in '15. I also bought directly form Aillio and it only took 6 business days to show up at my door from Taiwan. I've noticed with the IRBT the temps are about 20 degrees higher than the bean probe - which one do you use?
-Stubbie
Hi Stubbie, how goes the roasting on the Bullet? I upgraded from a Behmor in 2019 so I didn't have any previous experience with bean temps to worry about so I focus mainly on the IBTS temps and now the IBTS RORs when I roast. The IR temps are higher, but using the landmarks of full yellow and first crack I can navigate the roasts well. My first crack usually starts at 211 C on the IBTS.
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Nice pic, Yakster. And welcome back!
Something tells me there are a few add-ons to your roaster that weren't stock.
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You have a keen eye, Peter. I was just asked that question on another forum while I was posting about what I was smoking in my pipe and here's a cut-and-paste of my reply. I also tried sticking a metal kazoo into the trier hole near first crack with some high temperature flue tape around the funnel but it didn't make enough difference to keep using it.
I added the metal wings that I cut from an disposable aluminum pan to the front to guide the coffee into the cooling tray in front. Others have 3D printed some bean guides or made them out more substantial bent metal pieces. I found a stir chef at a thrift store and modded it to fit so that the beans cool faster in the cooling tray. I bought an LED book lamp with adjustable color temperature to replace the LED light that came with the roaster to get a better view of the actual color of the beans. I connect the roaster to a Variac with a Kill-A-Watt attached to compensate for any voltage drop to make sure that it gets 120 V AC. I also added a flexible duct to the range hood I hung in my garage to suck out the smoke from roasting.
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Oh, and Royal Crown posted on another forum: "We also just got a Bullet at The Crown - looking forward to roasting along with you all!
We'll be publishing to roast.world coffee profiles, as well as the usual posts on our website. Let us know if you have any specific requests on roast style!"
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Well they are a day late and a few years short Id' say :D
Aaron
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Raising this thread from the dead to announce I'm also a new owner - have only done my seasoning roasts so far, but very excited to move up from the SC/TC I've been toiling over since selling my commercial roaster back in '15. I also bought directly form Aillio and it only took 6 business days to show up at my door from Taiwan. I've noticed with the IRBT the temps are about 20 degrees higher than the bean probe - which one do you use?
-Stubbie
Hi Stubbie, how goes the roasting on the Bullet? I upgraded from a Behmor in 2019 so I didn't have any previous experience with bean temps to worry about so I focus mainly on the IBTS temps and now the IBTS RORs when I roast. The IR temps are higher, but using the landmarks of full yellow and first crack I can navigate the roasts well. My first crack usually starts at 211 C on the IBTS.
Yakster! I'm really enjoying the Bullet, especially the larger batch size. Now, I get my 2 weeks worth of coffee roasted in 45 mins instead of 2+ hours on the SC/TO. I'm still trying to dial it in - the coffee I'm producing is decent, but not quite what the cupping notes are calling for. Actually, when I tried to emulate the roasting style of the SC/TO with heat application has given the best results.
Roast.world still seems pretty buggy to me. I don't think it's pulling from my inventory when I perform a roast, but that is just a side effect of this roaster that will hopefully work better in the future. I haven't downloaded, or tried to emulate anyone else's roast yet either. Hope to figure that out soon...
Stubbie