Hottop Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks

[shakin_jake]

Tex,  You don't need supplemental cooling w/the Hot Top.  Stop using your aux fan and you'll end your messy chaff problem

The deadman alarms will keep you from walking away from your roaster while it's doing it's thing.  God forbid if you started a roast, hopped in your car for a DQ and came back to the fire department hosing down what's left of your home


Jake
Reddick Fla.
If he's got golf clubs in his truck or a camper in his driveway, I don't hire him.
--Lou Holtz, football coach

[Tex]

Tex,  You don't need supplemental cooling w/the Hot Top.  Stop using your aux fan and you'll end your messy chaff problem

The deadman alarms will keep you from walking away from your roaster while it's doing it's thing.  God forbid if you started a roast, hopped in your car for a DQ and came back to the fire department hosing down what's left of your home


Jake
Reddick Fla.
If he's got golf clubs in his truck or a camper in his driveway, I don't hire him.
--Lou Holtz, football coach

Used my TurboCrazy & UFO for a long time without the need for a deadman switch. Guess it's worth it for those with Adult ADHD; not my problem though.

The cooling was for me - it's hot & humid around here today!

[shakin_jake]

[/quote]
Used my TurboCrazy & UFO for a long time without the need for a deadman switch. Guess it's worth it for those with Adult ADHD; not my problem though.
[/quote]



~~~Deadman switches on plug and play home coffee roasters is a CYA for the manufacturer.  You'd be surprised how many users have caught garages, homes on fire while roasting green beans using these appliances, pre-deadman switches.  Home brewed roasters like your SC/TO carry no liabilty for anyone but yourself



[/quote]
The cooling was for me - it's hot & humid around here today!
[/quote]



~~~This time of year I'm roasting late at night for that very reason!



Jake
Reddick Fla.
Being in therapy is great. I spend an hour just talking about myself. It's kinda like being the guy on a date.
-- Caroline Rhea

[Tex]

Used my TurboCrazy & UFO for a long time without the need for a deadman switch. Guess it's worth it for those with Adult ADHD; not my problem though.

~~~Deadman switches on plug and play home coffee roasters is a CYA for the manufacturer.  You'd be surprised how many users have caught garages, homes on fire while roasting green beans using these appliances, pre-deadman switches.  Home brewed roasters like your SC/TO carry no liabilty for anyone but yourself

The cooling was for me - it's hot & humid around here today!

~~~This time of year I'm roasting late at night for that very reason!



Jake
Reddick Fla.
Being in therapy is great. I spend an hour just talking about myself. It's kinda like being the guy on a date.
-- Caroline Rhea

Wussy! If I roasted late the smoke might blow in my neighbors window and set off their smoke alarm. Whoa... Having the minister's wife running about in her nighties???

[shakin_jake]

Does she look anything like this minister's wife?


Jake
Reddick Fla.
"Don't blame me, I voted for the American."

[shakin_jake]

Oopps!, bum pic, never mind=:-)


Jake
Reddick Fla.
"Don't blame me, I voted for the American."

[lwharton]

I have been trying to work on my dark roasts with my HT. I have been experimenting with Sulawesi and Mandheling since these seem to favor darker roasts. By using a combination of fan and lowering heat to 60% just before FC, I have been getting about 5 minutes from start of FC to eject. I am ejecting during a very rapid SC. For those of you who dark roast how does this sound? Is this too long? How far into SC should I go. Of course, HT will auto eject at 428.
Any suggestions on other coffees to dark roast?

Thanks

[Randy G]

I have been trying to work on my dark roasts with my HT......  Any suggestions on other coffees to dark roast?

For a dark roast, five minutes from beginning of first to active second is about right. You might try dropping the heat to 50% at the end of first to slow things up about another 20 to 30 seconds total roast time. If you are getting about two minutes between the end of first to the beginning of second the lower the heat just before the beginning of second. But it also depends on how you got to first. For the last few months I have been taking care to slow the progress of the BT to 300 to give the beans sufficient time to dry, and that has helped improve the flavor of my coffee.

Depending on how you are brewing and your personal taste will dictate whether that is too dark or not. Personally, I don't roast anything I use that dark, even for espresso.

As I type this, I am enjoying a cup of pour-over Colombian that was a 12 minute roast, ejected just at the very first click of second... Smooth, delightful balance, smooth acidity, and a touch of natural sweetness... 

[lwharton]

Randy, thanks for the reply. I too have been trying to temporarily slow things down around 305 (HT temp display). I usually drop beans around 250 and up the fan to 50% for about 45 sec when the HT shows around 305....for the me thats about 3.5 minutes. I can smell the grassy moisture being blown out. Do you think 45 secs is long enough or should I extend the time. I also turn the fan up to 25% about two minutes before FC for good heat circulation and even roast....and then adjust it after FC to control roast time.

[Randy G]

............. Do you think 45 secs is long enough or should I extend the time. I also turn the fan up to 25% about two minutes before FC for good heat circulation and even roast....and then adjust it after FC to control roast time.

The fan is the most difficult control on which to comment. A lot has to do with your needs and even more so, the condition of the filter material. 0ne minute with a new filter is a lot different than one that has 25 roasts on it...

For my personal roasts I have been using the permanent type computer stainless mesh filter, but I have sound it flows too much air and I need to restrict it further. I have been using stock filters for the last three or four weeks doing testing so I am learning now as well.

As far as when and ho much to use the fan, I have permanently mounted two thermocouples into the roast chamber of a Hottop and I will be testing it later this afternoon. One is in the bean mass and the other above the stock sensor to monitor environmental temps. Having some way to monitor ET can help you a lot with learning the best use of the fan. And suing it in the drying phase to remove humidity is not a bad thing either.

[shakin_jake]

[/quote]
The fan is the most difficult control on which to comment. A lot has to do with your needs and even more so, the condition of the filter material. 0ne minute with a new filter is a lot different than one that has 25 roasts on it...
[/quote]




~~~I feel I'm getting pretty consistent results roast to roast cleaning the OEM air filter every 10 roasts.  I soak the air filter in a hot water/TSP solution for about 10 minutes, along with the front sight glass piece, bean chute cover, cooling tray and chaff tray (in a 5 gallon plastic bucket)...then a hot water rinse...and of course, the air filter is allowed to dry thoroughly.  FWIW I keep a minimum of two air filters on hand so I have at least one clean dry air filter to roast with while the other is drying

Works for me



Jake
Reddick Fla.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

[cfsheridan]

The stock filters will last for a long time if you soak them every 20 or so roasts in a cafiza solution.  I rotate about three of them, sometimes remembering at 20 roasts, sometimes not.  Machine just keeps on chugging.

Tex--as for batch size, I stick to 200-227g, as that gives me the most control to speed up as well as slow down the roast.  More than that, and I feel I have to run at full power to get to 1st in a reasonable time, which keeps the environmental temp (ET) too high, and makes it difficult to stretch between 1st and 2nd without lowering ET.

I run the fan at 25% at the start of a roast, bump it to 50% and keep it there about 4 minutes in.

[Tex]

Has anyone tried rigging a replacement for the HT chaff collector? I'm thinking of a piece of thin aluminum formed to fit the hole the tray fits in, and ends in a round tube that a porous bag could fit onto?

That would be a lot easier to handle than the hot metal tray.

[Tex]

Warning: The first time you disassemble your Hottop for deep cleaning, watch out for burrs of very sharp steel on the die cut edges. I just pulled a 1/2" long sliver from underneath a fingernail. I guess deburring and materials QA is where they shaved a few cents from their manufacturing costs? No big deal, just watch for the little buggers, especially inside the drum.

[Tex]

Last batch: 09/05/10; 300 grams of Brazil Sul de Minas Canaan Estates

Target 424°F
Dumped @170°F / 100% power / 18:00 minutes showing
    Fan on 25% / @ 258°F / 14:30 - 14:00 to dry roast chamber
    Fan on 50% / @ 325°F / 11:50 for duration of roast
Power dropped to 50% @ 400°F / 6:15
1st crack @ 5:38 / 403°F (12:22 from dump to 1st crack)
2nd crack @ 3:36 / 419°F (2:02 from start of 1st crack to start of 2nd crack)
Ejected @ 421° (5 seconds into 2nd crack)

Results: Full City +, w/no oil showing 3 days after roast. Great in vac pot - lots of citrus & sweetness. So-so in espresso - not enough sweetness; maybe a little darker next time or blend with RSB?