Alright. So I finally found something I think will work as a roasting chamber for the time being anyway. I love the shape, but wish it was made of thicker glass. I wonder if a local glass blower could make something. . . . I found it at Crate & Barrel of all places! That might convince some of you to go in next time the wife wants to stop
.
I do not have a scale, so I took a bag of beans I knew was 5lbs and poured a little less than half into the roasting chamber. They blew around alright! From the sound of things they should blow even more as they get further into the roasting process. The shape of the chamber works really well too! The beans blow up in the middle and slide down the sides.
I am wondering if I should just upgrade the propane torpedo to a 75k-100k now versus later. . . That would allow me to achieve proper roasting temps, eliminate the slide damper and just let the blower go full force. Not that I really have a need to roast more than 2 lbs of coffee at a time, but it would allow me to roast larger batches too. It would add another 85 dollars or so to a project that is already around $500-600. . . a little more than I wanted to spend. . . Any thoughts?
Here is a picture for all of you. I am going to add exhaust tubing so I can roast inside too. I still have to rivet the ducts together and wrap it in aluminum tape as well. There was air slightly leaking from an area or two, so that should help.
Cheers,
Michael