Green Coffee Buying Club
Coffee Discussion boards => Hardware & Equipment => Topic started by: Coffeefreak on November 09, 2010, 08:46:16 AM
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As a recent convert to a Hottop from many years of roasting on a FreshRoast which followed a Hearthware Precision, I am still feeling my way. After doing four roasts (five, if one counts the first ruined batch in which I became so mesmerized by the machine that I neglected to press a button at the first series of beeps and the beans ejected,) I have only utilized the "Auto" setting when roasting.
The manual is excellent, but it does not indicate which parameters to try adjusting when striving for differing degrees of acidity, body, aroma and such. My last roast was of some Burundi Mwurire, which I had also roasted last week in my old FreshRoast. This morning, I drank some, and I seemed to be missing the "brightness" (read that acidity) that I remembered from before. It was roasted to approximately FC and ejected when the readout got to 410F.
If any of the experienced Hottop users have some suggestions as to where I should begin experimental tweaking of times, temps, fan & heat settings at different points, it would be appreciated.
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The beep at 410° is another safety feature of your Hottop; just push the center button to continue roasting.
I usually take my roasts to 422° - 426°
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Thank you for your response to my query. Do you use any manual settings to adjust parameters on the way to your target temperature or stick to the default Auto?
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Typical HT profile;
I set the roast time @18 minutes; I don't use that much, but it's better to have it set too long than too short. I dump the beans at ~250°F, instead of the default preheat temp. I run @100% power for the whole roast until 1st crack approaches.
Three minutes after dumping the beans, I turn the fan on 50% for 30 seconds to get rid of moisture. Somewhere ~350°F I turn the fan back on @25% for the duration. As soon as I hear the outliers of 1st crack, I cut the power back to 50% and let it coast through the end of 1st crack. When I'm hearing the finishing outliers of 1st crack I kick the power up for the rest of the roast.
I have this profile saved, but don't use it often. Beans vary, so the programming needs tweaking as the roast progresses.
In all honesty, I mostly use one of my UFO/CO roasters. Using the router speed controller and a Kill-A-Watt, I'm able to tailor the profile much finer than I can with the HT - plus I can roast a full 1lb batch.
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Are your temps the displayed temps or do you have a probe in the bean mass?
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In response to your question, I am referring to the displayed temps as i do not (yet) have a probe setup in the bean mass.
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I was trying to see what Tex used
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My first experiences with the HotTop were similar to yours. I have not used my popper in a very long time to compare but my cupping abilities have also improved to critique my roasts.
Tex’s program is very similar to one I got from Randy Glass who wrote the HotTop user manual. I suspect he (like Randy) uses bean loads of at least 225 gm and up to 250 gm.
I’ve found a few things that have helped my roasts and especially for brewed coffee.
1- A bean mass probe and datalogger (again as Randy Glass suggests on his website) is the single most critical feature for accurately monitoring roasts and profiles. I was shocked at how different the readings can be between the two.
2- I use a bean mass of 170-180 gm. I can get faster roasts at more optimal environmental temperatures with lower mass of green beans. This alone added that brightness to profiles for brewed coffee. I’d rather get “A†rated beans at 170 gm then a “B†rated roast of 225 gm.
3- I drop my beans depending on profile desired at environmental temperature of 320-350 degrees (I set the timer to the full 25 minutes – reduce heat to 7 at the beap (25 minutes on timer- 167* on the hottop temperature probe) but usually drop beans at 21 minutes 30 seconds or so). I can then increase the heat to 8-9 to run the drying and beginning of ramp to first crack. I get to first crack about 9 ½ to 10 minutes. The fan is off until bean temperature of 300 when I put it up to 25% for the rest of the roast. Approaching first crack I lower the heat to 5 (4-6) and try to maintain about 10* per minute rise to finish the roast. For brewed this can be higher if I need to finish in 13-14 minutes and full city – For me City plus is bean temperature of 422-425*. Full city roasts are bean temperature 430-435* Second crack usually starts at bean temperature ~437-440* The hottop temperature probe is ALWAYS much lower than the bean temp at the end of the roast. I RARELY ever get above 410-412 on the hottop probe unless I’m doing espresso roasts 30 sec or so into second crack.
Hope this helps – Dropping hotter, maintaining lower environmental temperatures and ramping faster with lower bean loads to me was the key to better and brighter roasts with the HotTop.
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Are your temps the displayed temps or do you have a probe in the bean mass?
Displayed temps on the digital thermometer - I have a bead-end type K thermocouple threaded into the roast chamber.
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Are your temps the displayed temps or do you have a probe in the bean mass?
Displayed temps on the digital thermometer - I have a bead-end type K thermocouple threaded into the roast chamber.
I thought you had a probe. The biggest difference in my roasts were when I added the bean probe, kill-a-watt, and the variac. It makes repeatability so much easier. The Hottop display is pretty much useless especially as you get towards the end of the roast.
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Are your temps the displayed temps or do you have a probe in the bean mass?
Displayed temps on the digital thermometer - I have a bead-end type K thermocouple threaded into the roast chamber.
I thought you had a probe. The biggest difference in my roasts were when I added the bean probe, kill-a-watt, and the variac. It makes repeatability so much easier. The Hottop display is pretty much useless especially as you get towards the end of the roast.
I feel the same way about the supposed programability of the HT. There's just too much variance between beans and environmental conditions to reuse the same program, not even for the same beans. I simply run a generic program, like the one I mentioned, and play it by ear.
Basically, I'm keying on the time it takes to get to 1st crack outliers - trying to hit that point in 9 - 12 minutes for 400 300 grams of coffee. From there I'll reduce the power settings to give me a couple of minutes to coast through 1st crack, after which I'll go full power to the end of the roast.
That's pretty much what I do with my UFO/CO too.
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Are your temps the displayed temps or do you have a probe in the bean mass?
Displayed temps on the digital thermometer - I have a bead-end type K thermocouple threaded into the roast chamber.
I thought you had a probe. The biggest difference in my roasts were when I added the bean probe, kill-a-watt, and the variac. It makes repeatability so much easier. The Hottop display is pretty much useless especially as you get towards the end of the roast.
I feel the same way about the supposed programability of the HT. There's just too much variance between beans and environmental conditions to reuse the same program, not even for the same beans. I simply run a generic program, like the one I mentioned, and play it by ear.
Basically, I'm keying on the time it takes to get to 1st crack outliers - trying to hit that point in 9 - 12 minutes for 400 grams of coffee. From there I'll reduce the power settings to give me a couple of minutes to coast through 1st crack, after which I'll go full power to the end of the roast.
That's pretty much what I do with my UFO/CO too.
Huh? Is that a typo??
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Are your temps the displayed temps or do you have a probe in the bean mass?
Displayed temps on the digital thermometer - I have a bead-end type K thermocouple threaded into the roast chamber.
I thought you had a probe. The biggest difference in my roasts were when I added the bean probe, kill-a-watt, and the variac. It makes repeatability so much easier. The Hottop display is pretty much useless especially as you get towards the end of the roast.
I feel the same way about the supposed programability of the HT. There's just too much variance between beans and environmental conditions to reuse the same program, not even for the same beans. I simply run a generic program, like the one I mentioned, and play it by ear.
Basically, I'm keying on the time it takes to get to 1st crack outliers - trying to hit that point in 9 - 12 minutes for 400 grams of coffee. From there I'll reduce the power settings to give me a couple of minutes to coast through 1st crack, after which I'll go full power to the end of the roast.
That's pretty much what I do with my UFO/CO too.
Huh? Is that a typo??
Thanks - spell checker prevents obvuius mistakes but can't read my mind.
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Oh! You really meant 400 POUNDS instead of 400 GRAMS ;D
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This morning, I attempted to use Tex's Hottop profile when roasting some more Burundi Mwurire beans.
A couple of days from now, after some proper resting I shall be able to evaluate the results objectively.
The instructions were very lucid, but any failure will be my own from starting the day with 1000/500 BP from dealing with an Alzheimer spouse. But, we all have problems and I should not be sharing mine.
I am very grateful to all of the knowledgeable roasters who have responded to my questions.
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The instructions were very lucid, but any failure will be my own from starting the day with 1000/500 BP from dealing with an Alzheimer spouse. But, we all have problems and I should not be sharing mine.
I am very grateful to all of the knowledgeable roasters who have responded to my questions.
First of all, you don't have to call Tex lucid, just to get on his good side; he doesn't have one. ;D
Secondly, over in Off Topic, there is a thread where we can post prayer requests. If you feel it would help with your particular situation, which BTW I thank you for sharing and feel compassion for you, feel free to post over there. We have plenty of kind souls here that would gladly intercede for your wife and you.
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The instructions were very lucid, but any failure will be my own from starting the day with 1000/500 BP from dealing with an Alzheimer spouse. But, we all have problems and I should not be sharing mine.
I am very grateful to all of the knowledgeable roasters who have responded to my questions.
First of all, you don't have to call Tex lucid, just to get on his good side; he doesn't have one. ;D
Secondly, over in Off Topic, there is a thread where we can post prayer requests. If you feel it would help with your particular situation, which BTW I thank you for sharing and feel compassion for you, feel free to post over there. We have plenty of kind souls here that would gladly intercede for your wife and you.
Sure would. A couple of first names would help me focus on who I am praying for. (God already knows, but it helps me)...
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Sure would. A couple of first names would help me focus on who I am praying for. (God already knows, but it helps me)...
Ditto. I keep a list by the armchair and names are helpful to me.
B|Java
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First of all, you don't have to call Tex lucid, just to get on his good side; he doesn't have one. ;D
Lucidity is my specialty, thanks to large doses of absinthe when I was a young man. And I'll have you know I'm very genial around the right sort of people. ;D
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I apologize for mentioning any kind of personal misery when I was feeling agitated. We all have different kinds of troubles and I should have kept my big mouth shut about anything except roast parameters and results on this forum.
Speaking of Absinthe though, isn't that what makes the heart grow fonder? :P
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Don't feel bad. That's why we have Off Topic, to keep non-coffee things out of coffee things.
You see GCBC for what we are, coffee nuts who operate as a community. If we can lift your load, let us know.
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Joy to the world! ;D
This morning, We drank the Burundi Mwurire that I had roasted two days prior utilizing the parameters that Tex had suggested. It wasn't just better. It was an Order of Magnitude Better than the Default setting!
I plan upon trying out the other suggestion that was given in this thread for a future roast. The one point that I note that they have in common is putting the beans in quite LATER than the default time beeps.
My next roast will be of my dwindling supply of Malabar Gold. With the little air roaster, I always tried for "the first hint of oil" before going to the cool cycle. Perhaps I will lean toward using the visual indicator more than the clock for this one.
Again, thanks to all who have responded to my query.
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Belated query to GC7 re: Hottop roasting profile
In your response to my question about achieving brighter roasts, you wrote:
"I drop my beans depending on profile desired at environmental temperature of 320-350 degrees.
Feel free to consider me dense, but I am not clear about what you are referring to by "environmental temperature" or "drop my beans." Do you mean that you eject at a reading of 320 to 350 degrees? You are using a bean mass probe, which I don't yet have, but is that the source of the "environmental temperature" reading?
Meanwhile, back at the ranch -- I have been using Tex's profile for everything up to now, but still wish to expand my horizons further.
Thanks for tolerating my quirky questions.
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coffeefreak
Please ask any questions if you are not clear about my profile. My writing communication leaves much to be desired – sorry. My profiling is, however, dependent on using the bean temperature thermocouple which I highly recommend you add to your setup.
You wanted clarification of "I drop my beans depending on profile desired at environmental temperature of 320-350 degrees.â€.
I make the assumption that without beans added and with the unit heating, my bean thermocouple is measuring the air temperature in the drum (air temperature = environmental temperature = ET). Using the method I outlined drop the beans at minute 21’ 30â€. Droping the beans simply mean the time you add the green beans into the drum of the preheated hottop.
So – I set the unit to 25 minutes total roast (max time) and 428* (max temp. Preheat the unit as always – when the hottop display is 167* and it beeps for you to add beans – don’t do it. Instead reduce heat to 7 and keep the fan off. Allow it to continue to heat the drum and air for another 3 ½ minutes until the display is at 21 ½ minutes – ADD 175 grams of green beans of your choice. Also at this time raise the heat to 9. Keep heat at nine and when you see the first signs of smoke it will be at about 300* bean temperature (about 5 minutes after you add the beans) – Put the fan on 1 at this time and leave it there. About 9 minutes after you drop the beans (about 12 ½ minutes on the hottop display) lower the heat to 5 and wait for first crack. Now without bean temperature display you need to go by feel (possibly raising the heat to 6-7 at the end of first crack) to the end of the roast which should be about 13-14 minutes after you add the beans (about 7 1/2 – 7 minutes on the hottop display). EJECT THE BEANS at that time.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes and if you have any questions.
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Thank you for your very detailed response to my slight "puzzlement" about your profile method.
One of the greatest things about GCBC is that people like yourself with far more skills and experience with advanced machines are so willing to share their knowledge with people like myself. In spite of doing my own roasting for many years with air machines (i.e. Hearthware Precision and FreshRoast) using something like the Hottop is a whole new learning curve.
On my next roast, I shall carefully attempt to do as you detailed and shall post the roasting results.
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I also recently started roasting with a Hottop. I found a write-up about profiling on the Hottop site that I found useful.
http://www.hottopusa.com/profile.html (http://www.hottopusa.com/profile.html)
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Attempting to use the new profile that I was given last here, I encountered some problems. Measuring out 175 grams of Uganda Bugisu was routine. Then, on the AUTO setting, I reset the time to 25 minutes total roast and 428 to max. temp. When it beeped to add beans, I did not do so, but I reduced the heat to 7 and kept the fan off. When the display reached 21-1/2 minutes, I added the beans and raised the heat to 9.
Waiting for 5 minutes after I added the beans was the first problem: It was already hitting first crack, so I lowered the heat to 5 (about one minute earlier than you described)
Then, in spite of my hitting one of the buttons when the next warning beep came, it Automatically ejected the beans when the display temperature got to 410 F! The result appears to be a nice even FC, but I feel that I must have done something incorrectly for it to not wait until I finished the given routine (with the intention of saving it as a Profile)
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Wow - I've never seen things move along that quickly with my unit even after insulating.
1- What is your voltage and ambient temperature?
2- What was the hottop display temperature reading 5 minutes after you added the beans? It should have been 280-290 or so at 21 1/2 minutes and then drop for the next 60-90 seconds before rising. First crack should be 385 or so give or take.
I have never come close to first crack in 5 minutes on a hottop. Has anyone else?
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Trying to post a reply for the third time - it keeps bouncing out:
My ambient room temperature is around 70F. My open circuit line voltage hovers around 125F, which is the reason that I was compelled to buy the machine direct from Hottop as none of the dealers had the new board that can handle that voltage. I failed to note the interim display reading other than what I reported.
My main puzzlement is why it ejected by itself when the display reached 410F ???
When attempting to run a new profile, do I have any other choice than to start from the auto Default?
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OK - that answers some of my questions.
1- there are "safety" checks on the hottop that you can read about in the user manual. At 356* (I think) and 410* you get a beep and have 30 seconds to hit any button (except eject) to continue the roast. It is their mechanism to make sure you are nearby the roaster and not leaving it unattended. I no longer for whatever reason get the 356* signal but the 410* one is reliable. About 1/2 or more of my roasts never get to 410* on teh hottop display (lighter roasts and I hope lower ET's).
2- 125V while running is HIGH voltage. Mine on my screened in porch varies on my kill a watt from 116-119 depending on the time of day etc. So, I think you need to adjust your power settings down to get to my profiles. I notice a good bit of change even with a 3-4V change.
Without a bean temperature probe its hard to profile accurately but as a guide I would drop the beans into the drum about when the HT display reads 280-290. Keep it on a power of 7 until about a minute before first crack whcih you should shoot for in 9-10 minutes after you drop the beans. Keep the heat lower maybe 3-4 tops to control the roast during and after first crack to the point where you want to eject the beans. You are at a good advantage with your voltage to getting quicker controlled roasts and the brighter flavors you are after. Keep at it. You will succeed. Finally, I really recommend the bean temperature thermocouple. It's worth every penny of the investment.
Edit- at the end of any roast you can save the profile used. Up to 3 profiles can be saved. It is a useful thing to do. See your user manual. You then just select that profile to run after turning on the power to the unit.
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Which bean temperature thermocouple are you using and do you recommend?
Where does one purchase it?
I do own and use (for cooking and baking) a Thermoworks digital thermometer with a long stainless steel probe, but its range is only from 32F to 392 F (probably not adequate for this purpose)
:(
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http://www.espressomyespresso.com/ (http://www.espressomyespresso.com/)
check out "How to pages - #10 adding temperature monitoring to the hottop roaster"
I purchased my Omega probe here
http://theelectrostore.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/ktss-hh-omega-new.html (http://theelectrostore.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/ktss-hh-omega-new.html)
This is the datalogger I purchased but I got mine on ebay.
http://www.valuetesters.com/UEI-DT302-Apollo-2-Digital-Temperature-Logger.php (http://www.valuetesters.com/UEI-DT302-Apollo-2-Digital-Temperature-Logger.php)
It monitors up to two probes at once and stores information for download to your computer for graphing. There are others with one channel as well as cheaper digital thermometers that use a K-type thermocouple for real time monitoring without data storage.
ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/UEi-APOLLO-II-DT302-Digital-Temp-Logger-NEW-Box-/140373454248?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20aee8eda8 (http://cgi.ebay.com/UEi-APOLLO-II-DT302-Digital-Temp-Logger-NEW-Box-/140373454248?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20aee8eda8)
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This morning, I drank the first of the roast that I did two days ago while attempting to follow your profile, but that got aborted because of my high line voltage. (Does that qualify for a "run-on-sentence" prize?)
Even though it was a little lighter that I desired, it definitely achieved more brightness (acidity.) :-)
The other point of interest is that you indirectly reminded me that I already own a dual probe Digital Thermometer that I purchased on ebay a while back. My intention was to adapt it to the FreshRoast chamber but I never found the correct location to run one of the K type probes.
My next roast will follow your altered instructions, and I look forward to Roasting Nirvana, or close.
Thanks again
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Coffeefreak
I'm sitting on my porch roasting in 18* freezing weather and I look at my profile again and count the power bars and notice that the pre-heat after the beep from the machine at 167* on the hottop display is at SIX power (6) and not seven (7) . That is part of your too high heat. With your voltage I'd use 5 power at preheat stage and drop the beans when the hottop display is about 290*.
Hope this helps and sorry for the mistake previously.
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18 degrees on your porch? It is 48 F on my porch right now, but I still opt to roast on the stove top under the hood.
This grizzly Texan likes "cool" weather, but I ain't no Polar Bear. ;D
P.S. Thanks for the temperature update info. I will be using it within the hour.
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This has been a particularly tough winter in NY. 48* seems like a heat wave!
That's why I had to insulate the hottop
http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=10633.0 (http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=10633.0)
Let us know how your roast turns out.
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Just completed my roast using (almost) your new parameters. I was a bit lazy and thought that I could jump back and forth from three different printouts. Next time, I shall edit and recopy the data on one sheet. It began to have 2nd crack when the Hottop readout said 413F, so I opted to eject then (this is for drip.) The beans look so perfect and smell so enticing that I had to restrain my urge to just scoop up a handful and chew them. ;D
As for the probe, the source where you obtained yours shows "out of stock." I sent them an email yesterday asking when they expect to have more. Several other dealers for that model probe list them for $10.00 more than where you got yours. Of course, many retailers can advertise a lo-ball price and then tack on high shipping charges.
One thought does give me cause for concern: If I drill holes to insert the probe, might that furnish an excuse for the manufacturer to invoke: "Machine altered or tampered with; Warranty no longer valid."
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Seems lik ou are still a bit faster then I get here with my 118V (today) >:(input so maybe tweek the power down a bit more or lower input temperature. You can play with this depending on the bean. Getting second crack at hottop display 413* is about right.
You can purchase a brand new bean cover chute for $10 fromm hottop so I don't see where any warranty would be affected in this situation. You can always call Michael at Hottop and ask. He is great to deal with.
I shopped around to get the cheapest omega probe. That is the place I found. Even with shipping it was cheaper than any other place I looked.
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Seems like you are still a bit faster then I get here with my 118V (today) >:(input so maybe tweek the power down a bit more or lower input temperature. You can play with this depending on the bean. Getting second crack at hottop display 413* is about right.
You can purchase a brand new bean cover chute for $10 fromm hottop so I don't see where any warranty would be affected in this situation. You can always call Michael at Hottop and ask. He is great to deal with.
I shopped around to get the cheapest omega probe. That is the place I found. Even with shipping it was cheaper than any other place I looked.
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This morning, I did another roast trying to emulate your most recent instructions. It seemed that at a Heat Setting of 5 with the fan on the first notch, it was not moving closer to 1st crack as fast as it should.
The great part about this machine is that one can adjust all parameters "on the fly." I lengthened my initial time setting of 20 minutes, and upped the heat in increments until I could sense that 1st crack would come soon. It did, and I ejected just before 2nd crack and the dial read 413 F. The beans look pretty good.
As far as the Omega temperature probe is concerned, I attempted to purchase one at the place where you got yours. However, when I got to the cart it showed as "out of stock." I e-mailed them last week asking when and if they expected more Omega probes to be in stock. So far, they have yet to respond.
Hopefully, they will eventually do so which will spare me from "biting the bullet" and going to one of the more expensive dealers.
As of now, I have 27 roasts on the machine. What is your take on when and how often to change filters?
Thanks again
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Now that you have a feel for the kinetics of your machine with its voltage and heat input you can begin to adjust the drop time for the beans and/or the input heat so that you get to first crack at 9-10 minutes and then slow the roast down nearing first crack by lowering heat and finishing within about 3 to 3.5 minutes after first crack is rolling. If you like you could also probably control your profiles pretty well this way with somewhat more beans (180-190 gm or so).
I wash my back filter in Calfiza detergent (for espresso machines) every 20 or so roasts and rotate among three filters. THat detergent is great at removing coffee oils. They last a long time that way.
Good luck. If you order more filters from hottop you can also get another bean cover ($10) as a spare for drilling the thermocouple openings. Drilling stainless is a PIA without a drill press.
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I just received a reply from the place where you purchased your Omega probe:
>Thank you for your inquiry. I have checked and unfortunately I don't expect that we will have these available again in the foreseeable future.
Sincerely,
Daniel
At 12:25 PM 1/22/2011 -0600, you wrote:
> I was going to order a Omega model KTSS-HH Type K Thermocouple probe from you, but it shows up on the shopping cart as out of stock. Do you know when you are expecting them back in stock?
>
> Thank you,
You got in at the right time. ;-) Eventually, I shall just dig deeper into my pocket and get one elsewhere.
But, my roasts are tasting so good lately with all of the assistance that I have received here that it does not seem too urgent.
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coffeefreak: . I got mine from mcm electronics. This one might work too http://tinyurl.com/6eqdem9. (http://tinyurl.com/6eqdem9.) Once you get one try snaking it in through the front, its not as accurate as a fixed install but for me seeing how different it was inspired me to go for the gusto.
As for install I took the WHOLE thing apart and mounted mine on the back wall of the roasting chamber. I used a stainless bolt that i drilled out on a press. Then I pressed a stainless steel tube through it. Then i bent the tube until it was center mass and put the thermo wire in till the tip just comes out of the tube. PM me if interested and I could through a bolt/tube assembly together some night at work.
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I drop my beans depending on profile desired at environmental temperature of 320-350 degrees
I get to first crack about 9 ½ to 10 minutes.
.. if I need to finish in 13-14 minutes and full city – For me City plus is bean temperature of 422-425*. Full city roasts are bean temperature 430-435* Second crack usually starts at bean temperature ~437-440*
Looking over your notes and comparing to my first HT roast I see these differences.
I dumped in at 275 with 22.50 on the clock.
Hit first around 12 min.
Terminated roast around 15 min temp 428.
I think simply waiting a min to dump in would have brought me in line with your profile.
I think next time I'm going to drop at a starting temp of 325 and see what happens.
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John
Remember -
1- I use 170-180 gm of beans (usually 170 for brew and a bit more for espresso)
2- My quoted temperatures were from my omega bean temperature probe). Before I dump the beans into the drum I assume that I am mesuring the environmental temperature within the drum. After adding beans I assume it is close to the bean surface temperature.
3- My HotTop is insulated as described in a thread on cold weathure roasting I started. I am happy to provide some insulation material if you would like to try it.
edit - When I drop the beans into the drum at time 21' 30" the hottop display is usually more in the 285-300* range though I really don't look at it too much. My experience with the bean temperature probe is that it tels me the hottop display temperature on the back wall of the roaster is relatively representitive of the rate of bean heating in the middle of the roast but varies A LOT early and late. Early on it reads much higher than the actual bean temperature and late in the roast it is significantly lower then the bean temperature. Hope this helps.
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. I am happy to provide some insulation material if you would like to try it.
I'll take you up on that.
Let me know about paypal-ing you for shipping and such...