Roaster advice please - upgrading from hottop

[charlesaf3]

I tried doing a search, and read the first few pages - Unsurprisingly roaster gets a lot of hits on the search function...  So my apologies if I missed a previous thread like this.

I have roasted hundreds of roasts On a hot top roaster and been very pleased with the coffee.  But the roaster has Basically melted on me after four years,  I'm not nearly so pleased with the build quality. And more importantly, the roast size - I need at least a point, roasted into second crack.

So what do  I get next?  It's for home roast, but I'll happily make any electrical and gas modifications necessary. Given I rip apart houses on a daily basis that's not an issue. Fire might be - my hottop already caught fire (Didn't improve it much, But since I was right there didn't really hurt it either)

I've been thinking sonofresco,  ambex 2, or a diedrich or probat sample roaster if I can find one.  I drink espresso, roasted a bit into second crack.

All advice gratefully welcomed.

[grinderz]

What's your desired batch capacity?

[charlesaf3]

2 pounds great, a "real" 1 pound to second crack would work. I'm guessing a one kilo would be the sweet spot?

[MMW]

http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=16743.0

[charlesaf3]

interesting but I think I need a bit more track record.  I don't have much time to fiddle around right now, so I need to be pretty sure of minimal tweaking

[Burner0000]

Here are a few Sonofresco's here on GCBC.

I'm loving my 1.4 lb'er.  Gives me a roasted batch of 550g and roasts dark no problem.

http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=16695.0

User sgreen may have one or two for you.  I have also seen a few used ones circulating the internet. 

[peter]

What's your budget on the high end?  And how fast do you want to buy the next roaster? 

[sgreen]

I am by no means an expert roaster. As a matter of fact, graduating from a popcorn popper, I was happy with my Behmor until I started cupping with the Gopher Group guys and realized how much coffee I had ruined. The Sonofresco is a great value and does a good job, but I wanted more control. I considered the Quest M3 (too small), the Huky (nice, but no cigar) and quickly realized I wasn't going to be satisfied with less than a commercial quality drum roaster.

If you wait long enough and keep looking, you will eventually find one. I was impatient, so I'm going to China.

The irony is, I burned up my experimental fluid bed roaster about a week ago and was out of beans so I paid $22 for a pound of nice Panama from a local roaster. I was freaking out about the price until I realized I could buy 454 lbs or about 5 years worth of weekly coffee expense for what I'm going to spend on roasters in the next few days. Huh. Who'd a thunk it?

And for G-d's sake, don't tell my wife.

The point being, if a guy really had to, you can afford to buy a lot of pricey coffee waiting for the right roaster.

[charlesaf3]

What's your budget on the high end?  And how fast do you want to buy the next roaster?

budget... hmmm.  nothing explicit, I guess its flexible.  No way would I pay more than 10k, would strongly prefer under 5k.  I've come to terms with the fact that my coffee addiction is for life and am doing the "its only pennies a day" mental gymnastics.

Especially since I figure I pay around $5 a pound or so for green coffee, and would easily pay $15 for someone else to roast it.  So that's a $500 a year payback for my use alone, assuming a pound a week (I might drink more than that.  Yes, addiction... ).  So analytically 5k = 10% ROI (superficial math, I spend enough time on coffee without doing time value analyses... )

And that leaves out that I have a very specific flavor profile I tend to aim for in my coffee, which is hard to get from other people's roasts...  ie I really want a east African fruit bomb mixed with stubbies Brazil beans, roasted into the start of second crack... 

So as long as the roaster will last 10-20 years with reasonable maintenance, I'm happy.   That's something that annoyed me about the Hottop.  I used it  no more than daily, usually every couple of days, and it still only lasted 4-5 years, and has been marginal to this point.   I've repaired it more than once.

My guess is a commercial sample roaster in home use will be more like a commercial espresso machine - ie effectively unlimited.

Please correct me if I'm wrong..

[charlesaf3]

Here are a few Sonofresco's here on GCBC.

I'm loving my 1.4 lb'er.  Gives me a roasted batch of 550g and roasts dark no problem.

http://www.greencoffeebuyingclub.com/index.php?topic=16695.0

User sgreen may have one or two for you.  I have also seen a few used ones circulating the internet.

Sonofresco looks very interesting.  I'm worried a) I might outgrow it again, would like to buy a 20 year roaster, b) That I will find I prefer a drum roast flavor profile, and c) that it might require a fair degree of maintenance, from what some have posted.

As always, please tell me if I'm wrong/missing something.

[peter]

The reason I asked about your timeframe was because the Ambex YM-2K would be ideal for you, but could take some hunting and pecking for a used one in good condition.  I'm enjoying mine immensely over the last year, and would never consider anything non-commercial if your budget and space allow.  Also, and this is not meant to start a roaster war, consider the flexibility and profiling of the Sonofresco, maybe find one to roast on for a few batches before going that route.

[charlesaf3]

The reason I asked about your timeframe was because the Ambex YM-2K would be ideal for you, but could take some hunting and pecking for a used one in good condition.  I'm enjoying mine immensely over the last year, and would never consider anything non-commercial if your budget and space allow.  Also, and this is not meant to start a roaster war, consider the flexibility and profiling of the Sonofresco, maybe find one to roast on for a few batches before going that route.

I suffer from the usual "I want it now" but as per above, if I have to buy roasted coffee and freeze it it wouldn't be the end of the world.  And my hottop is still limping along in its quirky way, albeit with random failures that indicate I'll be offering it up for parts soon...

I'd love to see what a sonofresco was like, just assumed there were none anywhere near central Virginia.  But maybe I'm wrong about that.

If the Ambex YM 2k is ideal, I can definitely wait for one - they seem to come along every so often.  Are the ?US Roasters? ones better than the pre-takeover ones?

[sgreen]

Quote:

"I used it no more than daily, usually every couple of days, and it still only lasted 4-5 years, and has been marginal to this point."

3 roasts per week x 52 weeks x 5 years = 780 roasts? 390 lbs?

I think Hottop should use this in their advertising.

[sgreen]

If you are in VA, why not drive up to Baltimore and get the Toper I just posted in the Craigslist finds?

[charlesaf3]

Quote:

"I used it no more than daily, usually every couple of days, and it still only lasted 4-5 years, and has been marginal to this point."

3 roasts per week x 52 weeks x 5 years = 780 roasts? 390 lbs?

I think Hottop should use this in their advertising.

Probably actually 250 pounds or so - I probably average out to a pound a week, give or take.   And yeah, I got my money's worth out of it, no doubt.  Probably the thing I'm most annoyed with is the batch size limitations.  Then the computer, both in software design, (minor) and protection from heat (my computer has basically been melting for years now, with accompanying bugs), then cleaning/chaff collection, which really needs a shop vac, onboard chaff removal is insufficient to the point of dangerousness.

I was really happy with my roast quality though, after a little bit of tweaking based on home barista threads.  I like to take it slow through the drying period, fast to first crack, and then slow as possible into start of second.  This roast profile has made me quite happy, though I'm sure there are those doing better roasts...

Which weighs into my search for a new roaster, and its something that worries me about sonofresco, seems like the roast has been faster/more popcorn popper style for most.