Sonofresco / Q&A / Tip & Tricks

[jimbo]

Thanks for the quick replies!  Very helpful. 

"the perfect lazy man's roaster"  sounds like it's right up my alley!

Jimbo

[1981er]

Been considering the purchase of a Sono mainly from comments about it highlighting the brightness, which I love,  but had a few questions...

1.  How does it fare with wet process/ most Centrals?

2.  Does it give off much radiant heat?  Does the base get very hot or could it sit atop something like a wooden island?

3.  Is the cooling done by just shutting off heat and keeping the air running through the beans?

4.  If you roast in cold a environment, any concerns over the glass cracking due to heat change, or is the ramp up in initial heat fairly gradual?  Does ambient temp seem to affect the roast?

5.  Does the chaff collector work well or is there residual chaff that needs to be vac'd after, say, a City+ roast?

Thanks for any help...

[yankeeNH]

Been considering the purchase of a Sono mainly from comments about it highlighting the brightness, which I love,  but had a few questions...

1.  How does it fare with wet process/ most Centrals?

2.  Does it give off much radiant heat?  Does the base get very hot or could it sit atop something like a wooden island?

3.  Is the cooling done by just shutting off heat and keeping the air running through the beans?

4.  If you roast in cold a environment, any concerns over the glass cracking due to heat change, or is the ramp up in initial heat fairly gradual?  Does ambient temp seem to affect the roast?

5.  Does the chaff collector work well or is there residual chaff that needs to be vac'd after, say, a City+ roast?

Thanks for any help...

I've been using my Sono for just over 2 yrs. now and here are my observations:

1. Centrals are just fine, but it of course depends on each individual coffee. I find it's a matter of finding a coffee that works well with the built-in profile rather than the fact that it's a washed Central. My most disappointing roasts have been with washed Ethiopians. Some are so delicate and I feel I'm losing some of the nuances. On the other hand, some of my best roasts have been natural Ethiopians.

2. There's some radiant heat, but only from the roasting chamber and metal chaff collecting assembly on top. The enclosure has no temperature change so you shouldn't have any problem having it on something wooden.

3. Yup, the cooling is simply air flow without the heat cycle. Very effective too. :-)

4. I think ambient temperature *will* affect the roast, but I haven't had any concerns about a cold roasting chamber with the heat cycling on--at least in terms of cracking or breakage. I'm not comfortable roasting outside in a windy environment or in a cold environment for reasons of ambient temperature swings, but that might just be me.

5. I find the chaff collection is pretty good, though I do always vacuum off some stray chaff before I empty the roasting chamber. I did have some chaff ignite twice while roasting a particularly chaff-y natural a little on the dark side. Not fun, but recoverable and didn't require anything more than shutting off the gas (then the power shortly thereafter) and opening a window... *blush*

Let me know if you have any more questions!

[jspain]

I'm with yankeeNH on all his comments. The only difference would be that I have never had a chaff fire. Hope I never do. I don't do french roasts so that may be why?

You can set the Sono on anything. No heat in the base unit.

I wouldn't roast in a none heated area in the winter in the snow zone. The Sono heats up quick and I wouldn't want to test the glass chamber with that type of heat change.... I could be wrong on that one.  jim

[1981er]

Thank you both for the quick replies...  Pretty sure I'll pony up for one in the coming week, and can't wait to get started with something new!

I think the only thing I forgot to ask was your thoughts on continuous back to back roasts and if that works, is not advisable or ends up with varied results?

 

[ecdhunt]

agree with the guys above, and I've found it does well on continuous roasting too.  No significant changes in results from roast to roast.  I've done nearly 10 hours continuous one day and followed it with 6 the next - no worries.  It's rare that I only fire it up for one pound, but even on those occasions it does well - I get just what I expected from a given roast.  Make sure you do the regular PM - that will help ensure consistency.

Roast magazine had an article a while back about "Mighty Roasters of a Pound" or something like that - the Sono was a central figure in the article - it was around small-scale coffee roasting businesses.

Also, the only coffee out of the 35 or so I've done that I didn't find a great roast for was a Peruvian.  However, some people that tried it raved about it roasted at FC+, and others were very complimentary of it at City+ range.  After going through 10# or so, I figured maybe I just didn't like that coffee. 

Mine is on a wooden bench.   Enjoy.  I've found I have more time to enjoy my coffee and have had zero "pooched" roasts since leaving the Behmor/ SC/TO and moving to the Sono.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

I think the only thing I forgot to ask was your thoughts on continuous back to back roasts and if that works, is not advisable or ends up with varied results?

f you are looking for super efficiency I would suggest getting a second roasting chamber and chaff collector.. if you have back to back to back roasts you can have the second chamber ready to go with a new batch of green.. pull out the finished roast and put in the new roast.. that will give glass any time it needs to cool and you can clean the chaff between roasts... but I think the time it takes to clean the chaff collector may be enough time for the whole system to rest... 

[jspain]

The Sono is a commercial roaster and was made to roast batch after batch after batch.

It takes me two minutes to clean the chamber and the collector. It's a great roaster for the non anal roaster that wants consistency.....  jim

[Tex]

The Sono is a commercial roaster and was made to roast batch after batch after batch.

It takes me two minutes to clean the chamber and the collector. It's a great roaster for the non anal roaster that wants consistency.....  jim

That was my experience too - but you need a decent vacuum to speed things along.

[jspain]

The Sono is a commercial roaster and was made to roast batch after batch after batch.

It takes me two minutes to clean the chamber and the collector. It's a great roaster for the non anal roaster that wants consistency.....  jim

That was my experience too - but you need a decent vacuum to speed things along.

I actually take the chamber and the collector outside, separate, dump the roasted beans into a bag, wipe out the chamber and the collector, head back inside and brush the chaff collector screen, put back together and roast again. When I first got my Behmor I did use the shop vac and it works great and you don't need to go outside, however that's a lot of chaff and since I live in the middle of nowhere I just fertilize the grass with the chaff!  jim

[Tex]

How often do you deep clean you Sono? Every ten roasts or so I'd make a tub of TSP & hot water and soak the roast chamber & chaff collector. A quick touch up with a brush and a thorough rinse and it'd look like new.

[ScareYourPassenger]

I am seriously considering this for my next roaster. I would really like to see roaster control widget for it though.

[jspain]

How often do you deep clean you Sono? Every ten roasts or so I'd make a tub of TSP & hot water and soak the roast chamber & chaff collector. A quick touch up with a brush and a thorough rinse and it'd look like new.

I go longer than 10 roasts before deep cleaning. I clean and brush the chaff screen every roast. I "gently" clean the temp sensor every 5 or so roasts. I deep clean just as you discribe including the chaff screen about evey 20-30 roasts. I roast too often to much to deep clean every 10 roasts. I do keep my roaster looking like new!  Jim 

[Tex]

I am seriously considering this for my next roaster. I would really like to see roaster control widget for it though.

As you can see from the attached PDF, the Sono does a good job with its stock programming.

[ScareYourPassenger]

I was more concerned with being able to roast smaller batches possibly. I guess I could do that in the Behmor but I am sure the Sonofresco would have me spoiled.
What is considered a good price for a used one? I found one that the owner wants $1600 for without a hood. The last one on ebay went for $1500 with hood if I remember correctly.