At the moment, I still need a BBQ roaster more than a 'B' panel for the Hottop.
I need bigger batch sizes. It comes down to spending less time roasting, more than anything else.
Let's assume that I need to roast 4#'s.
I can roast 8 batches in my trick P1. (8 oz batch size) 40 min to roast 1 # or 2 hours 40 min.
I can roast 8 batches in the Hottop. (9 oz batch size). Same result 2h 40m.
Or finish construction on a 5# BBQ Drum roaster. 30 minutes 4# batch.
I have 2 hours to do other things.
I never said that the Hottop could not roast 15#'s in 1 weekend, but I am certain that it's service life would definitely be shorter.
I bought it for home use of 1# a week. It's a good machine for it's intended purpose.
I've been roasting for 6 years now, started with a popcorn popper and still help beginners roast coffee with them. I have a GGSC Galloping Gourmet/Stir Crazy setup that's going on 5 years now. I have killed many Bread Machine drive belts doing 1.5# batches back to back for up to 10#'s in a single day.
http://sites.google.com/site/garybt3/myhottopkn-8828pcoffeeroasterI want to believe that I can fully control it one day.