Show Off your Roaster

[Tex]

It's 90 RPM, which seems ok. At least it works ok. No tipping or burning. I'm going to drill a few 1/8" holes around the drum to let the beans dry better. I've been noticing with some beans, that when I put in my trier, it has condensation on it, so they are not drying as fast as I think they should, though what do I know? I've done over 150 roasts on it so far. They all seem to last between 14-16 minutes.

Probably needs a fan to push the moisture out of the can. Maybe it's also a problem of the hole being too small?

[Ringo]

Crazy idea here, but could you rig a pipe that would stick into the can the same way the trier does, remove it when you need to sample the roast.  Have the pipe go up a couple of feet so the heat could draft out of the pipe.  You would have a natural draft vent to use when you needed it.  It would have to be smaller than your sample hole becouse thats were the make up air would come from.

[reedvilleroaster]

My SC/TO seems very humble compared to a lot of what I see going on in here.  Gotta admit, I'm a little jealous.

[peter]

My SC/TO seems very humble compared to a lot of what I see going on in here.  Gotta admit, I'm a little jealous.

Nothin' wrong with that setup! 

If you can move to a digital thermometer for quicker response, and get the probe down into the bean mass, it'll be similar to what I've used for a few thousand lbs.

[J.Jirehs Roaster]

My SC/TO seems very humble compared to a lot of what I see going on in here.  Gotta admit, I'm a little jealous.

looks pretty good to me.. complete with bottle opener?!?! love it

[Tex]

My SC/TO seems very humble compared to a lot of what I see going on in here.  Gotta admit, I'm a little jealous.

Nice looking setup - one question: how do you make sure the toilet overflow you sucked up with the shop vac doesn't show up in your next roast? I'd prefer using a dedicated air source.

[reedvilleroaster]

Toilet overflow?  I'm not sure what you mean.  It sucks the chaff down and then after it's cooled I use the vacuum to suck the rest of the chaff from the bottom of the bucket.  There's no way anything from the previous roast gets into the next roast. 

[oldgearhead]

I think Tex assumes you use the shop vac for other things....

[peter]

I think Tex assumes you use the shop vac for other things....

Oops, you mean nobody warned reedvilleroaster about Tex?

[reedvilleroaster]

Nope, only for roasting.  Can't you tell by how shiny and new it looks? 

[Tex]

Toilet overflow?  I'm not sure what you mean.  It sucks the chaff down and then after it's cooled I use the vacuum to suck the rest of the chaff from the bottom of the bucket.  There's no way anything from the previous roast gets into the next roast. 

Too oblique a reference to things which might affect the flavor of the coffee?

[reedvilleroaster]

Here's a project I've been working on.  It's like a Turbo Crazy on steroids.  I used a Krups ice cream machine on the bottom with a Farberware electric skillet on top (which coincidentally fits right on top of the motor's base).  It took some work with a drill and some JB Weld to get a shaft attached to it.  I did a dry run with it last night with no heat.  It agitated a full pound of beans for 20 minutes with no problem whatsoever.  I think I could double it and it still wouldn't have a problem.  The only thing left is to try it with the heat and see if the JB holds.  Of course, it will eventually need a spacer for proper chaff ejection.  Wish me luck.

[grinderz]

That looks awesome! The skillet has an adjustable thermostat, right? And the ice cream maker should have tons of torque. Looks like you might have a real winner there.

[reedvilleroaster]

After a few hiccups I was able to roast in the Super Crazy tonight.  The JB Weld didn't hold, but I was able to reattach the shaft with some copper strip and a couple screws.  Here are some thoughts from the first roast.

Negatives:
Definitely needs a spacer to eject chaff- lots of chaff.
Roast took a little too long- almost 20 minutes for Full City/+.  Next time I will preheat.
When I turned on both the oven and electric part of the skillet at the same time it tripped the breaker.  This is really more of a problem because of my current garage configuration- which unfortunately only has one outlet.

Positives-
Ultimately it did what I wanted- roasted a full pound of coffee, fairly evenly. I think with some slight tinkering, this will be a good setup.

Here is a picture of the maiden roast- Mexico Chiapas.

[karlo]

Just received our new Diedrich IR5 on Friday morning. It's a beauty. Still have probably through the end of the month to get the install right in the midst of the Christmas crunch at the shop - we're building a platform out of some distressed sheet metal & i-beams, and are waiting for a local sheet metal place to finish building our duct work. While I can't wait to get roasting on it, I'm just telling folks that I'd rather have it done right than done fast. It also gives me some down time to learn the software on it, too. What's crazy is that I already have two local restaurants and a brewery committed to buying coffee from me! Definitely a humbling feeling.

If you're ever in my direction in central PA, you're invited to come play!