Green Coffee Buying Club
Coffee Discussion boards => Hardware & Equipment => Topic started by: mrgreenbean on July 25, 2023, 04:50:13 AM
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Within the next six months I will be able to buy a new Roaster, I have been using a HotTop the past few years with no issues.
I really don’t have the ability to use a gas Roaster safely with out modifications to my home. So what is the best electric out there?
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Well, to start out. Can you please provide a bit more info?
Do you have 240 volt available?
How much do you plan on roasting a week / a month?
How big of a batch at a time do you plan on roasting, what would you like to be able to roast per batch?
What is your budget?
I love the Artisan roasters but they are considered more a commercial machine and not for everyone, but man oh man, so easy to work with.
Aaron
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Within the next six months I will be able to buy a new Roaster, I have been using a HotTop the past few years with no issues.
I really don’t have the ability to use a gas Roaster safely with out modifications to my home. So what is the best electric out there?
Aaron's questions are good ones and depending on the answers, my response might not be relevant. However, I went through this debate a couple of years ago and ended up with a gas roaster (Huky) because, given my needs, the cost/performance ratio was so ridiculously in favor of gas (including the cost of venting requirements). I had a Hottop for years and loved it, but I wanted something more responsive to energy input and twice the batch size. I liked a variety of electric roasters (Artisan was at the top of the list), but they were considerably more $$$ and/or required a 240V line. I didn't have a 240V line readily available and my price point at the time was ~$1000 - $1200 for a one pound roaster. A used Huky fit the bill and I love how responsive it is and easy it is to roast on.
Good luck with the hunt and please report back what you decide.
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My batch’s are small, it’s just two of us. I do have a 220 outlet somewhere in my garage that I have never used. Budget 5,000 dollars. I have no vented hood available.
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The Artisan 3 e might be in your range then. You may want to call them and talk to him on the phone personally to work out the details and maybe get a bit of a break on it, you never know!
I have found that we all tend to start small, and eventually want more, bigger, badder, meaner etc etc. The A3 will do just that. It looks like it will let you easily roast a half pound roast if you want, up to 3 lbs or more per batch as your needs / demands grow.
Trust me, right now you are roasting for you and wifey pooh, but once word gets out, the kids will want coffee, the friends will want coffee, the church will start mooching you for coffee etc etc. you get the idea :D
Welcome to the rabbit hole!
Aaron
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Will the Artisan roast in a cold garage during the winter months?
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Absolutely it will. It has plenty of power to spare in fact will do a nice job of heating your garage up for you too!
When I was roasting in the cold ass months, what id actually do was when I threw my 5 lb batches onto the cooling tray Id wuff them for about 15 seconds to suck the smoke off of them and once it was clear id flip a damper i made to pipe it directly into my furnace ducting to push all that heat up into the house (why waste it?) or if I didn't do that Id vent it outside then flip it to vent into the garage, with the garage door closed id have the garage up in the 80s in no time.
The thing has probably a 6kw or 8 KW heating element in it. That's a LOT of power there for heat!
The A6 can push about 11 kw at top end!
Aaron
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One final question, what do you think of the Aillio Bullet?
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The Huky does seem to be a reasonable contender. I think it’s been around for awhile. But I think it’s gas.
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The Huky does seem to be a reasonable contender. I think it’s been around for awhile. But I think it’s gas.
Yep, my Huky uses a propane burner. I do 360 - 400g batches with great success.
FYI, I think Brian has a Bullet, which he likes, but he still keeps his Huky around ;D .
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I have never used the bullet myself so can't give you any honest feedback on it. I have not heard a lot of gripe over it either like I have on some of the other electric roasters. That tends to be a good sign, because they are all too busy roasting coffee to complain about it ! :)
Hopefully one of our members who has one will be willing to chime in and give you some good info.
Aaron
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One final question, what do you think of the Aillio Bullet?
I have one and much prefer my Huky due to it being more manageable/responsive.
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Who is the domestic contact for the Huky. ?
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Is the Artisan easy to set up?
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the artisan is relatively easy to set up. If you need specifics, I really recommend giving them a call, tell them I sent you and he'll be more than happy to go over any specifics you may need. Like, for the ducting it'd take this clamp, to connect this to that you'll need a 5mm socket head etc etc stuff.
YOU will need to provide power to it, so will need to put a cord / plug on it. Otherwise the modules pretty much plug into each other.
If you are going with a smaller unit just a cord with a 30 amp plug will work, make sure it's the proper plug. If you are going with one of the bigger units Id recommend hard wiring it. or using a 14-50 nema outlet.
Aaron
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Who is the domestic contact for the Huky. ?
Did you find the Huky contact?
I prefer my Huky to my other options. I have made some progress with the Bullet recently and am optimistic about improved results. It is messy though and the odor elimination is sub-par. The Huky's workflow is more cumbersome.
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I am not after the perfect roaster, but it’s time to graduate from a HotTop.
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Have you given consideration to used electric commercial sample roasters?
Or modifying a convection toaster oven?
Within the next six months I will be able to buy a new Roaster, I have been using a HotTop the past few years with no issues.
I really don’t have the ability to use a gas Roaster safely with out modifications to my home. So what is the best electric out there?
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I am not after the perfect roaster, but it’s time to graduate from a HotTop.
The Huky is far from perfect, as is the Bullet.
If it needs to be electric the Ikawa is the best available option. Next would be the Bullet at a higher price.
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The only thing that turns me away from the Ikawa is that I can NOT justify paying 4 grand for a 2 ounce roaster. Oh but it does back to back, yah so does my Artisan at 6 lbs a shot too!
I was talking to them for a little bit, was interested in one of their older models, explaining that I don't give a fiddlers fk about being able to share my profiles with all my friends and this snazzy that snazzy socialist media feature etc etc. They started out at a good deal but then tried the ole bait and switch, well for a few bucks more, you could get this one, or oh wait, im sorry that one is sold out, we only had 2 of them left BUT for only an extra few dollars we can get you into THIS etc etc.
No thanks. Used car salesmen tactics don't work with me and really turn me off.
Aaron
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The only thing that turns me away from the Ikawa is that I can NOT justify paying 4 grand for a 2 ounce roaster. Oh but it does back to back, yah so does my Artisan at 6 lbs a shot too!
I was talking to them for a little bit, was interested in one of their older models, explaining that I don't give a fiddlers fk about being able to share my profiles with all my friends and this snazzy that snazzy socialist media feature etc etc. They started out at a good deal but then tried the ole bait and switch, well for a few bucks more, you could get this one, or oh wait, im sorry that one is sold out, we only had 2 of them left BUT for only an extra few dollars we can get you into THIS etc etc.
No thanks. Used car salesmen tactics don't work with me and really turn me off.
Aaron
They have a version with some of the software features reduced for about a grand.
It's a different tool for a different market than an Artisan.
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I get that brian, it's for people to share their coffee roasting recipe's with each other, maybe small shops etc, but I don't need all that frilly crap TBH. Because let's be honest, the way I may like a certain coffee, is NOT going to be the way YOU like it, and IMO this just creates a bunch of mindless drones, (your typical gen Z), gimme a recipe, gimme a file, who just mindlessly will want to plug in something that someone else said works and 5 minutes later have roasted beans, with ZERO effort, input, experimentation, learning understanding, etc on their part.
This is an old video here but I think it pretty much sums up the current human condition perfectly !
https://vimeo.com/79695097
Aaron
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Bullet has a community with recipe sharing function. It's certainly not a mindless autobot thing as while folks there can and may likely download and try other peoples recipes, this is mostly viewed as a starting point that's usually modified during the first roast. What happens during the roast almost never matches the baseline template and its clearly visible.
There are just too many variables to roasting, especially with these small electric roasters. Line voltage, ambient temps, machine temp, of course the beans, etc.
I've found it somewhat helpful.
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That's always been a problem anywhere Brian. coffee roasting in a way is like a finger print. No two are ever going to be the same. People do not have the same setups, voltage, heck even the humidity in the air or a which way the fan is blowing on your roaster can alter it's profile.
Mine does not taste like yours why? ... almost never a simple, oh because you need to tweak xx, it's always something more complicated and the solution is not a 'solution' but a choice of maybe 10 different things, which do you want to do? But that fingerprint, is what also makes it so awesome, when i have some 'secret' up my sleeve and can get flavors, nobody else seems to be able to get, well, there's mom's secret recipe right there!
speaking of, I need to drink some full octane this morning, i need to roast about 8 samples here for another upcoming BIG distro, but just can't find the energy today to get up off my ass and do it! I'll blame it on coming off the flu, I ain't quite right yet :D
Aaron
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It probably all comes down to what you want to pay for a roaster and how serious you want to be with it. If you are a professional you are probably going to spend for the best. If it’s just you and the Mrs. like my situation you just need a finished product with a good flavor, but even that can be subjective.