Why isn't it possible for a company to build a good inexpensive 1 pound roaster?

[wsikes]

I have a Behmor 1600 roaster and am quite satisfied with it, however, it is not a 1 pound roaster.  You CAN roast 1 pound of beans in it, but you will only get optimum results if you roast 12 ounces or less in it.  I paid ~$300 for it (including free shipping and free beans).  It was the most reasonable roaster at the lowest price I could find without building my own, which my health prevents me from doing.  The roaster is very good, but come on, it is not GREAT.  It has flexibility, but could have much more if it had different software and maybe a different heater element design.  I am not trashing the Behmor... it is the best roaster available at the price and it allows me to roast some very very nice coffee beans.
Having said that...
In this day and age where technology is king, we can buy a computer (that would have been classified as a supercomputer 10 years ago) for around $500 INCLUDING the monitor.  WHY can't we buy a really nice 1-2 pound coffee roaster for that price?  It's not rocket science... or is it?

Bill

[Tex]

Economics & economy of scale. Would you rather build 20,000 roasters that'd sell for $500 each, or 100 roasters sold at $10,000 per unit? Remember, you can't just  build equipment; you also have to service it & provide warranty support.

It's just simpler to concentrate on the upper tier of the market. And remember, the lower end of the market is inhabited mostly by hobby roasters, and 1 pound is at the upper limit of what they'll consume before it stales. So I doubt if there's enough consumer demand to justify building such a model at a lower price point.

[grinderz]

Why don't you troll the forums and see if someone would be willing to sell you one of their home built roasters? I can do a pound in my SC\GC with the bottom heat left on in the Stir Crazy and about a pound and a half in my HG/BM (heat gun bread machine), BTW.

[Ascholten]

I built a drum roaster several years ago, I called it the redneck roaster, I used a foreman style grill and a paint can (new can no paint ever in it) and stainless steel screen, it easily did a pound and cost me about 125 tops to build.

on your question though, how big do you honestly think the market is ?  If you are roasting more than a pound at a time, are you really 'hobbyist' then?   why not do several batches of 12 oz, if you are doing 15 batches a week, again, you are not a hobbyist, you are more a commercial roaster, and the behmore or any other 'hobby' roaster won't hold up long at that kind of use... you complain and warranty issues arise.     Which is why they make 1500 dollar roasters that CAN hold up to that amount of work.

Aaron

[Ascholten]

The UL listing is a pain in the ass for it yakster.
For the 120V though, if your heating element is cycling on and off then it's essentially at it's optimal temperature.  if you put 220 in there, yes it may get hotter faster, but will still shut off the elements until temp cools down to turn on temp again...   The only difference I possibly see is, it getting to the cycle temp faster initially and giving a longer period of up and down, but still...

I do believe they have a 'fix' you can do to it that will allow it to easily do a full pound but it voids the warranty or something if you do it.

Aaron

[Tex]

Hobby roasters - built in ejection, limited controls, and CYA protection against getting sued by someone who doesn't know what he's doing.

Pro roasters - expectations that intricate controls will be enhanced by operator experience, and safety is part of the operators responsibility.

I'd put a Sonofresco into the former category. If it was any more limited in functionality it wouldn't be worth buying. As it is, it's only marginally better than a HT as a consumer roaster.

[Ascholten]

I don't know about the cya part all too much.    Ive really cooked some roasts in my 'novice' roaster Tex 

But on that, if you really F up a roast that bad, I think id actually want it cooking off in a big heavy cast iron roaster than a flimsy pressed sheet metal one to be honest, more containment that way if you ask me.

just my two beans

Aaron

[Tex]

I don't know about the cya part all too much.    Ive really cooked some roasts in my 'novice' roaster Tex 

But on that, if you really F up a roast that bad, I think id actually want it cooking off in a big heavy cast iron roaster than a flimsy pressed sheet metal one to be honest, more containment that way if you ask me.

just my two beans

Aaron

Containment isn't so critical - it's preventing an inrush of air that keeps any roaster from going up in flames. In a fluid bed roaster like the Sono, fresh air is part of the process. If the upper limit shutoff fails you've got a blow torch on your hands.

[Ascholten]

Well if it happens in summer, you can smoke the skeeters out of your yard for about a month heh.

Aaron

[hankua]

Hey Aaron: Lloyd Grokett in Texas builds the Hand Cranked Coffee Roaster and sells on Ebay as http://myworld.ebay.com/lloyddster/?_trksid=p4340.l2559. (Lloyddster).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250949126999&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_500wt_1413

I've emailed back and forth with Lloyd about his machine, he's on version three already. Only builds several a year as a part time venture and the machine has what may be the basics of a great roaster. 3/16" carbon steel solid drum ventilated in the back. It can be motorized as well as the shaft hangs out the back enough to attach a pulley. The burners can be modified with more control, and a chaff collector and air fan could be attached to the tube in the front of the machine, like the Huky500 uses. According to Lloyd, the new tryer design is self-dumping and does not have to be turned.

His roaster has sold all over the US and overseas; the design concept is outdoor market roaster but could be adapted by a hobbyist.

[John F]

Hey Aaron: Lloyd Grokett in Texas builds the Hand Cranked Coffee Roaster and sells on Ebay as http://myworld.ebay.com/lloyddster/?_trksid=p4340.l2559. (Lloyddster).

Looks solid like a war tank.

I like it.

[Tex]

Hey Aaron: Lloyd Grokett in Texas builds the Hand Cranked Coffee Roaster and sells on Ebay as http://myworld.ebay.com/lloyddster/?_trksid=p4340.l2559. (Lloyddster).

Looks solid like a war tank.

I like it.

Redundancy alert!

Maybe there are peace tanks somewhere?

[ScareYourPassenger]

I can see it now.

Why is your right arm so big?

From turning a coffee roaster for 3 hours

Right.....

[John F]

Redundancy alert!

Maybe there are peace tanks somewhere?

Did you know there are different uses and build ups on tanks?

"After sustaining slight damage to one of the Leopards, the advancing peacekeeping tanks returned fire"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Amanda

[Tex]

Redundancy alert!
Maybe there are peace tanks somewhere?

Did you know there are different uses and build ups on tanks?

Tanks for the clarification!