The old girl, the roaster not the wife, decided it was time for a new heater. The heater actually got caught on the rotating basket and that was all she wrote. So I contacted Hottopusa and order a new heater. First I have never taken the hottop apart besides taking out the basket and cleaning the interior. So I figured I would be in for a whole day of frustrating work. I am a mechanical engineer by trade, or use to be before I become a mentor to the youngun's, but somehow easy jobs are never easy.
So the part arrived and I told the wife that while she was out I would have a go at the roaster. Surprise, Surprise, the replacement was easy. Oh there are a lot of screws to be removed but everything is easy to get to. The site gives you instructions which I suppose you should read but being an engineer, instructions are for others and not me. Even so I was finished in a short period of time I think the whole thing took a little over an hour. One reason for the long period of time was I actually cleaned the roaster too. I was amazed at how much chaff was in there. I mean it was everywhere. I took some compressed air to it and thankfully I was outside. I must have blown out that roaster for 5 minutes. I cleaned the fan, the metal siding and even the roasting chamber. All that took at least 15 - 20 minutes.
Anyway to make an already long story a bit longer, the roaster now works better than before. It heats up relatively fast and the roast taste better or at least I have convinced myself it does. The only injuries were a cut on my middle finger, the edges are sharp so care should be taken, and a burned thumb. Oh I had to make sure the heater was working before reassembly and used the touch method. Yeah a stupid move on my part but then what is a task if you aren't injuried? So the moral to this post is don't be afraid to take the hottop roaster apart. In fact it is probably a good idea since with all that chaff, hey 8 years of roasting leaves a bit, I am surprise I never had a fire.
So now it is back to roasting my own and thinking about upgrading the old lady, again the roaster not the wife, to a new controller.
(happily roasting in Benbrook, Texas)
