Hot Top Auto Profile and moving on

[SJM]

So, when you first switch the HT on and put in 250 gm of greens and tell it to "GO", it is programmed to go for 25 minutes.


My first and only 2 roasts trudged right along and I stopped them with just over 5 minutes left on the timer. 
So, if I set the time for 20 minutes what will be the difference in the profile? 
Will it just do the same thing and then stop 5 minutes sooner, or will the curves that make up the profile be proportional?

And...
What was the first way in which you diverged from the auto setting?
Or...
Did you never even use it?

[az erik]

Very little difference in profile. Auto is 100% heat and varying fan, regardless of time. There is supposed to be a little change in heat/fan profile but I never saw it, just had roasts end sooner. Think I used auto twice the built my own version.


Sent from my iPhone5 using Tapatalk so pardon my spelling.

[MMW]

I have never had a roast go anywhere close to 20 minutes...

I typically roast 8 oz... Something like this

25:00 wait patiently
23:00, 278 fan to 4.  Drop beans
20:00, 310ish fan to 0, set power to 9 then back to 10 to keep the HT from dropping it 8 while I'm not paying attention
17:30ish, alarm goes off at 356, fan to 1, power to 3 for 1 minute
16:30ish, power to 10
13:00ish power to 3 at FC
12:00ish power to 5 or 6 as FC ends
10:00ish eject At 413/415 for FC+

Those are the temps as shown on my hot top.  Not too terribly concerned with what they actually are because it just doesn't make a difference weather FC is at 385 or 395 so long as it's consistent.

[shakin_jake]

So, when you first switch the HT on and put in 250 gm of greens and tell it to "GO", it is programmed to go for 25 minutes.

~~~They (Hot Top) must have changed things on these since I bought mine 4 years ago as my default roast profile (B model) is only 18 minutes in length, unless I add time to the front of the roast which it will allow me to do

My first and only 2 roasts trudged right along and I stopped them with just over 5 minutes left on the timer. 

~~~sounds like you're stopping the roast when it hits 2nd, or thereabouts...that's what I do, I roast by ear, stopping it at or near the front of 2nd crack, the first few snaps, sometimes I'll wait till it's in 2nd, let it roll in 2nd for up to 10-15 seconds (for espresso of course)

So, if I set the time for 20 minutes what will be the difference in the profile? 
Will it just do the same thing and then stop 5 minutes sooner, or will the curves that make up the profile be proportional?

~~~I can't answer that

And...
What was the first way in which you diverged from the auto setting?
Or...
Did you never even use it?

~~~when I first got mine I changed things up, but not the heater profile, I left that alone and always felt it was spot on.  I changed when the fan came on mostly.  My LED display has been out for awhile so I'm running with the default program all the way.  you know what?...it makes good roast that way

This display that went out (only the lighting)...this board is a replacement.  First board the buttons started sticking (known issue after a while) so Michael sent me a new one.  FWIW, when the buttons started sticking, this was way after the warranty expired so I paid for the new board.  It's fairly inexpensive.  I will order a new one, eventually


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him had better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford

[SJM]

Hi there, Jake, and I see that I was mistaken about the time on the auto profile.  It IS 18 minutes, which means my roasts have been going for 13.

My confusion is/was because in the manual (https://www.hottopusa.com/ManualBP-2_A1_2web.pdf) the display shows 25:00 on the clock in the description of the auto program.  I am so easily misled....:-(((  It clearly states that the auto default is 18 minutes. 

That makes so much more sense.   

Thanks for helping me to wake up and smell the coffee roasting....:-)) 

[shakin_jake]

Glad to be of some assistance Susan!  Before my display went out in late Jan (I keep a roast log) my roasts went approx. 15, 15&1/2 minutes, then I dumped, hitting 2nd crack with an initial charge of 280 grams of greens


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
It's never too late to have a happy childhood

[smico]

Susan,
You were lucky to jump on board at reasonable price.  New price is $1100 for B2.
Similarly to imaginary $5800 price tag on 1lb roaster, I think that they lost sense of reality.

[SJM]

Susan,
You were lucky to jump on board at reasonable price.  New price is $1100 for B2.
Similarly to imaginary $5800 price tag on 1lb roaster, I think that they lost sense of reality.

I have been counting my blessings for days now since I saw that;  sure puts paid to my idea of sending one to my friend in Hawaii for his birthday....guess he'll have to keep on keeping on with my old SC/TO.....

Glad to be of some assistance Susan!  Before my display went out in late Jan (I keep a roast log) my roasts went approx. 15, 15&1/2 minutes, then I dumped, hitting 2nd crack with an initial charge of 280 grams of greens

My first three roasts have all gone just about that long until I hit eject.  I've been inputting 250 grams, letting the auto profile do its thing, (beans in at 160 or so), and ejecting just when I think SC is starting.  Delicious !!!!  I did determine yesterday -- as someone had already pointed out but I had to see for myself -- that the auto profile is definitely all heat and only changes in the fan.  Interesting to know; more to be learned.   I love this machine !!!!

Susan

[SJM]

So. who can explain to me how to decide whether to lower the heat or increase the fan (or both) if/when I want to slow the progression of the roast. 

FC (250 grams of Brazil) is occurring 11 1/2 minutes into the roast;  SC/eject at 13:20.
Fan is off and Heater at 100% until 10 minutes into the roast when the fan goes on at 25%.

So....less heat or more fan or both at about 7-8 minutes???

[RobertL]

Let see if I am understanding your profile correctly. The heat is at 100 the whole time and fan is off until 10 minutes into roast?

If that's the case I would suggest turning fan on earlier in the roast. I turn the fan on at 3 minutes at 25% and keep it there for the entire roast. I know a lot of HT users turn it on at 3 minutes for 30 seconds then leave it off until the end of the drying phase. Then turn it on at 25%.

As far as the heat goes I try not to run it at 100% beyond the end of the drying phase or a minute after that. I usually drop the heat to 80% at the end of the drying phase and then to 60% a minute before 1C starts. If roasting for pour over it stays at 60% until the end of the roast. If roasting for espresso I will make another adjustment as first crack starts.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[SJM]

Let see if I am understanding your profile correctly. The heat is at 100 the whole time and fan is off until 10 minutes into roast?

Except for a tiny burst of fan at 2 1/2 minutes, Yes.  And the reason this is the case is that I started with and am still using the AUTO profile that is programmed into the HT.  I wanted to see what it did that way and then make any changes (one at a time) to fine tune it.  Truth is, it's pretty darn good and better than any Behmor roasts I did....

If that's the case I would suggest turning fan on earlier in the roast. I turn the fan on at 3 minutes at 25% and keep it there for the entire roast. I know a lot of HT users turn it on at 3 minutes for 30 seconds then leave it off until the end of the drying phase. Then turn it on at 25%.

As far as the heat goes I try not to run it at 100% beyond the end of the drying phase or a minute after that. I usually drop the heat to 80% at the end of the drying phase and then to 60% a minute before 1C starts. If roasting for pour over it stays at 60% until the end of the roast. If roasting for espresso I will make another adjustment as first crack starts.

Thanks.
I'm not going to make any adjustments for my next roast, because I want to determine where that "end of drying phase" marker is the way it's set now (auto).  Once I pin that down, I will plan a next step.
 
My target maker is the Espro.

Susan

[GC7]

Susan

I've never used the auto profile but started with a profile suggested by Randy Glass on his website and modified on my own from there. I'm doing much as Robert wrote previously.

Suggestions for what they are worth

- I've never been happy using 250 gm loads and generally roast from 185-215 grams now depending on bean and use.
- The goal for me is to get drying done reasonably quickly (for an electric hot top) and then get to first crack at 9 to 9 1/2 minutes ideally and then finish the roast 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes later depending on brew (faster) vs espresso (more drawn out) and finish temperature (light or darker up to second crack). To do so is for me a balance between bean load and preheating temperature. I generally preheat quite a bit so that I drop the beans when your roaster probe temperature is 300-315. Depending on load and voltages you can then use less than full heat the rest of the way as Robert described. Voltage will affect roast time and I adjust depending on line voltage of the day.

[GC7]

Let see if I am understanding your profile correctly. The heat is at 100 the whole time and fan is off until 10 minutes into roast?

Except for a tiny burst of fan at 2 1/2 minutes, Yes.  And the reason this is the case is that I started with and am still using the AUTO profile that is programmed into the HT.  I wanted to see what it did that way and then make any changes (one at a time) to fine tune it.  Truth is, it's pretty darn good and better than any Behmor roasts I did....

If that's the case I would suggest turning fan on earlier in the roast. I turn the fan on at 3 minutes at 25% and keep it there for the entire roast. I know a lot of HT users turn it on at 3 minutes for 30 seconds then leave it off until the end of the drying phase. Then turn it on at 25%.

As far as the heat goes I try not to run it at 100% beyond the end of the drying phase or a minute after that. I usually drop the heat to 80% at the end of the drying phase and then to 60% a minute before 1C starts. If roasting for pour over it stays at 60% until the end of the roast. If roasting for espresso I will make another adjustment as first crack starts.

Thanks.
I'm not going to make any adjustments for my next roast, because I want to determine where that "end of drying phase" marker is the way it's set now (auto).  Once I pin that down, I will plan a next step.
 
My target maker is the Espro.

Susan

Susan - based on using a bean temperature probe and from when I dropped the beans at the 167* starting mark I can tell you that the actual bean temperature when the roaster probe reads 300* (when I originally thought drying was done) is far lower. Estimated time to get the beans to 300* using the full heat and loads of 225 or so gms. with my machine and my voltages was about 5 1/2- 6 minutes when you drop the beans when the beaps start. Hope that helps

[SJM]

I read somewhere recently a post (I think by Jim Gallt) saying that the readout from the HT TC registered approximately 35 degrees high at the start of the roast, about on the mark at about 375, and about 40 degrees low by the end....

I've been trying to factor that into what I loosely call my "thinking"....

In any case, I DO know that the temperatures the machine is giving me are inaccurate, but they do seem to be consistent, which gives me hope of being able to learn all I need to without adding probes. 

[GC7]

You seem to be doing very well. Enjoy the process and the coffee.

We're always here to confuse you should you have any questions