iRoast Profiles / Q&A / Tips & Tricks

[headchange4u]

I've only been roasting coffee for a couple of months now and I just made my first upgrade in a roaster from a hot air popcorn popper to the iRoast2.

Can any of you that are more experienced with the iRoast/iRoast2 give me some ideas on what profiles you prefer? I have read at Sweet Marias that the preset profiles don't always produce the best results. I like lighter roasts more along the lines of a full city or full city+. I haven't sprang for a high dollar espresso machine yet, but I do have an Aeropress. Most of the brewing that I do is either french press or vac pots.

[BoldJava]

I've only been roasting coffee for a couple of months now and I just made my first upgrade in a roaster from a hot air popcorn popper to the iRoast2.

Can any of you that are more experienced with the iRoast/iRoast2 give me some ideas on what profiles you prefer? ...

I think it is difficult to share IRoast profiles.  The calibration on them varies, widely, and the 395 I report to you isn't going to be 395 on yours.  Voltage, the degree of air flow from the top, bean mass, etc. will all differ.  Of all the machines out there, from all my reading, others' profiles might not be appropriate for your unit.

I am on the road and don't have access to my profiles; I will check for them when I return home but again, don't count on them working.  The profiles I pulled off Coffee Geek (from reputable sources) made cinders in my unit.

B|Java

[headchange4u]

That much variance in temps, huh? Looks like I may have to mod mine and add a thermal probe. I saw a picture of an iRoast in the "Show Off Your Roaster" thread that had a thermal probe installed through the top.

[jspain]

I'm on my second IRoast. I finally got to the point that I have two default settings that I use all the time. One is for island coffees and one for the rest. I preset the second for a longer roast than I want and then just hit cool when I get to the roast I want. Not scientific, but works well. Dave (BoldJava) is correct on sharing the profiles on the Iroast. I found the same issue several years ago with my first IRoast. I actually have 5 roasters right now. I just got a Behmor and am thrilled with it and it's my new toy. It's easier to manipulate than the IRoast and does a larger batch. Don't get me wrong, the IRoast is a great roaster and I would recommend it to anyone. The best way to go is follow the directions and then run test batches for each bean and keep a record. I know some roasters that change the settings all the time on their IRoast, but I don't. My two profile process works fine for me!
Hope this helps?

[Dante]

Everything I read on this thread about the iRoast is spot on. I have two iRoast2s - one is a spare. And Like Jspain, I have custom programmed 2 default settings - one for "delicate" beans like the JBM that need a longer, lower temp ramp up time, and another program for everything else. Both programs are maxed to 15 minutes on my machine, with the last stage being the longest. I roast by sight, sound and smell and hit cool when I see the roast that I want. I use the iRoast2 for 150 grams or less of green.

My workhorse is a Hot Top, which is good for 300 grams batches and has terrific manual controls. Even with this, I don't rely on programmed roasting. I have custom presets like for the iRoast2, but all my roasts are cooled manually when I see the roast I want with the time settings maxed out for my "profiles.".

Have fun with the iRoast2. It's a nice little machine.

[headchange4u]

I found a bunch of profiles on CG, now that I finally got their search function to work. That forum is a great resource but operates in very strange ways that I am not used to seeing. Sometimes I don't get search results, but I can try the same search from my home computer and get tons of results. Weird.

I mainly just looking for guidelines to get started with. I know that they type of bean, the amount I am roasting, and other variables will influence my profiles. I'm just hoping that by reading up on profiles that others have had good luck with will allow me some point of reference instead of just starting out guessing what times and temp ranges will work best. I would also like to get some really cheap green beans to use in testing.

I looked at the Behmor but it was a little more than I wanted to spend. I also don't do very large batches so the iRoast2 will probably be better for my needs. If I do need a larger roaster I will probably build a Corretto roaster. I'm also going to try and pick up another popcorn roaster and add a dimmer switch to adjust temps and a switch to shut off the heat. I just can't bring myself to hack up my current West Bend Poppery II. It was my first.

[Ascholten]

I use an Iroast 1 extensively...   I have tried 6 of them, currently have 3 1/2 that are working (one had a bad bearing and howls like hell so I rarely use it)....  each one has it's quirks and what maybe spot on with one will be a bit different with another.

The I roast 2, i hear the first temperature you can dial in what you want but its preset to whatever it is, and that's that.

here's a general I havent seen it fail yet for an I roast 1.  You can try it with the 2, paying attention to the differences in your machine and adjust accordingly.

5 1/2 ounces of beans.

3 minutes at 375 to 380 degrees
3 minutes at 400 to 405 degrees, at the last 30 to 45 seconds of this one, you should be just at the verge of first crack, a few might go but you can tell it's holding right at the brink.

dial in 5 minutes at 425 to 430 and let it rip, once it hits the third temp band the cracks should take off rolling good and hard.... hit the cool button to terminate the roast and start the cool cycle when the beans get to the desired darkness you want for them.

I find typically my roasts last about 7:30 minutes to sometimes touching 8 for a second crack.

Have fun.   Again this is for an I roast 1 and I am just trying to help here but can't guarantee this will work with your IR2.   good luck and please let me know how it turns out for you.

Aaron

[BoldJava]

I found a bunch of profiles on CG, now that I finally got their search function to work....

I use Google's advanced search, and just search the site I am after.  Works much better than CoffeeGeek's search:

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

Here is a result:

    http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ks4ra
    [Open in new window]

[headchange4u]

I found a bunch of profiles on CG, now that I finally got their search function to work....

I use Google's advanced search, and just search the site I am after.  Works much better than CoffeeGeek's search:

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

Here is a result:

    http://preview.tinyurl.com/3ks4ra
    [Open in new window]

I keep forget about Google's advanced search. Thanks for the assistance.

[mikehartigan]

^^^ What they all said ^^^

My IRoast2 has served me well for I don't recall how many years (I got it when it was first introduced).  It's consistent with itself, so it's easy for me to tweak a profile and get predictable results.  As others have said, however, swapping profiles will almost never work due to the inconsistency between units.  I'm exquisitely pleased with the results I'm getting, but it took a few months of trial, error, and meticulous notes to get where I am with it.  I also had to ignore the relentless posts on alt.coffee that insisted that the results I was getting were simply not possible due to the crappy design of this product - some, I suspect, from people who had never actually seen one in the flesh.  One of the things I need to do is to watch the temp display during the first three minutes and tweak the variac accordingly.  I now have two profiles that I use regularly - one for my Kenyan and Ethiopian favorites and one for the Columbian Huila (Huilo?) decaf that my wife is particularly fond of.

[headchange4u]

I've been exhaustively reading everything I can on the iRoast and iRoast2, including examining all the roast profiles that I have come across. I think I have a pretty good idea on how I wanna start out and I also think that I have found a few profiles that will give me a nice starting point in my roasts. I just got my unit last night and the person that I bought my unit from (used) had an extra chaff collector screen and an extra lid for the top chaff collector unit. This is a good thing because I was kinda on the fence on whether or not to install a thermal probe. Since I have an extra lid and screen I now have no qualms about installing the TP because I have backup parts.

I have a couple of pounds of SM's Kenya FT Peaberry Kiawamururu that I will be able to roast this weekend as well as a few other bean from SM that I will use for testing.

I'm also looking a few different selections offered here at GCBC so that I can start to build my "coffee library".

[headchange4u]

Well I just finished my first roast using the iRoast2. This is the profile that I used:

1. 320  3 min
2. 360  2 min
3. 380  2 min
4. 400  3 min
5. 420  5 min

I was shooting for a City+ roast using the Kenya AA Nyeri Kiamaina from SM. I think I got more of a full city roast, which kinda tells me that I may have one of the hotter iRoasts. I started the cool cycle with about 4:30 left on the timer, so my total roast time was about 11:30. I couldn't hear the first crack with this roaster like I could on my Poppery II. It just wasn't as loud. It makes me think that the second crack is going to be even harder to hear. All in all, the roast looks pretty good; it's very even. I think my next roast will stay at the lower temps for a longer amount of time. I have also read that a slight temp drop near the end of the roast will make the coffee a bit smoother, so I also think I will try a profile like that. I can't wait to try a cup but I am going to let it rest overnight before sampling.

I also need to add my thermal probe before the next roast because I really think that's gonna help dial things in.

[barko78]

I also need to add my thermal probe before the next roast because I really think that's gonna help dial things in.

The thermal probe upgrade was the best thing I did for my iroast when I owned it.  I used a type K and you can get the cover on without drilling.  Just put a 90* bend near the tip of the wire so it sits in the bean mass and then run it up the side of the glass and out the top.  When you put the chaff collector on it just fits a little tighter.  You'll definately zero in on yer roasts with it.  Good luck. 

p.s. - sounds like you have plenty of profiles but if you want any more pm me, I have a few pages of profiles and notes I'll share.

[Lektrk]

I'm on my second IRoast. I finally got to the point that I have two default settings that I use all the time. One is for island coffees and one for the rest. I preset the second for a longer roast than I want and then just hit cool when I get to the roast I want. Not scientific, but works well. Dave (BoldJava) is correct on sharing the profiles on the Iroast. I found the same issue several years ago with my first IRoast. I actually have 5 roasters right now. I just got a Behmor and am thrilled with it and it's my new toy. It's easier to manipulate than the IRoast and does a larger batch. Don't get me wrong, the IRoast is a great roaster and I would recommend it to anyone. The best way to go is follow the directions and then run test batches for each bean and keep a record. I know some roasters that change the settings all the time on their IRoast, but I don't. My two profile process works fine for me!
Hope this helps?

With mine I have found that I get a more consistant roast when I weigh the beans for each batch, even a small variance in quanity can drasticly affect the roast from not done enough to smoking the house up if there are too many.

[headchange4u]

With mine I have found that I get a more consistant roast when I weigh the beans for each batch, even a small variance in quanity can drasticly affect the roast from not done enough to smoking the house up if there are too many.

I went by Sweet Marias recommendation and used 150 grams of beans.