From another thread:
Can you give me a rough idea on the price? I am looking for a roaster in the 1 to 2 kilo range, plus I like that with this one (as compared to the Sonofresco), I can do small sample batches.
Also, do you have a discussion thread where you gave a review of your roaster?
A review? well imagine that! Someone wants my opinion! Quelle horreur!
I have had the roaster for 2+ years. I bought it from one of the members here. It was made in 2007. I have the electric 120v version. Prior to this I roasted on a Gene Cafe (I actually got one of the first 50 of those imported into the US) and before that an iRoast. Before buying this, I had experience with roasting with some Probat sample roasters (both electric and gas), a Diedrich IR3, a Joper 15Kg (see link) and had seen some other roasters in action.
http://web.mac.com/victor.mondry/Site/New_Joper_European_15_kg_Roaster.html#0In looking for my roaster, I looked at the US Roasters sample roaster, the Diedrich HR1 (there were still a few of those available then) and a variety of used roasters. This one was a great deal and seemed to fit my needs.
When I first bought the roaster, I put in a separate circuit for it and have it set up in the garage. The element needed replacing and, in the process, I shorted it out.
Delaware City Coffee Company refused to help me because they didn't sell the machine. I had to obtain elements from Turkey. (You have to wonder why they wouldn't help someone who might want to upgrade and become a future customer. Perhaps that is why they used to be distributors for Coffee Tech and now have their "Geometrico" line). Fortunately, the response I got from Robust Roasters has been considerably better. They have emailed a copy of the manual to me (which is considerably improved over the old one). definitely more friendly than the prior distributor.
The local machine shop (which services much of the local industrial machinery and farm equipment) was able to help me with this and I was up and running.
The Roaster weighs 82 kg. It is a rugged design with good fit and finish. There are 4 controls. Three pairs of on/off buttons control the drum, heat and stirring wand for the cooler. There is also a rotating switch for the 2 coils you can have the coils off or turn on 1 or both.
There is an attached chaff collector and the exhaust comes off there. I don't have it connected to anything but I am sure there wouldn't be any trouble finding appropriate ducting. If you are venting this through a structure, there would be other considerations. You would have to get advice from someone who knows more than I. There are guidelines in the manual.
You only have 1 temp probe and need to decide whether you want to measure air temp or bean temp. I have my probe in the bean mass. I adjusted the probe so it is as close to the drum without hitting the vanes. It might be nice to also measure air temp, but I haven't introduced a second temp probe. The temp on my roaster is in C.
When you are ready to roast, you have to preheat the drum. You adjust your drop temp so you get the "turn" about 1.5-2 min after you drop the beans. You don't want the temp so high that you scorch them. I usually want the temp below my final goal temp. I use a lower temp for smaller batches. This is one of the variables you get to work with.
The drum has a pretty high thermal mass which helps it heat evenly and consistently. I would look at the weight of any roaster you are looking at to give you an idea of how heavy the drum is. The heaviest 1 kg roaster I have seen is the Giesen W1 at 150 kg. The Diedrich is 61+ kg, the 1 lb US Roasters is 88 lbs. Ambex 1 lb roaster is 75lbs. Toper is at the heavier end of the scale for this size roaster.
Because this is an electric roaster, you aren't going to have an immediate effect on the roast by turning coils on and off. It is like Diedrich IR roasters in that changes you make take effect 1-2 mins from now.
I have roasted in the garage at below 0 deg F. here you begin to notice the cold air coming in cools things down. To counter this I have used a can that fits over the exhaust to slow down air flow. This helps heat things faster. You can use this technique if you have a roast that is falling behind. If I have slowed the roast I will use this to get caught up.
It is a solidly built roaster that does what is necessary to get some great roasts. Not all of your roasters in this range are going to have this heavy a drum or 3 motors or the overall build that is going to last a long time.
Now on to what I would like to see better:
1) I would like to have better control over air flow. I will say this didn't really bother me until I had roasted quite a bit and had the knowledge where I know what to do with it.
2) The sight glass fills with beans and chaff during any roast over 1/2 capacity. This is much less a problem with smaller beans and peaberries. The beans that get stuck in there don't roast adequately. Other than being able to see the coils are working, there isn't much to see. It is a pain to fish out 5-12 under-roasted beans at the end of the roast. This interferes with being able to to back to back roasts and is tedious. If I was confident in my ability to put the thing back together, I would take it apart and do some kind of remedy. It is minor, but irritating.
3) Sampler is a bit small. I would like a larger one so I could remove enough to cup at different temps.
4) More heat! It is a bit underpowered. I think I have said this about every roaster I have had.
These are really all small issues. In fact, I plan on talking to my nephew the electrician to see about putting in a variable fan.
