TostaCaffe Roasters

[moreyr]

I have just purchased the TostaCaffee Ultra 4000 Roaster.  When I looked into this unit in the past I was told that it was not getting hot enough.  This unit is an updated version w/ 4000 watts, able to roast 10 lb lots.  It should arrive within the next 10 days.  I will post my finding on the unit as I start to play with it.

[mp]

Wow ... good deal for a 10 pound roaster.  It also has USB hookup for an additional $150.00.  Do you know where it is made?

 

[kelppaddy]

I looked at the site and it says you use a standard 120v outlet.  How do you get 4,000 watts out of a 120v outlet.  This unit would be pulling close to 35amps.

Just wondering...

kp

[mp]

I looked at the site and it says you use a standard 120v outlet.  How do you get 4,000 watts out of a 120v outlet.  This unit would be pulling close to 35amps.

Just wondering...

kp

Yeah ... that is a good question ... I thought at 1500 watts you would be pushing a 120v outlet.

 

[moreyr]

it's made in the USA and they are easy to deal with on the phone.  I fell like they are friends already.

[Charly]

 Please do let us know. If it can roast 7 or 8 lbs in less than 20 minutes I'll be interested. Don't forget to have some kind of bean cooler ready....

  Charly

[JimsJava]

I will be interested in your comments as well. I have looked at these before, and even made some e-mail inquiry. I was a bit turned off though when I asked if I could stop in sometime and observe a roast (My daughter was going to college in Moorhead, MN, where these are made) and was declined. Personally, if I made coffee roasters I would go out of my way to accommodate such a request (especially for a guy driving 10 hours to get there) and potentially make a sale. If the roaster could do what I wanted it to do (i.e. full load in under 20 minutes) I would have paid cash on the spot to take one home. That said, I'd still be interested in hearing your experiences with this roaster, especially full load roast times. For me, this would be an entry-level roaster for a side-business. Please keep us posted.

[JimsJava]

I looked at the site and it says you use a standard 120v outlet.  How do you get 4,000 watts out of a 120v outlet.  This unit would be pulling close to 35amps.

Just wondering...

kp

I was wondering this, too, so dug into the site a bit more. The unit plugs into TWO 20amp outlets. One for the rear ceramic heaters and one for the array of halogen lights in the roaster door. This makes more sense, now.

[mp]

I looked at the site and it says you use a standard 120v outlet.  How do you get 4,000 watts out of a 120v outlet.  This unit would be pulling close to 35amps.

Just wondering...

kp

I was wondering this, too, so dug into the site a bit more. The unit plugs into TWO 20amp outlets. One for the rear ceramic heaters and one for the array of halogen lights in the roaster door. This makes more sense, now.

You can see this on the

Thank you for that JimsJava.  That certainly makes more sense.

 

[John F]

Wow!

Please, please, post your results.

I've been very suspicious of this roaster for a long time being able to roast much more than 1lb or so in under 20 min based on the temp/time charts I've seen in the past.

If it can actually roast 8-10#'s in under 20 min I'd be glad to know I was wrong....

[gotnoname19]

My main thoughts here are that its hard enough to control the temp of the beans with gas heat, which you can control preciously and immediately, and you can see what's happening with the flame. Don't get me wrong, its very doable, but it takes some effort and concentration. That said, I couldn't imagine trying to be precise enough to control a profile to my desires with burners like you find on a stove top. When you set a stove at "8," it takes a while for it to get there. And likewise when you turn it back down to "2." And while this change from 8 to 2 is happening, you don't know where the element is in the change. No bueno for coffee roasting.

In short, I think the buyer will be able to learn this machine good enough to produce decent coffee, but control over the roast will be very limited. You get what you pay for at ~$2,200, but I think this roaster would leave most people I've met at GCBC wanting for more control, and perhaps more power.

Oh, and when I was looking for a roaster, I researched this one. I found stories of people having fire problems. Scared me off.

[Charly]

 I guess you have to agitate the hot beans by hand somehow with that cooler, and the chaff (and oils from dark roasts) goes...where? I have a homemade box with ss screen and a powerful fan underneath that cools 6 lbs of hot beans very quickly. Inexpensive but only useful outdoors as the chaff really flies! That  tostacaffe cooler sends the chaff flying somewhere-if it's into a shop vac type of container, beware of a smoldering little peace of chaff causing a fire one day.
 I'd bet that you will be opening the roaster door a bit the way I do with my behmor to cut back on too fast rising temps, unless there is a vigorous fan and air flow system in this roaster. Chaff collection during the roast?? Ten lbs. roasting tosses it, where's the cyclone thingy to catch that?
 Waiting with interest,
 Charly
 
 

[JimsJava]

I have just purchased the TostaCaffee Ultra 4000 Roaster.  When I looked into this unit in the past I was told that it was not getting hot enough.  This unit is an updated version w/ 4000 watts, able to roast 10 lb lots.  It should arrive within the next 10 days.  I will post my finding on the unit as I start to play with it.

If my math is correct (I counted on my toes), you should have this roaster by now. Any first impressions?

[moreyr]

haha, you counted right.  The box was very pooply habdled by UPS and it would seem that a connection has been jarred.  Tosta is trouble shooting it right now, so a bit more time and I will be able to start reporting on it.

[John F]

The box was very pooply habdled by UPS...