Silly question on drilling holes in a popper

[brokenvase]

Silly question on drilling holes in a popper

Cool. Thanks all. Waiting for my starter pack to arrive. I also got a cheap second hand bread maker. So I might move on quite quickly. Wasn't planning to, but $10 bread maker was too hard to pass up.

[dabbler]

I only ever used a chimney, never drilled any holes. I always had a pedestal fan nearby and used it to push air past the popper. After first crack I would swing the fan directly towards the popper to try for a slight change in profile. Without a temp probe it's a bit hit and miss but doable. Much easier with a probe as you can measure the effect not just guess.

All that aside, it's only 60 to 80gms - a few cents really - so try a few variations on technique all with the same bean. As a first time roaster, it's good to hear cracks and their differences anyway. Take note of amounts and time to 1C and 2C plus final roast depth so you have some measure of the overall technique used.

Have fun.

[Andy]

the popper doesn't get as hot when roasting smaller amounts of beans

smaller quantities seem to keep temps down a little, and go a little slower than bigger ones.

+1 for these.
Smaller amount of beans will help.

Try 60g and roast in the cooler part of the day.

[leograyson]

Thanks Andy, point taken.

Anyone else out there able to make this work in a hotter summer without drilling holes?

Hello brokenvase,

In principle I agree with Andy - unless you are technically qualified, it's not usually a good idea. There are other options, but most of them also require a degree of technical expertise. One way that does not, is to roast during the coolest part of the day, when ambient temps are lowest. Another is to blow cool air over the popper, and if possible, into the air intake area using an external fan (or two).

As fg1972 has said, smaller quantities seem to keep temps down a little, and go a little slower than bigger ones.

These will help a little, but unfortunately most poppers run a bit too hot for our Queensland summers, and we get a very fast roast that probably costs us some of the more subtle flavors, and needs spot-on timing to get exactly the right depth of roast.

In answer to the second question in your OP here are some links that show some different chimney's.

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/Attachments/chimney_002.JPG

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/Attachment...0344-small.jpg

http://midwestchasers.com/blog2/wp-c...e/roaster3.jpg

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/Attachments/popper_setup.jpg

Note that the last one shows a popper with the top half of the outer casing removed. Some people run them like this, which is even better than drilling holes, but ONLY if the make/model of popper has ALL the electrics still fully enclosed in the bottom of the housing.
The green wire in the pic is an earth wire and as such is quite safe. If the mechanism is securely mounted in the bottom section it seems likely that this unit could be run topless, though there would be hot metal exposed.

The best can for a chimney is a large (500 gram ??) of salmon. They are tapered nicely, and you just need to cut the bottom off at the right place to get it to fit your brand of popper. A few people use the glass from a hurricane lantern if they have had one that fits.

However it is likely that a chimney will also raise temperatures, so if you can do a small roast without the beans escaping, it may be better to leave it off if you can.

Cheers, Leo.

[fg1972]

I find my popper gets hot too quickly getting to 1st crack after ~3min so to keep things cooler in the first few minutes I frequently turn the unit off but keep stirring to control the temperature from rising too high and can extend 1st crack to 8 or so minutes.
Also found the popper doesn't get as hot when roasting smaller amounts of beans. Just experiment a little to see what works for you, I highly recommend a temp probe to see exactly whats going on.

[brokenvase]

Silly question on drilling holes in a popper

Thanks Andy, point taken.

Anyone else out there able to make this work in a hotter summer without drilling holes?

[Andy]

I'll answer it with...

DONT DRILL HOLES IN A POPPER!

I really don't like the idea of putting holes in the insulation cover that protects you from getting zapped. Far better to use a popper for a "cheap proof of concept" roasting device and when you outgrow the volume that you can roast in a popper then change to a domestic roaster.

[brokenvase]

Can I have some photos if possible on this mod?

Do you guys drill straight through? How do you know when to stop and not damage the insides? Or do you take the base and bottom out and away from the insides to drill?

Also, for the chimney mod, read all the instructions, but can't seem to visualise it. Can someone point me to some images?

Sorry for the basic questions. I just got a popper and want to start bit don't want to do it wrong.

Many thanks!