Starter Pack contents

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

I am going to buy the Crazy popper anyway to do a side be side comparison

[marcstolk]

Re: Starter Pack contents

Yeh, me too... Might do it tonight or tomorrow...

2mcm says there best, so thats a good wrapt...

Im still dumbfounded that Grendel is getting longer roast times than I in the same Popper...perhaps its the humidity difference???

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

You should be gratified to learn then that last night I did a roast that took 5.30 from start to finish - dont know what was going on!

[marcstolk]

Re: Starter Pack contents

You should be gratified to learn then that last night I did a roast that took 5.30 from start to finish - dont know what was going on!

Ahhh, now thats the sort of times Im getting

What size was your roast?

..... bring on the crazy popper...

I think the B&D fan is inefficient for roasting anything over 110g.. and that is pushing it...

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

About 150 gram roast - I thought Id try more beans with the cooler running.

[marcstolk]

Re: Starter Pack contents

If I do a 150g roast, the Popper overheats and cuts off...

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

hmmmmmm that has never happened with mine.

[marcstolk]

Re: Starter Pack contents

hmmmmmm that has never happened with mine.

Which indicates my Fan isnt very strong.....

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

Bizzare - you think theyd be the same.

[marcstolk]

Re: Starter Pack contents

I know... :-(

[nunu]

Re: Starter Pack contents

Fan strengths for same brand poppers is highly variable.

Sometimes you get a winner, then a stinker the next one.

That being said, most poppers will be able to handle my standard batch of 125g. I only roast bigger batches if I want more, or its a bit chilly.

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

I got the winner then eh. Not good enough really - how can you describe a decent profile with so many other variables?

My search for perfection in roaster construction is not yet at an end. . .

[marcstolk]

Re: Starter Pack contents

nunu, correct you may be, however this means that people popping popcorn would varied results with the same branded popper... makes no sense.. as Grendel put it "Not Good Enough"...its so true!

Oh well, time to buy a Breville Crazy Popper and end this madness! :-)

[grendel]

Re: Starter Pack contents

Yup - my task for the weekend also - Now I just need that BM. . .

[nunu]

Re: Starter Pack contents

Remember, most people only use one scoop of popcorn, about 70g on average. Popping popcorn only takes a fraction of the time of roasting coffee. You dont necessarily notice a difference with those short time scales.

When someone pops corn, they only need to wait for the final snaps of first crack and they pull it, because we all know how awful burnt popcorn is, both smell and taste. Ive let my popper run for nearly 15 minutes and it hasnt burnt a batch of coffee yet. This simply means that my popper(s) reach a certain temperature and stop. Theres just not enough energy available to heat the beans any further.

Poppers are the easiest entry level home roasting apparatus. Theyre pretty much fire and forget. Granted there is a huge variability from brand to brand, and even within the same brand. The heating elements are relatively the same throughout, but the motor and fan mechanism is the single largest point of variability within the popper. The fan shaft is plastic and prone to breakage. Thats why there are so many failures. The motors are also not meant to run for an extended period of time, theyre just not rated for that sort of activity. Try replacing the fan motor with an R/C car motor. You might end up with a far more powerful fan for your popper. Youd also need to replace the fan blades with something metal.