Home made roaster

[Framey]

Re: Home made roaster

I put 600g through the roaster tonight. Very even and took about 18 minutes. Could have been roasted faster but Im still getting the hang of temperature control.
I dont think Ill typically roast much more than 600g. Ill probably try maxing out the drum to see what its limits are but during the 600g roast I was getting a couple of beans making it out the larger holes in the perforated end of the drum. A couple landed on the burner and went up in smoke.

Note to self: By a fire extinguisher  

[robusto]

Re: Home made roaster

Well done, and congratulations on your bullet-proof roaster, Framey.

Yes, the rhythmic sound of beans going on their journey through your own home-built machine is very satisfying and makes their consumpion all the more sweet.

Once you achieve controllable, consistent temperatures, youll be able to trust a timer to tell you when theyre done. Sort of: first crack plus XX minutes, switch off and empty.

Robusto

[Andy]

Re: Home made roaster


Awesome job on this.

A great project and an interesting journey to get to here.... and it even WORKS!

Love it.

[Framey]

Re: Home made roaster

Cheers Andy,

You should be stoked, I think my green bean needs have just shot up Now to get a bag of my favourite bean...

Not sure if this makes much sense. Ive watched commercial roasters logging their roast and they generally log the time taken to get to certain temperatures. This would be easy enough for me if I had a permanently installed reliable/accurate thermocouple in place. What Im getting round to is that I tend to check temperatures at predetermined time intervals ie the last roast I did this afternoon was 500g of Colombian and I took temperature readings every two minutes.

Preheat drum to 215*C (thermocouple dangling in empty drum reading)
2m = 140*C
4m = 161*C
6m = 174*C
8m = 194*C
10m = 205*C
1st crack @ 10:30 and approx 207*C (NB: I was using an infrared thermometer which seems to read about 10*C higher than my K-type thermocouple?)
12m = 217*C
14m = 228*C
2nd crack @ 14:20 and beans removed from roaster.

I find the infrared thermometer works best when it has something non-metallic to read from, so works alright when the drum is full of beans but an empty drum can produce some biggish temperature variations.

The roasted beans Im ending up with are the most evenly coloured, both externally and in cross section, that I ever produced. They also seem rounder? I dont seem to get much tipping at all and only one or two bean will have divots.

Ive only put about about 8 roasts through thus far and Ive decided to hang on to the last couple of roasts to see how they taste. I initially thought Id season the drum with quite a few dark roasts but at this stage I dont see the need. Ill give the beans a day or two to rest and then give them a go.

Chaff in the drum is a minor concern. A couple of people have suggested extracting the chaff through the flue via some ducting and a blower. This is something Ill investigate.

The photo is of some Kenyan PB in flight.

[poundy]

Re: Home made roaster

Short & Sweet response to this incredible journey and roaster: Awesome Dude !

[Javaphile]

Re: Home made roaster

Ya gotta love it when a project comes together and goes on-line. [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

Java "Roast baby roast!" phile

[AndyCJ]

Re: Home made roaster

Framey - lets see some picks of the final product, Im really keen to see the beans, and also hear how they TASTE!

Well done mate.

[Boris]

Re: Home made roaster

Framey,
Outstanding job.

When can we expect to see the roasters on the shelf? Or perhaps you could list them with the April bean poll, to be included with beans during shipping. ;D
How heavy is it?

Boris