Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

[Dimal]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

On the weekend I roasted 700 grams inone go in the BM ;D

Youre a wild man RH,

700 grams ! Thats about the total of all of my roasts combined (for a weeks brewing). Id hate to think how much the gargantuan BM we have could cope with, the 200-300 gram batches I do barely cover the bottom of the bread-pan.... but 700 grams, thats a lot of coffee,

Mal.

[rayzurhed]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Yes- its easy to change the height- its also really light so when Im done roastign I can hook up the HG and lift out the bucket easily. :
I tend to have the gun on high till around first crack then knock it back to low to finish off.

RH

[Corretto]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

On the weekend I roasted 700 grams inone go in the BM ;D
Oh yes- thats right 700 !!
And it was so even- first crack at 13, second at 18-
filled a milo tin!
This is what its all about.
;D RH ;D

Whooo Hoooo !! Congratulations RH, thats fantastic :-) :-) Great to hear people pushing the envelope on this ;D

Thats a brilliant looking HG holder there ...... can it be swivelled around and moved up and down??

Belinda

[rayzurhed]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

On the weekend I roasted 700 grams inone go in the BM ;D
Oh yes- thats right 700 !!
And it was so even- first crack at 13, second at 18-
filled a milo tin!
This is what its all about.
;D RH ;D

[Corretto]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Just did another roast and tried experimenting with the height of the heatgun above the bowl.

I raised it a few centimeters above the bowl and got a nice steady change in colour after the first crack. It took just over 20 minutes to start a rolling second crack (at which point I stopped the roast). ;D

Really great control, far better than anything else Ive tried!!

Nice looking beans there Java :-)

Yep Ive found that the best thing about this setup is the controllability of the roast. As long as you have a good mounting for the heatgun you can move it up, down, and around as needed. If you can control the heat output of the HG (like my Platinum GMC) you have much more control too! Too much maybe.

Not to mention the advantage of how easy it is to see the beans in action (watch for another post on that one) and how easy it is to hear the cracks (over a popper etc). :

I now want to work on a trolley setup to have everything on it (inspired by Grendel), so it can all be wheeled out when needed, with everything set to go. Now I drag it all outside piece by piece (which still isnt too bad considering).

Belinda

[JavaB]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Well Belinda I have to say I LOVE your BM setup....

Just did another roast and tried experimenting with the height of the heatgun above the bowl.

I raised it a few centimeters above the bowl and got a nice steady change in colour after the first crack. It took just over 20 minutes to start a rolling second crack (at which point I stopped the roast). ;D

Really great control, far better than anything else Ive tried!!

Cant wait for it to "mature"

Heres a picture (the colour of the roast is a little light in this picture!)

[Corretto]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Thanks for that Mal. That pre-blend of mine surprised me actually. Didnt think a preblend would turn out that well. But its rich and choclately.

Likewise my popper is just sitting there gathering dust. Good thing too I reckon :-)

Belinda.

[Dimal]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

A day later the roast was test tasted and all was well again in Breadmaker Roasting Paradise :-)

Definitely a AA+ for persistence there Belinda, and the resulting roast looks terrific. I roasted a couple more batches with our BM a couple of days ago, this time some Yemen and the Bali Banang Butur from the last poll. Just tried them today as a Plunger brew (still havent finished restoring the Bezzera yet) and it was absolutely one of the best Ive had and I think in no small part due to the controllability advantages of using the BM/HG roaster.

Must admit though, since upgrading to using the BM/HG method, my poppers are starting to look very lonely and forlorn in the back of the cupboard. Ill probably get asked to stick em in the shed one of these days, after all "Youre not using them anymore"..... ;D,

Mal.

[JR]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Tiger Moth..

[grendel]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Kopi Mothwa

[fatboy_1999]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Surely we have to come up with a blend name in honour of the moth inclusion?

How about "The MOTHRA of all belnds"
or
"MIT MOTH"

Sorry - its Friday afternoon, Im sillier than usual.

[Corretto]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

if you get too many trapped beans you could try grinding a bit off the collar in the middle so the paddle sits a little lower...

Thanks (again) Java

Ill see how it goes. At this stage the gap isnt causing a problem, but Ive only done one roast post modification. Should be okay though .............

Belinda

BTW adding moths might start a new trend :-/

EDIT: The thing is that the paddle rises to the level of the brass shim tie. Grinding off the bottom I believe will only cause the gap to increase. Maybe another hole needs to be drilled slightly lower than the first to stop the paddle rising. But as this isnt causing any real concerns I think its best to leave it alone for now

[JavaB]

Re: Easy Hands Free Heat Gun Setup: Pt II

Looking good Belinda.....

And I like my coffee with plenty of "body".... just not sure of smokey moth flavour ;D

By the way my paddle is very close to the bottom of the bowl.... if you get too many trapped beans you could try grinding a bit off the collar in the middle so the paddle sits a little lower...

[Corretto]

After the initial success of the breadmaker roaster things were just a littlel too well.
Naturally something had to give and that something was the paddle coming lose and working its way up off the spindle
aka http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1158482597 and things were looking gloomy .

After some fine suggestions from CSers I started by shortening the length of the paddle from



to this, and grinding the teflon off as well.



This stopped the problem of the beans jamming between the paddle and the side of the bowl.
However the paddle still worked itself up off the spindle. This might not have happened had I not been attempting a 400 gram roast, my largest so far. Dry test runs using only 200 grams didnt reveal this problem and the paddle stayed on. But with 400 grams the paddle worked its way off.

BTW when I brought the brass shim to tie through the spindle (as below) the guy in the shop said his mothers Breadmakers paddle worked itself off when she was making bread and he fixed it by drilling a few holes and putting a blind screw or something into it. So its not just a problem associated with roasting coffee in Breadmakers.

So a hole was drilled in the spindle near the top, just above where the paddle sits. This was no easy task for me I tell you! A broken drill bit later and a brass shim was painstakingly inserted and tied to secure the paddle in place as thus:-



This worked!! The paddle did come up slightly but not enough to cause any problems. So the roast began and went swimmingly



No jamming this roast now ;D



After 20 odd minutes (couldve stopped sooner but it was a 3 bean pre blend and just kept popping away) I ejected and cooled.



A few beans were caught under the paddle on ejection but this was a proximity thing really and they were easily removed



A day later the roast was test tasted and all was well again in Breadmaker Roasting Paradise :-)

BTW a moth flew into the beans at about the 12 minute mark but was quickly vapourised by the HG :-/

The blend for what its worth is of

Mexican Chulita 200 grams
Indonesian Arabica Linton 100 grams
Timor Organic 100 grams

and a moth for good measure.

Belinda :