Halogen roaster - BM/HF

[marcstolk]

Re: Halogen roaster - BM/HF

Im impressed. Nice work.

[Lizzie]

Re: Halogen roaster - BM/HF

that is a fantastic idea, Andrew!!
i like the way you have "surgically" fitted both lights so neatly on top of the BM...
well done

L

[andy]

Re: Halogen roaster - BM/HF


Nice one AJ.

Very quiet roasting too I bet!

How hot do the spotties get? I fiddled with a couple of those 500 watt lights and when pointed down like that they nearly blistered the paint... which might lessen the globe life. May need a bit of ventalation?

It would be great if you could blow some air around.

Maybe a blast from a heatgun at 10 minutes would remove the chaff?

A great project to keep tweaking and Im sure you will get a big following to this thread.

You will have to post one of the profiles from the Roast Monitor software for interest.

[Corretto]

Re: Halogen roaster - BM/HF


Well done Andrew!

I contemplated doing something like this a few months after starting with the BM/HG. Theres a big thread on IR roasting (near the end of 2006), but I never got around to it after all the research.

Can you see the roast in progress or is it covered by the lighting?

It would be great if you could blow some air around. This would give more flexibility in roast times ie decrease time to FC and lengthen time between FC and SC, and blow the chaff out. The Diedrich Infra Red 3kg Roaster, which Dennis is getting uses forced air.

Anyway, great to see something doing this


Belinda

[ajay]

Re: Halogen roaster - BM/HF

Hi b4b,

Ive only put half a dozen roasts through so it is still early days, but no sign of deposits on the reflectors. It gets pretty hot in there!
(the New Inventors is about the only show I watch)

cheers
Andrew

[beanz4brainz]

Re: Halogen roaster - BM/HF


Hi Andrew,

Nice looking setup.........yet another incantation of the bread maker.

How many roasts have you put through it?

Do you anticipate any problems with smoke staining the alloy reflector material?

Darn......the New Inventors series on ABC TV has just ended too......oh well.....next year! 8-)

Nice One!


b4b.

[ajay]

I got interested in roasting with halogen lights after reading about a machine called the Digirosto. It sounds pretty impressive but the $14,000 price tag convinced me to try a more homespun approach.
This guy in New Zealand has successfully built a nice looking machine using halogen floodlights. http://www.dbr.co.nz/radiant.html

I wanted to make an all-in-one unit, but not being an electrician, I have stuck with plugin components. I am using quartz halogen floodlights to roast, in combination with my breadmaker. Of course, using a breadmaker for bean agitation is well documented here at CS.

I bought a couple of 500w lights from Bunnings. When they have them in stock, they are under $10 each and come with a spare bulb. After operating on them with a hacksaw and drill I now have one twin halogen housing, hinged to the top of my breadmaker. There are still two power leads, one going through an inline dimmer which makes the power variable between 0-500w or 500 -1000w when I switch on the other bulb.

With both bulbs running full bore, I hit first crack around 15 minutes with 500gr of beans (205 *C by the DMM TC). I can then ease off with the dimmer and coast into second crack at the 20 minute mark.

Initially, the breadmaker was cutting out at 150*C so I modified it by moving the heat sensors. My machine is a Breville Excel and the sensors are attached to one wall of the well by a couple of screws. Relocating them to the far side of the internals has removed the problem without messing with the wiring.

I am really happy with the roasts that I have done so far. The radiant heat roasts very evenly and the beans taste clean and full flavoured with no hint of burning or baking.

Chaff gets broken up by the agitation and settles at the bottom of the tin. What little makes it into the bean cooler is sucked out, so it is not an issue. Smoke finds its way out as the top isnt airtight.

Future enhancements may include a perforated false floor to catch chaff, a pc-style case fan for smoke extraction and a viewing window .

cheers
Andrew