Please help me build my new roaster.

[Dennis]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Maybe you could use an extension shaft from a socket set, if of course you have one lying around? With a little luck it might be the same diameter as the original shaft, but sure to be longer.

[Remy]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Here is what my TO roaster will look like when Im finished.  None of the pieces are fixed together yet.

At the very base, under the colander, there is actually a round aluminium perforated tray, similar to a pizza tray but just with holes. This came with the Turbo Oven and just happens to fit perfectly with the colander. I will be using this tray to fix the motor to (will post pics when done), then will fit the tray securely to the colander.  The motor will then be housed in a secure box with plenty of air circulation from colander holes to keep things cool-ish, and also a long shaft into the bean bowl for the stirrer, which hopefully will also help keep the motor from heat stress.  The base of the colander, which of course will be utilized in its upside down state,...reduces the contact area with the main bowl because of its shape and hopefully any heat transfered down to the motor box will be minimal (maybe not even as much as a car engine - even tho this is a rear wiper motor  :)...Well see though, I might stick a layer of sillicon or cork at this point.

The extension ring (piece under glass lid) came with the Turbo Oven too, and I plan to drill a few holes in this to release smoke and chaf,.. but not sure how many yet.

So for tomorrows job..... figure out how to do the shaft,.. what to use,.. how long,. heat to cog problem etc.


So far I have spent;
Turbo Oven from the evil one $108 ($89 + shipping)
Wiper Motor (Econnovan rear wiper) from wreckers $30
Colander (House & Home 26cm Diameter) from BigW $12.84
Salad bowl (Chef Inox 6.5ltr 340mm) from House $9.95
$160.79

I still need to buy a power source,.. 12V DC A?? Adapter.  

Im sure this could be done a little cheaper,.. by sourcing components in reuse/recycle places,.. I didnt have any luck there though. The wiper motor in particular could have been cheaper.

So what do you think so far??

[Wine_of_the_Bean]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

How stable is the whole thing? Just seems that the base is a bit small for something that will be very top heavy. You could forgo using a bowl completely if you have a deepish frying pan the same diameter as the TO lid. Too deep and youll have a problem with roast being too long. Youll also have a handle to help lessen the risk of burnie ow ows.

I mounted my contraption on two lots of old bricks. The wiper motor sitting in the middle, held in place by the brick stacks. Pot sits on top with rotisserie shaft coming up through the bottom.

To dump the beans, I get some needle nose pliers and undo the thumbscrew for the "meat holder," and pull it out of the pot. I then lift the pot up, and dump it into my cooler. All this with heat protection on hands.

[MattG]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Looks good all round, although Id have to agree about the (in)stability of the base.

Were you suggesting the platform the beans will sit on be perforated? With my CO/SC setup I found it difficult to keep enough heat in with it being largely insulated (except for a slight gap for chaff to escape from). The largest inconsistency with the Turbo Crazy/convection oven is the temperature controller. In the 2-3 models I burned through, the temperature sensitivity was about 10 degrees Celsius. Then there is the additional drop in temperature waiting for the heater to kick in again and get up to full temperature.

[Remy]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

How stable is the whole thing?  Just seems that the base is a bit small for something that will be very top heavy.

It might be the angle of the pic,. but in real life it looks like its going to be very stable surprisingly,. the diameter of the colander being 26cm and the widest part of the bean bowl being 34cm,.. and by the time I get the motor fixed in too which weighs 700g on its own, then with long shaft, nuts, washers and whatever,. it might come close to 900g sitting in the base.  I could always add more weight in there too if needed as there is plenty of room to tie weight in.

You could forgo using a bowl completely if you have a deepish frying pan the same diameter as the TO lid.  Too deep and youll have a problem with roast being too long.  Youll also have a handle to help lessen the risk of burnie ow ows.

I exhausted the search for a shallow frypan this size 31cm. That was my preferred option,.. but impossible to do.  I have one SS frypan here that fits perfectly actually, but it was a not-so-long-ago expensive (on sale) purchase and my hubby would not be thrilled about me drilling a hole in it.  I searched cheapy shops, recycle/reuse places,  and none of them had anything even close to that size.  I went to BigW, Kmart, Myer, David Jones, Grace Bros, Hardly Normal in several shopping malls over the past weeks and many of them had no frypans at all that big and if they did the SS ones were like $100 - $275.  I couldnt find any cheapy frypans at all that size..they were all too small and were aluminium teflon or similar coatings anyway which would not be any good anyway. It needs to be SS and buying a 31cm SS frypan if you can find one would cost a fortune.  Sooooh... hence why I had to go the next best option... a SS salad bowl(deeper than I wanted yes, but I think it will be ok) for $9.95. If it proves to be too deep and problematic,.. I will take the extension ring off and try it without it. Looking at it with lid straight on the bowl though, I think it would be way too close to the beans.

I mounted my contraption on two lots of old bricks.  The wiper motor sitting in the middle, held in place by the brick stacks.  Pot sits on top with rotisserie shaft coming up through the bottom.

I need the roaster to be very portable (single complete unit) plonk on table out the back, plug in and roast, then pick it up and store in cupboard just as quickly,..just like a bought one,lol. In my planning... I have taken into consideration that it also needs to pack away neatly and as small as possible. So,. the TO head can be turned upside down and sit inside the bowl and the base section on top (or left at the bottom, doesnt really matter) but this makes the unit compact to just 31cm high and of course 34cm wide. which will fit in a square plastic container of some sort and stored away easily/neatly in a cupboard.

This is it in its packed state,... of course this would be ideal but only possible if I can fit the shaft how I want to.

To dump the beans, I get some needle nose pliers and undo the thumbscrew for the "meat holder," and pull it out of the pot.  I then lift the pot up, and dump it into my cooler.  All this with heat protection on hands.

Im still giving thought to the quick bean dump and how best to fit the individual components together and shaft & stirrers etc to make is really easy and not painful,.lol, without compromising the compactness/neatness of it in general.

I have a little bean cooler idea and one component for that too so far.  Getting there...slowwwwly.  But a tonne of fun too.

[Remy]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Looks good all round, although Id have to agree about the (in)stability of the base.  

mentioned this in my last post (we cross posted),. there are a few easy solutions to correct this if it looks to be a problem.

Were you suggesting the platform the beans will sit on be perforated?

No.. that perforated tray is at the very bottom of the unit,.underneath the colander(stand/motor box) which the motor will be fixed to.  The only holes in the bean bowl area itself will be a few in the extension ring. Just enough to release the smoke and hopefully some of the chaf(not sure if this will do for the chaf or whether I will really need to cut a line hole, a bit lower in the bowl for that. Will try it first with just a few holes in the extension ring.

With my CO/SC setup I found it difficult to keep enough heat in with it being largely insulated (except for a slight gap for chaff to escape from).  The largest inconsistency with the Turbo Crazy/convection oven is the temperature controller.  In the 2-3 models I burned through, the temperature sensitivity was about 10 degrees Celsius. Then there is the additional drop in temperature waiting for the heater to kick in again and get up to full temperature.

Nohhhh dont tell me this now!  > Sokay.... I have thought about whether the SS salad bowl will be enough to maintain the heat and if it doesnt.... then its off the House shop again to buy another one and sit one inside the other.  Should that be ineffective,.. then Ill whack some insulation between the bowls.  

Regarding the temp controller and other annoyances this TO might have,.. well I can only hope I can work around em... Ive come too far now and I hope its not going to be a total waste of time, money and effort  .  If it only produces better roasts than a popper and of course in larger batches... Ill be very happy me thinks.

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

When I sent you a PM
I suggested a S/Steel salad bowl would be the most economical way to go
I also like the beans to be concentrated in the centre for heat stability the slight angle to the bowl will accommodate this

Remy you may also consider an agitator from a food mixer you know the one that looks like a crooked finger but add a lower stirrer

Or something like this to suit the bowl

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.




Remy if heat stability is an issue you may consider these 2 options

1) Get some the insulating material used for under the bonnet of cars and attach it to the outside lower part of bowl

option 2 not sure on the heat absorption of coconut fibres but worth a try go to a nursery and get the ready made hanging basket insert that holds the dirt it may prove to be a winner

[MattG]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Regarding the temp controller and other annoyances this TO might have,.. well I can only hope I can work around em... Ive come too far now and I hope its not going to be a total waste of time, money and effort  .  If it only produces better roasts than a popper and of course in larger batches... Ill be very happy me thinks.

Your signature mentions you have a BBQ roaster. Maybe this was covered in an earlier post, is there a particular reason you want to move away from this method of roasting?
Since Ive moved on to a BBQ drum roaster, if you find you are having trouble with the base and are located in Melbourne, you can have my stir crazy for free. Its been modified to replace the plastic rod for a double metal rod to assist the stirring function, but it is still functional. It uses US currency so youd need a converter (or I could think seriously about whether I really need mine).

The SC/TO does produce good results; dont give up, it is quite a bit of fun if you dont want a set and forget type setup.

[Remy]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Thanks KK,. went back to PMs to re-read,lol. You did indeed ;D . Ive had the SS salad bowl as an idea in my head for quite a while,.. not sure whether twas put there from your PM or not ,..but I think it may have actually come from looking at the Stir Crazy poppers in the US because they look a similar shape. The shallow frypan idea came after the SS bowl but also became the preferred option. I think the SS bowl will actually work really well though.

Re the stirrers,..nice idea! WOTB (nunu) suggested using one of the meat holders that came with the BBQ roaster, so I think I might try this first because it should be really easy to fit as it will just slide on the shaft and screw in place with the thumb screw. It has four prongs which I could shape to suit the bowl. (she says this without actually seeing exactly how/if it would fit and races off to the garage to bust one of the meat prongs out of the box)

[Remy]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Remy if heat stability is an issue you may consider these 2 options

1) Get some the insulating material used for under the bonnet of cars and attach it to the outside lower part of bowl

option 2 not sure on the heat absorption of coconut fibres but worth a try go to a nursery and get the ready made hanging basket insert that holds the dirt it may prove to be a winner

oooh great idea, the car bonnet stuff should work a treat Id think. Thanks KK

[Remy]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Regarding the temp controller and other annoyances this TO might have,.. well I can only hope I can work around em... Ive come too far now and I hope its not going to be a total waste of time, money and effort  .  If it only produces better roasts than a popper and of course in larger batches... Ill be very happy me thinks.

Your signature mentions you have a BBQ roaster.  Maybe this was covered in an earlier post, is there a particular reason you want to move away from this method of roasting?

Yep I have abandoned the BBQ Roaster because I had more than a couple of disaster roasts,.. mostly because I cant really see what the beans are doing and the barrel itself is impossible to open when hot (hard even when cold) and so quick dumping was not possible and burns were probable and while I could have modd the barrel... the rotisserie itself did not fit well on my BBQ and kept slipping off more frequently. I just got so frustrated with all the problems it had and gave up.

Since Ive moved on to a BBQ drum roaster, if you find you are having trouble with the base and are located in Melbourne, you can have my stir crazy for free.

are you serious?? I have looked everywhere for weeks for a SC here in OZ. I would kill for one...erm well.....Love it!!  Im in Canberra though and of course would pay for shipping,.. but I understand if you dont want to be bothered packing it and posting etc.

Its been modified to replace the plastic rod for a double metal rod to assist the stirring function, but it is still functional. It uses US currency so youd need a converter (or I could think seriously about whether I really need mine).

Sounds too good to be true! *thud*

The SC/TO does produce good results; dont give up, it is quite a bit of fun if you dont want a set and forget type setup.[/QUOTE]Its funny,.. when you posted earlier,.. I looked at the words SC/TO setup and could not work out what SC stood for.

[Dennis]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

Hey Remy...have you come up with an idea to replace that shaft?

If not, how about some threaded rod from Bunnings. I thought if you got something around 5mm diameter you could possibly wedge, or bundle, a few of these into the cog and use some high-temp solder to keep them together.

Would that work?

[dailybean]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

[QUOTE=Remy link=1209298581/120#125 date=1210161761]

Sokay.... I have thought about whether the SS salad bowl will be enough to maintain the heat and if it doesnt.... then its off the House shop again to buy another one and sit one inside the other. Should that be ineffective,.. then Ill whack some insulation between the bowls.

Regarding the temp controller and other annoyances this TO might have,.. well I can only hope I can work around em... Ive come too far now and I hope its not going to be a total waste of time, money and effort . If it only produces better roasts than a popper and of course in larger batches... Ill be very happy me thinks.

hi remy, just caught this thread.

dont be discouraged about the temp controller. i have been using TO for roasting coffee for a while now and have managed some good roasts. heres a few tips:

1) i dont trust the temp controller TO, so i just put it on the highest temperature setting and vary the temperature by leaving a gap at the top. by varying the gap, you can vary temperature by heat loss. measure the temperature within the chamber (pot, bowl, pan) with a digital thermometer.

2) try and agitate beans around the chamber with lots of speed. seems to produce a more even roast.

3) pre-heat your TO before a roast - make sure its at least 200C before starting.

4) try and source non-reactive metals for your parts (i.e. bean agitator, etc). SS or brass are both good options.

[facedanzr]

Re: Please help me build my new roaster.

the TO thermostat is not an option for temp contol. Ive added an on/off switch for the heating element, which is not an optimal solution. Farmroasts dreamroast uses a variac for temp control, which is great but expensive and bulky. Im considering adding a cheap PID for control on mine (with the most expensive one from auberins.com you can program your own preset profiles) as I think this would be the best (and most fancy ) solution.