How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

[Dennis]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

I have roasted and still do on occasions in a small pot or wok over the BBQ wok burner

I use a long whisk for stirring the beans and it’s relaxing
This method does a surprisingly good job

One does not need any special equipment to achieve great results

KK

That really is just so wrong. :P

[Thundergod]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Ill second that.

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Ezra just wants to give roasting a try
He can do it for free or little cost when starting off (popper)

If it was me I would prefer a Gene or Hot Top

"But thats not the Post question"

KK

[martybean]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

KK would you add a bit of Black bean sauce with your wok burner method?
I would think you would be baking the beans and not roasting them using that method

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Marty

Anything is fair game when I am desperate
I have worked in enough cafe kitchens in past years to know how to handle heat

But now, I mostly resort to a bowl with heat gun as a last resort

KK

[NewToEspresso]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Ezra just wants to give roasting a try
He can do it for free or little cost when starting off (popper)

KK

My thoughts exactly. No need to over-complicate it just yet. That will come later. To quote Andy in that article with some news mob, all you need is hot air and agitation.

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

My thoughts exactly. No need to over-complicate it just yet. That will come later. To quote Andy in that article with some news mob, all you need is hot air and agitation.

NTE
Thanks for backing me up on this [smiley=engel017.gif]

And a great quote from Andy [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

KK

[Thundergod]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

My thoughts exactly. No need to over-complicate it just yet. That will come later. To quote Andy in that article with some news mob, all you need is hot air and agitation.

Im not sure thats entirely true.
If it were, with all the hot air and agitation here at work, I should be knee deep in roasted beans.

[fatboy_1999]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Stand Back - Im roasting right now!

[Sammus]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Ezra just wants to give roasting a try
He can do it for free or little cost when starting off (popper)

If it was me I would prefer a Gene or Hot Top

"But thats not the Post question"

KK

+1

I guess when I said an iRoast is just a glorified popper I didnt meant to bring in any complicated arguments, I guess I was just answering the question as: although I havent any hands on experience of both methods, Im fairly confident a popper roast and iRoast2 roast are fairly similar.

[sdg]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Based on what experience, exactly?

[hazbean]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

"I guess when I said an iRoast is just a glorified popper I didnt meant to bring in any complicated arguments, I guess I was just answering the question as: although I havent any hands on experience of both methods, Im fairly confident a popper roast and iRoast2 roast are fairly similar."

I think this is a bit unfair to the iR2. We noticed a significant improvement in
moving from a popper to an iR2 (this was after several months using a couple
of poppers). The iR2 is actually a good design in many respects, especially
in how it moves the beans in the airflow. When properly tuned, it does a
very good roast. Its disappointing that Hearthware failed to put  the
extra effort into design and implementation refinement to make it perform
to its capabilities. Actually, it does a pretty reasonable roast even in its
standard "too hot" state, whats frustrating is that the promised programmability
isnt delivered in that state and the range of achievable roast profiles is limited.

The iR2 may use the same principle as a popper, but it refines that principle
to a point not possible with a popper. So, generally speaking, it does a better
job than a popper.

The original poster asked if an iroast would do a better job than a popper.
I think, yes. However, I would advise care in forking out for one on a
limited budget not because its a bad roaster, but because it takes a lot
of effort to get it to its potential (I know, I worked at it for nearly a year),
and because its somewhat unreliable.

[sdg]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Thankyou hazbean -- have never used a popper myself, btw.

Slightly OT -- somewhere in a related thread you mentioned trying a variac with your iRoast and being underwhelmed by the result. Sadly I had rather pinned my hopes of iRoast resurrection on this being the answer -- we have a variac somewhere in the shed, just havent been able to find the wretched thing :-/. Did you try this before or after your resistor (and other) mods?

[hazbean]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

The variac came later. I didnt have one at the time I was doing the mods,
otherwise I would have tried that first.

The variac does help, just not as much as Id hoped. The experiment I did
was to first do a roast with an unmodified iR2 at 240V with a program of
160/5; 200/3; 220/3. FC at 3:30, TC reading 214C; SC at 5:50, 235C.
Then the same dose again (120g MT Bundja) at 220V. This gave FC at 6,
which is a good improvement, but I noticed that the beans (even with this
lower than usual dose) were not moving very well.  Then the temp plateaued
at 228C and progress seemed slow, so at 9 mins I kicked it up to 240V and got
SC at 10:00/236C. The roast was OK, but I think with the slower movement
there is some risk of tipping and scorching. But I think if  I had left it SC would
have arrived at 11 to 11:30, which isnt too bad.

I concluded from that that a variac setting of about 230V would be about the
best that could be done, probably giving 9 to 10 mins roast time. A definite
improvement, but not as good as the 12 to 14 mins I could get with a
suitable calibration resistor in place.

(The reason I was using a small dose was to see if the iR2 was suitable to get a
light "cupping" roast. The "official" spec for this is a light roast in 8 to 12
minutes. No luck unfortunately. I have since figured out how to roast 100g
or so to that level in the Gene, but in about 15 minutes. Close enough I think.)

A few days later I cupped the two Bundja roasts against each other and one done
in the Gene. There wasnt a lot between them, but Bundja is a little idiosyncratic,
it can throw different flavours from ons shot to the next, so cant be definitive.

[sdg]

Re: How inferior is a Popcorn popper?

Hi Hazbean, thanks for the extra detail.

Not a magic bullet, then