FZ-RR 700 Baby Roaster

[Aaron4820]

Yes, I'm losing up to 10 or 12 beans each roast. When I am just about to lift and shake every 40 seconds, I find beans on the outside of the black metal lid (connected to the shiny black handle) instead of inside roasting where they should be. And it's worse when the beans are small - more like 15 to 20 beans get lost. It's a waste and I go through a batch quickly since family drinks my coffee (the baby roasted coffee is good). I've been using batch sizes of 180g since loss rate was even worse when the drum was full. I should say that this was happening when I bought the roaster brand new - there has always been a gap of 5mm. I've just got to live with it, until I buy a big machine which could be years away. ;-)

[iaindb]

I rarely loose a single bean when mine is roasting - maybe one or two when I shake it if I'm not careful. Not sure what's going on with yours!

I have noticed the smoke - I think I'm getting it under control by starting the roast slower, then raising the temp slowly as I go into first crack. If it goes hot all the way through, or too hot during/after first crack it tends to be more smoky. I also lower the heat dramatically after first crack. What roast times are you getting?

[Bosco_Lever]

Yes, I'm losing up to 10 or 12 beans each roast. When I am just about to lift and shake every 40 seconds, I find beans on the outside of the black metal lid (connected to the shiny black handle) instead of inside roasting where they should be. And it's worse when the beans are small - more like 15 to 20 beans get lost. It's a waste and I go through a batch quickly since family drinks my coffee (the baby roasted coffee is good). I've been using batch sizes of 180g since loss rate was even worse when the drum was full. I should say that this was happening when I bought the roaster brand new - there has always been a gap of 5mm. I've just got to live with it, until I buy a big machine which could be years away. ;-)

Can you please post a photo of this gap. I have never lost a bean, so am curious how your roaster looks. Mine was one of the early ones and slightly different. The way they are made, there should not be any gap.

[Aaron4820]

Tricky taking a decent photo...this one sort of shows the gap (photography was never a skill of mine). I think manufacturing tolerances probably vary somewhat with these little roasters. But yeah: it's a 5 mm gap through which beans come out along with plenty of smoke. Loss of beans is not the end of the world I spose.

On the plus side, I roasted a 180 gram batch of Guatemalan organic last week. I went hard and fast to first crack at 8min 45 seconds and then at about 10min I slowed down the pace meandering to a 13:45 finish. It was probably my best roast flavour-wise for some weeks. I'm currently drinking my way through some Ethiopian Yirge: vital stats, 1st crack at 13:15, finished roast at 16:15 just after first was done with. I wanted first by 11th minute but not to be. Not altogether happy with the last roast but I think I'll do better with Yirge next roast.

Aaron

[thegoner]

Dodgy photo, but 7.03mm was the best gap I could measure after scraping the burnt stuff out of the hole.

[thegoner]

Wait, are you talking the gap here?

I measure 1.79mm.

This gap is determined by the length of the skewer inside, and the length of the hole inside the handle that comes out.

For mine, I insert the removable handle all the way to achieve this gap. I could stop the handle from going in further due to friction. The skewer inside mine isn't centred, so presses the removable handle against the side of the roaster barrel opening.

If this is where you have a gap, I would try making a little ball of aluminium foil (or similar) to put inside the centre hole (where the skewer goes) to make it not go in as far. The next step is to gently bend the ends of the frame further apart (it does bend) where the barrel sits.

[Aaron4820]

Yes, it's the gap itself between the inside rim of the drum and the outer surface of the circular section of the handle once it has been inserted into the skewer.

You're right about gap determination being down to skewer length and handle hole depth. When I insert handle as far as it goes into the skewer, it perfectly lines up with the cog (at motor end) and support (at handle end) which is good. If I inserted something into the handle hole itself, this may help close the gap between the handle and the inside rim of the drum (which is the problem causing the leaks), but it may then increase the distance between end-of-handle and end-of-handle meaning it may no longer be the right length from cog to (handle end) support.

Hence I suspect it's the thickness of the circular section of the handle that needs to be slightly increased by about 2 mm (at least in my particular edition of this product...hence my suspicion that fabrication tolerances are on the loose side). This would effectively close the gap but still allow for smoke egress.

[hobb3]

I have a question to the owners of a Baby Roaster who have also used Gene Cafe. How does Baby Roaster compare to GC in terms of the amount of smoke generated? I roast with GC in my flat and smoke is usually no issue - open window is enough to get rid of it. I wonder if they way the Baby Roaster is designed (keeping chuff in the drum throughout the roast) means that more smoke is generated while roasting?

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

The intersection of those two set of users is going to be pretty small, me thinks. You might get some useful responses from Baby Roaster users who don't have Gene?

[TC]

I have used both. The amount of smoke produced by any given roast is going to be dependent on mass and then the beans you are roasting. Neither roaster has an afterburner, so 200g of the same bean roasted to the same level will produce a pretty much identical quantity of smoke. The gene does however manage chaff really well. You will need to do some work yourself with the FZR.

Ultimately though, they're both home roasters and therefore open the door to a whole heap of fun. In addition to our commercial roaster, I have a Gene and a Behmor. I have also owned 2 x Hottops, an Alpenrost and even a popper. I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy roasting in a whole heap of different ways and regardless of how you do it, you'll learn something every time.

[CCooke]

Hey all,

I've just recently purchased a Baby Roaster - motorised version. As others have mentioned they are a lot of fun.

One issue I've had is that when it heats up it is obviously expanding a little and I'm finding that about 3/4 through the roast the motor struggles to turn the drum and also when trying to remove it from the frame to shake/inspect beans it gets jammed in the top end. The motor still runs fine without the drum on it, but when putting it back on it will get slower and struggle to a halt.

Has anyone else experienced this at all?

[thegoner]

I don't have the motorised model. I have bent the frame though. It isn't too hard to slightly bend the two support sides closer or further apart. Obviously a piece of metal will fatigue after too many bends, but the casual adjustment will be tolerated many times.

[denwol]

I have been roasting with a baby roaster for about a year now. I get heaps of smoke sometimes. Definitely needs to be done outside IMO.

[samuellaw178]

If you want to do it indoor, you hafta do it under the kitchen extraction hood (emphasis on the 'under'). I did it in the kitchen and no roasting smell that lingers. Happy camper here.

[iaindb]

Hi CCooke,

I get an almost identical issue with mine, although it doesn't just happen after heating - it seems to be permanent. The gears will grip onto the motorised end making it hard to lift up without pulling the entire stand up with it. I've found that the depth on the groove holding the axle is slightly too much, combined with the angle of the groove and direction of the gears, it makes the gear pull the shaft into the hole as it turns... It's probably a manufacturing tolerance, as I can lift it by 1mm and the problem doesn't happen.

The simple solution I found is to remove the drum by rotating or rolling the shaft. It's very easy to do and I don't even think about it now - just roll and lift. I can't remember the direction as I haven't used it in a while, but I think (with the motor on the left) I rotate the top away from me. Try and see!