Cheaper chinese roasters

[Mischa]

anyone had any experience with these? Theyre quite well priced, around $7k for a 5kg or 9k for a 10kg...

I know a lot of you wont like the sound of this, but i dont want to write it off just yet.

[beanflying]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Without wanting to poo poo them as well a reasonable level of them have turned up locally on evil bay for sale NIB never been used.

So are they any good, have people found the gas compliance costs prohibitive or the cost of local mods needed to bring them up to standard to high etc. Will they actually roast as claimed?

Great to hear some local feedback if someone out there has one working.

[ccc2]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

If you are looking at a 5kg or 10kg roaster - this would seem to appear as a commercial coffee activity.

If indeed it is a commercial operation you are considering, the actual price of European/American roasters is quite minor and reasonable when all the other capital and expense related investments required to start and run a compliant business are factored into the equation.

So, saving say $5-10K on a roaster might seem like an attractive option, but put aside triple that saving into a risk bucket........to be spent on compliance, installation and if the thing doesnt generate a good roast, then you may quickly burn through $20K worth of beans before you get it working right 6 months later.

To balance the discussion, a well-known Roaster brand has some/most of its manufacturing done in China and we all know how easy it can be to copy IP these days.

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Hey there Mischa... I also went through the same process and waded through all the Chinese... and Korean... offerings and after a few months of very detailed research I found that the best roasters in the price range you mentioned actually come from Turkey. Turkish manufacturers have been at it a long time and seem to know what they are on about. My shiny new roaster arrived just late last week and I can not get over how well built it is. No regrets thus far.

[TC]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Hey there Mischa... I also went through the same process and waded through all the Chinese... and Korean... offerings and after a few months of very detailed research I found that the best roasters in the price range you mentioned actually come from Turkey. Turkish manufacturers have been at it a long time and seem to know what they are on about. My shiny new roaster arrived just late last week and I can not get over how well built it is. No regrets thus far.

At least you know that the hardware has been designed and certified to run on the Australian Power Grid. Play it safe mate...

Taken from another thread, but Mals advice applies here too Vinitasse....You will need to have it complianced for operation here or youll find that you are on your own when something goes wrong and your insurers wipe you.

Happy roasting...

Chris

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Already taken care of Chris. I sent details of the compliance standards to the manufacturer in Turkey and it was brought to code before it left the factory. Being an electric roaster and not gas, this was a rather simple process. It has already been tagged and tested by a licensed Victorian sparky and is ready to run... legally... here in AU. It really wasnt that much of an issue as the manufacturer was more than willing to bend over backwards to get his product to market here in Australia.

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

And... on another note... the manufacturer is also offering a one year parts replacement warranty.

[TC]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Already taken care of Chris. I sent details of the compliance standards to the manufacturer in Turkey and it was brought to code before it left the factory. Being an electric roaster and not gas, this was a rather simple process. It has already been tagged and tested by a licensed Victorian sparky and is ready to run... legally... here in AU. It really wasnt that much of an issue as the manufacturer was more than willing to bend over backwards to get his product to market here in Australia.

[smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Good stuff Vinitasse,

Makes sense that it would be a simpler process than doing a gas roaster...

Chris

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Thanks Chris

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Heres a bit of a teaser:

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Pic 2 of 4

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Pic 3 of 4

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Pic 4 of 4

[Vinitasse]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

1) Its an extremely robust 1kg sample/shop roaster. Robust in that the damned thing weighs in excess of 100kg and is built to last with 4 motors and the ability of doing back to back roasting all day long if needed. And that is 1kg roasted!!! It easily takes a 1.25 kg load of green. As for sampling, I have managed roasts as small as 250g and the sampler still manages to pick up. I havent tried smaller loads but will let you know once I know better.

2) Total costing (FOB + duties + import fees + GST + freight forwarding +compliancing etc...) would still come in at, or under, the $7K budget Mischa is considering.

3) It roasts like a charm and with dual thermocouples I will soon be able to report on profiling as well. My 2 input usb datalogger should arrive tomorrow or Tuesday.

4) As for other details... only time will tell. Will keep you posted.

Cheers,

Bruce aka Vinitasse

[beanflying]

Re: Cheaper chinese roasters

Speaking of Taiwan or even Korea there is some nice roasters available for a reasonable cost and almost certainly better quality than the Chinese ones. China might like to claim Taiwan as its own but generally across the board the standard of goods is far better at this time.

Like the current Espresso machine importing debate it would be very easy to consume any savings with needing to replace or heavily modify parts to comply with the gas regs. Your chances of having any recourse with China is ZERO, a former boss of mine did $60k with a batch of defective pump castings.

Nice looking wiring job on Bruces little Turkish 1kg too 8-)