New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

[lu]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Is teflon a durable surface in the roasting chamber? Is it necessary to use such a material?

[sorrentina]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Not exactly sure why they went with teflon but I assume they had a reason... perhaps it helps the beans to flow smoothly- the machine does roast very evenly.

After several years weekly use the teflon on mine shows only the slightest wear- just light scratching from the beans and the odd pebble. My original unit had teflon where the agitator is as well- and that wore off. Machines shipping now (like the one pictured in the video) do not have teflon on that area any more- so they solved that slight issue.

I will be stocking replacement pots (and other parts)- but expect that the one shipped with the machine will last for many years of regular use (I dont need to replace anything on mine yet.

The glass dome (which is quite thick) can easily be removed for cleaning as well.

[Kevo]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

After several years weekly use the teflon on mine shows only the slightest wear- just light scratching from the beans and the odd pebble. My original unit had teflon where the agitator is as well- and that wore off.

Well there is the big turn off for me!
I find it amazing that companies can develop chemicals that essentially persist forever in our environment and not be held to a higher level of accountability as to the chemicals’ effects on our health.
One should certainly not heat Teflon to high temperatures, and it seems wise to potentially avoid this material all together.
Manufactures would like us to believe that Teflon lining is safe and wont leach toxins.
It does scratch and it does wear away! Where have the particles gone? Into whatever you are cooking and thus consumed!
Teflon is made from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a soap-like ingredient used in making all non-stick surfaces and materials. Including canned food.
Want to try a little test?
Put a cup or two of water in a non-stick pot or pan, about 12mm deep. Bring it to the boil and let it simmer for a minute and then add a teaspoon of baking soda. Remove a teaspoon of the water and smell it. Youll likely smell Teflon, not a pleasant scent. When the water is cool, taste it, but DONT swallow it! You may be shocked at how nasty it is after having reached boiling temperature. Imagine what is happening when you fry an egg, vegetables or meat at double the temperature! 

Machines shipping now (like the one pictured in the video) do not have teflon on that area any more- so they solved that slight issue.

Makes me ask why use it at all? Cast iron would do the job and still be easily maintained.

Is teflon a durable surface in the roasting chamber? Is it necessary to use such a material?

Thats gotta be a big NO from me lu.

The info above is, if you pardon the poor pun, food for thought. 

Cheers,
Kevo

[sorrentina]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

well- this is fair enough- and your feelings. You dont like teflon.

Teflon is made from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a soap-like ingredient used in making all non-stick surfaces and materials.

It is true PFOA is used in manufacturing teflon: however there is NO PFOA in the final product.

However if you are after food for thought:

stainless steel leeches chromium, old car brakes release asbestos, petrol releases a host of toxins and deadly gasses, coal power plants release toxic gas and cancer causing particulate matter, most foods contain artificial chemicals, plastics release chemicals of all sorts, radiation from nuclear testing in the 50s can be found just about everywhere on Earth and the W.H.O has just suggested mobile phones may cause brain cancer...

How do we escape this? Can we escape it?  Each to their own... perhaps you only eat organic food, avoid mobiles, and live where the air is (relatively) clean. Perhaps you eat anti-oxidants.


I am afraid we live in a somewhat toxic world- yet strangely life expectencies in developed countries have been rising constantly for decades...

Teflon is a product that has been accepted via various International standards and scientific testing procedures as safe for uses such as in this roaster. You say teflon doesnt like heat but it is used in a host of high temp cooking applications.  I guess the seals in many espresso machines are made of teflon as well?... Its everywhere.

Another interesting (and perhaps heartening) point is a recent study into the filtration properties of ground coffee: This study found that ground coffee was a truly amazing filter: capable of removing virtually all bacterial matter, and also the vast majority of heavy metal and chemical contamination in water passed through it such as when brewing coffee... You can make a cup of coffee out of filthy river water- and odds are you will be fine! (caveat drinker- no promises from me). Be sure to tamp well...

Also in an application like this roaster the amount of contact between the beans and the pan would be a tiny fraction of what you would find if you were cooking a liquid in a saucepan. What little surface contact there is would be largely dry as well.

Finally I dont think cast iron would be feasible in an application like this. Stainless steel perhaps.

[jaybee]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Put a cup or two of water in a non-stick pot or pan, about 12mm deep. Bring it to the boil and let it simmer for a minute and then add a teaspoon of baking soda. Remove a teaspoon of the water and smell it. Youll likely smell Teflon, not a pleasant scent. When the water is cool, taste it, but DONT swallow it! You may be shocked at how nasty it is after having reached boiling temperature. Imagine what is happening when you fry an egg, vegetables or meat at double the temperature!

Sodium bicarb is a chemical agent that attacks flourocarbons. This is not what happens when you fry an egg!

Teflon is entirely non-toxic and you could make it into a snack if you so desired, but it does off-gas if heated above 260 degrees C and those gasses are toxic.

You wouldnt want to be any where near the machine if it ever got that hot - your house would probably be on fire before the gasses got you!

[Dennis]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Teflon is entirely non-toxic

Im on your side JayBee, but....

Cast iron would do the job

Kevo would rather eat rust. ;D

[Dimal]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

I reckon one has to be very careful when stating so-called "facts" unless you happen to be a person with specialist professional expertise in the area being discussed - In this case, a Chemist or Chemical Engineer for example....

Far too easy to spread misinformation albeit with the best intentions unless you really "know" what youre talking about.... :-?

Mal.

[lu]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

yep kevo turn-off for me also, specially as it would seem to have only some aesthetic (sic) feature.
CS post ttp://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1233361753/30  discussion around Teflon Coatings on Breadmakers / corettos refers to the Teflon wearing off and concerns over

According to peer-reviewed studies as reported by the EWG, nonstick cookware, including Teflon, begins outgassing particles at 396°F (202.2°C).

[/QUOTE]

Quote from Mal in another thread:
"Consecutive coffee roasts build up a layer of burnt on oils over time and render the Teflon coating all but useless as far as non-stick properties are concerned. Also, the beans do wear the Teflon coating away too so eventually youll have "bald" patches appearing all around the walls and the base of the bread-pan. Weve got a couple of spare pans so one is dedicated solely for coffee-roasting and the others for making dough, etc.....

Mal."

Food for thought indeed and my thought is Id prefer not to contaminate my favourite drink/drug  : 

Jack, Perhaps the Koreans could spin stainless steel for the roasting chamber or make from pyrex/ceramic???

[conan.obrien]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

stainless steel leeches chromium, old car brakes release asbestos, petrol releases a host of toxins and deadly gasses, coal power plants release toxic gas and cancer causing particulate matter, most foods contain artificial chemicals, plastics release chemicals of all sorts, radiation from nuclear testing in the 50s can be found just about everywhere on Earth and the W.H.O has just suggested mobile phones may cause brain cancer...

How do we escape this? Can we escape it?  Each to their own... perhaps you only eat organic food, avoid mobiles, and live where the air is (relatively) clean. Perhaps you eat anti-oxidants.

Just to add to your tale of woe, some studies have shown that large doses of antioxidants reduce your life expectancy too.

[Bean_Bear]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Be careful not to spend your life worrying too much about what will kill you - because the stress of worrying will kill you 8-).

[sorrentina]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

This is too true ;-)

Well the Special Introductory pricing is determined.

$374.95 without the Bean Cooler.

Personally I think it is a great for the quality you are getting:

I-Coffee Roaster

PLUS: The first 5 Coffeesnobs who purchase a machine - will get the Bean Cooler accessory for FREE!

I look forward to a review of the roaster on this website.

Please bear in mind I made my initial order over 18 months ago (it was long delayed as we got electrical certification done)- since that time raw commodity prices have risen significantly- Korea has informed that the next shipment will be subject to a price rise so the retail will likely go up as well when the first shipment is sold out.

[lu]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Agreed about the worry and maybe as the refrain goes "everything gives you cancer" and usually no one thing can be identified but having undergone hospitalisation, surgery, chemo and radiation from Sep to Dec last year and not yet in the clear I see no need to include a process/finish if it is not adding anything to the performance of the product and may have environmental consequences. Lets encourage the Koreans to adopt form follows function ..... given that to manufacture the I-Coffee the Teflon coating of metal roasting pan is investment in process/$$$, possibly to cover a metal that is not as durable as food grade stainless steel or maybe just to fit the steam punk aesthetic ???

Jack, Im genuinely interested to find out, - who knows it may be no drama to spin up a batch of Stainless roasting pans for those wacky/paranoid/envirocoffeefreaks downunder  :

cheers
lou

[Bean_Bear]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

having undergone hospitalisation, surgery, chemo and radiation from Sep to Dec last year and not yet in the clear

Sorry to hear that Lou, stay optimistic. I went through the hospitalisation, surgery, radiation therapy, with close surveillance for 5 years. That was 20 years ago, I believe I am now at the same risk of cancer (statistically) as anyone else.

May it all go well for you, John.

Agree about the Teflon coating, not a good idea in a device that can run up to and above 250^oC.

[lu]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Hi John, thanks very much for your thoughts    OT I know, but this has lead me search for better coffee and CS and then of course to roasting.  Still hunting for espresso machine and dreaming of Lusso,,, aaah :

btw it is my very supportive OH who puts the kybosh? on the Teflon coating.

I did a little hunt for the I-Coffee N-901CR and found Trade Korea website with info that stated the material: WOOD, MDF, STAINLESS.

Told my OH I could remove the Teflon, he says not the mod one should have to perform on new object....  getting rid of  steampunk bling???  Perhaps they could just skip the coating on some ???

Other info on the site said roasting cycle was 15 min and cooling 10 min on the auto mode, perhaps why Jack suggests manual method...

I do like the idea of seeing the roast happening and also removing smoke and chaff so neatly.

[malliemcg]

Re: New Korean Home Roaster soon avialable in Australia- I-Coffee-

Will have to count up the coffee equipment fund (added too each week to replace grinders/machines/etc) to grab one of these puppies. Paper currently being raised to the minister of war and finance...

The price is a lot better than I was initially expecting.