DIY mini bbq roaster

[fg1972]

I've been inspired by someone on the internet who made a drum roaster from a soup can heated over a stove & used a cordless drill to turn the can.
So i've decided to have a go myself with something similar to use on the bbq.
For the drum, I've used a $5 stainless steel toilet brush set from Bunnings.
I've cut down the cylinder removing the base which is plastic & needed another lid so I got another $5 set.
Also from Bunnings I got a rotisserie kit in which I've fixed one of the shafts to the base.
The lid is fixed to the other shaft which is secured to the drum by screwing shafts together.
I might even change my mind with the lid & have it fixed to the drum but with a large hole in the centre to inspect the beans.
Still to do are fit some veins to ensure the beans mix nicely and also drill some air vent holes on each of the lids.
I'm hoping to get 250 grams into this drum.
Any way, enough writing, hopefully the pics provide better detail,

[fg1972]

more photos

[fg1972]

Some more.
Tell me what you guys think.

[leograyson]

Very Neat !!. Good work and a very professional looking, high quality result. Got to love the lateral thinking that results in a toilet brush holder providing the basis of a coffee roaster.

I've been looking at a lot of DIY mini-roasters lately, and this is one of the best I have seen. Noticed that all the drum types needed some kind of internal vanes or ribs to churn the beans, so as you said, that is something you will need to fit.
For ventilation and inspection, maybe a metal mesh insert (or two) could be one way to go ??.

I would like to move on to something that gives me more control than a popper, but most other types seem to need bigger minimum quantities of beans than I want to roast. Pity I don't have a BBQ, or I could be inspired to make a smaller version of yours.

Anyway, you're off to a great start, and if it works as good as it looks, it will be a winner.

Cheers, Leo.

[fg1972]

DIY mini bbq roaster

Thanks for the encouragement Leo,
What I'd really like to do is suspend the drum by only 1 rod at the base and have a hole in the other end for loading/unloading beans, visual inspection and perhaps inserting a probe to monitor temperature.
Before doing anything permanent to the bbq, I will probably have to make some temporary mounting points to ascertain ideal position and distances from flames to see what kind of temps I'm getting.

[leograyson]

Yes, I see what you mean - and why. It's a pity that the shaft is square, not round. If you put a support between the motor and the drum, you could probably use just one shaft. If the shaft was round, this could be a simple block or bracket with a "U" shaped groove on top, in which the shaft was supported. At rotisserie speeds there should not be major friction problems. If you have access to a lathe, maybe you could round off a section of the shaft and do this.
An alternative might be to get a cheap bearing which is a push fit onto the shaft, then mount the bearing on a block or bracket of the right height to support it. Both these ideas would probably need to have the motor and the support mounted on a common base plate, unless you can mount both of them directly on the BBQ - which it sounds like you may intend to do eventually.

In the meantime, a temporary baseboard may allow you to experiment with positions/distances etc, etc.

Cheers, Leo.

[fg1972]

The square shaft is not a problem as the rotisserie kit comes with a rounded cylinder piece that can be secured anywhere along the square shaft providing a smooth rounded surface for the shaft to be supported in a "U" groove.

[leograyson]

So it seems that running it on one shaft and having access via the other end is going to be very feasible. Would like to see some progress pics, and more when it is finished, and of the trial runs.

Cheer, Leo.

[themurphs]

This looks great!

Who would of thought of another use for a toilet brush holder!

I Have a BBQ roaster, that i made from scrap stainless steel. what i did was hinge a section at one end (see photo).

Can be a bit of a bitch sometimes getting the beans in but it works quite well.

Keep up the good work.

the murphs

[fg1972]

Thanks for the pic themurphs,
That looks very impressive. How far away from the burners is the drum?

[themurphs]

Approximately 100-150mm,

Notice I have the flare guards still on.

With roasting i put the lid down and have the two outer burners turned up with the burner under the drum down low,
The Weber i have has the burners running from right to left instead of front to back.

[fg1972]

Approximately 100-150mm,

Notice I have the flare guards still on.

With roasting i put the lid down and have the two outer burners turned up with the burner under the drum down low,
The Weber i have has the burners running from right to left instead of front to back.

Thanks, my burners are front to back so I'm considering placing the drum front to back instead of the normal spit position left to right. Depending on the temps, am also considering placing the drum over the side burner, will have to experiment a bit.

[habahabanero]

Good work on the toilet brush conversion, very impressive!
I'd love to see a pic of the drum mounted on the Weber - I'm considering building a drum for my Weber.
Cheers, Dave

[fg1972]

The toilet brush idea has been canned.
I've found something with much thicker stainless steel which is more rigid & is 110mm diameter instead of 90mm.
Welcome to the cutlery holder roaster.

[fg1972]

One end has the square rotisserie shaft, the other end I've used an aluminium tube that is hollow inside.
I'm hoping to be able to insert a thermocouple probe into the tube to get some sort of temperature reading.
Ideally the probe should be amongst the beans but this is not possible with a spinning drum.