DIY Home roasting equipment: fad or evolution?

[Koffee_Kosmo]

Back a few years ago I was also on the path to build a corretto
The reason I invented the KKTO was because I showed my wife a video of a BM roaster and she said no way on the chaff it produced and it also needed to be easily packed away out of sight

Original design was conceived to be

A small coffee roaster that can be easily stored away
Be able to roast realistic loads of green coffee
Roast coffee to shop quality standard
That did not have chaff fly around everywhere when roasting coffee
Can hear the cracks with relative ease
Can be tweaked to a coffee enthusiast’s imagination
Robust construction
Can be copied by others with handyman skills

I believe that I have fulfilled the brief as there are hundreds of happy owners all around the world enjoying well roasted coffee

KK

[Mono]

A related question which then follows is: Is the coffee roasted in the BBQ drum just as good as what you get in the KKTO or is one better than the other?

CAn't help you there as I have not tried coffee from a BBQ drum type roaster. only familiar with commercial, corretto & kkto.

Steve

[NewToEspresso]

I think there has been a slight misunderstanding regarding the question I'm asking. What I meant to ask was the popularity of the different DIY roasters such as the BBQ drum, corretto, KKTO, are they are product of evolution (discovery of a better way to do things), hence the popularity of the KKTO now rather than the corretto and before that the BBQ drum, or is it a natural outcome of a fad (latest is always most popular)?

A related question which then follows is: Is the coffee roasted in the BBQ drum just as good as what you get in the KKTO or is one better than the other?

[kwantfm]

I really think it comes down to time - those with time and interest in playing around will be attracted to home roasting equipment, whereas those who are time-poor or just want the best roast quality irrespective of cost will find a commercial artisan roaster who puts out the good stuff.

I'm probably more prone to self delusion than most, but I find that I prefer what I'm roasting at home to anything I can get from the best commercial roasters in Sydney.

[Dragunov21]

I really think it comes down to time - those with time and interest in playing around will be attracted to home roasting equipment, whereas those who are time-poor or just want the best roast quality irrespective of cost will find a commercial artisan roaster who puts out the good stuff.

[Mono]

Hi NTE, don't seem to see a hell of a lot of discussion on the barby roaster. I did consider building one because of their larger capacity, but now with the twin element KKTO and being able to roast > 1kg green at a time I have no need. I originally purchased a popper but didn't even try it after reading and thinking about their potentially limited lifespan and their miniscule batch size I went with the corretto and then came the KKTO which I have been constantly tinkering with. Next step would be a commercial roaster but I see no point. :-)

Steve

[NewToEspresso]

Many years back when I first joined CS and discovered home roasting, the choices you had for DIY roasting was fairly limited if you didn't want to buy either the hottop or Gene. For most (I suspect to this day), the first place to start is the popcorn popper. The experiences with the popper would then determine if you'd go on to something with a bigger batch size and ability to tinker with the profile. One of the most popular means of roasting was the BBQ drum roaster. Then came the corretto and there was a massive take-up on that. It was helped along by the DMM thermologger and Roast Monitor SW.
I sort of took a break from the forum for while and before my hiatus, the KKTO concept was starting to take shape. Recently, I've noticed its now quite a big thing. So, I'm wondering, what's happened to the BBQ roaster? Are there still ardent fans of the BBQ roaster or did it get replaced by the newer creations?