Time for a new home roaster

[shep]

Funny how a guy can go from roasting on a 10 kilo commercial machine to not even having a home roaster to roast their own coffee with! I sold everything I had except a Fresh Roast, which I proceeded to burn up the other day. Its a sad state of affairs to be out of coffee when a few months ago I was surrounded by it. In my quest to determine what to buy I think I have decided on a...Quest. I seriously considered a sample roaster, but concluded as I always do that if I'm going to spend $8k or so on a roaster it might as well be one that will roast 5lbs or more and earn its keep. It seems likely that there is another larger roaster in my near future (to be determined if I'm going small -2-3k, or larger 12k+), so I think I will spring for the Quest so I can not only roast for myself now, but also use it to sample at a later date.

Anyone with Quest experience, feel free to share. Anyone who has gone from a direct flame roaster to an infrared (like Diedrich) feel free to chime in as well. I am open and soliciting opinions!

Shep

[Tex]

Have you ever used a fluid bed roaster like the Sonofresco? When I had mine, my local roaster & I used to visit a lot (same church - old friends), and while he had a big 12 kilo Diedrich for his shop, he loved playing with my Sono.

While there wasn't anything that could be done about its profiles, he tried different weights of greens and found he could make adjustments that way.

There's not a week goes by that I don't regret selling my Sono! There'll probably be another in my garage someday.

[shep]

Call me a romantic, I prefer to stick to the flame and the drum.

Shep

[hankua]

Check out the huky500 from Mr. Li in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It's a little gas roaster that can be shipped over here for @$150. His English is very good and caters to hobbyists. I should have a price on a 1k You-Wei cr-101 pretty soon if your interested, also from Taiwan.

[staylor]

Lovin' my SF-1.

Just sayin'.

;-)

[Warrior372]

Check out the huky500 from Mr. Li in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It's a little gas roaster that can be shipped over here for @$150. His English is very good and caters to hobbyists. I should have a price on a 1k You-Wei cr-101 pretty soon if your interested, also from Taiwan.

I got a quote in March of 2010 on a Huky 500 (500 gram capacity) and it was $1020 plus shipping. It utilizes a butane or LPG burner, your choice, as it's heat source. The overall build quality looks awesome and it would likely give you fewer problems long term than the electric element of the Quest. This is also the builders gen 2 machine. His first was a 300 gram capacity roaster called the Huky300. He seemed to have learned from that experience and added several modifications to the Huky500.

Each roaster is built to order and each one takes about 5 days for him to build. He said express mail takes about 4-7 days and costs $145, while normal mail takes about 10-14 and costs about $108. This is not a company, it is one guy names Kuanho Li.

Huky500操作

[shep]

Lovin' my SF-1.

Just sayin'.

;-)

That is the machine I really want. Finding used ones though is nearly impossible. New ones cost so much that I have a hard time justifying the expense. If I knew for sure I was not going to reenter the business any time soon, I might spring for one. Otherwise, the money spent on the SF-1 could purchase all or part of a production machine.

Shep

[Warrior372]

Shep, There is a 2004/5 Diedrich IR-3 with the computer profiling system / software for sale on Craigslist Milwaukee. It looks to be in pretty good condition.

[peter]

Shep, There is a 2004/5 Diedrich IR-3 with the computer profiling system / software for sale on Craigslist Milwaukee. It looks to be in pretty good condition.

I contacted the seller and got some replies.  But now the ad is gone, and I'm thinking it's sold.

[shep]

Shep, There is a 2004/5 Diedrich IR-3 with the computer profiling system / software for sale on Craigslist Milwaukee. It looks to be in pretty good condition.

I contacted the seller and got some replies.  But now the ad is gone, and I'm thinking it's sold.

I did not see it either. I also talked to someone about their 6lb San Franciscan, but I did not really get serious about it at this point. One problem I have with looking at the commercial machines is many of the smaller ones do not have some of the features that I have been spoiled by. For example, some (San Franciscan 6lber) are batch roasters, meaning you either roast or cool, not both at the same time...at least not without modifications. The one I looked at did not have a powered sweeper arm to cool the beans either. I don't want to go the Ambex route again, even though I never had a minute's trouble with either machine. There are a couple inherent design flaws, at least in my machine, that I do not want to deal with again. So I'm just spinning my wheels right now and finding it very hard to "go backwards." I do know someone who has a US Roasters sample roaster they want to sell (unless they already sold it), but I'm not so sure what I think about that machine.

Maybe I will just buy something cheap right now to roast my own in so I can stop buying other people's coffee and then buy something more serious later. If I end up with something cool, I will be sure and let you know. 

Shep

[peter]

Maybe I will just buy something cheap right now to roast my own in so I can stop buying other people's coffee and then buy something more serious later. If I end up with something cool, I will be sure and let you know. 

Shep

You are aware, of course, that a SC/TO would give you even better results than a pro drum roaster.   

[Aromajunkie]

You are aware, of course, that a SC/TO would give you even better results than a pro drum roaster.   

Better than a hot air popper roaster? I might have to look into that. I've been happy with what I have (modified W.B. Poppery), but sometimes wish for a little more capacity and roast control.

[peter]

You are aware, of course, that a SC/TO would give you even better results than a pro drum roaster.   

Better than a hot air popper roaster? I might have to look into that. I've been happy with what I have (modified W.B. Poppery), but sometimes wish for a little more capacity and roast control.

Most of us are somewhat biased toward what we use (or we'd be using something else, wouldn't we?) so my promoting of the SC/TO should be taken with a grain of salt.  That said, I'd put it up against anything in terms of control and results in the cup.