Feedback on Setup/Roasts

[chopperjosh]

Hi gang. I was looking to get some feedback on my roasting setup and the resulting roasts.

I'm a grill roaster. I bought my setup from someone last winter. It's similar to an RKDrums but it seems handmade. It can hold quite a bit of beans but I find about 4lbs is the magic number for a solid roast. It has a REX engineering motor that does about 50-55 RPM. I have a temperature probe that is fed through the support pipe on the left and sticks out into the drum touching the beans. I had a thermocoupler for grill temperature too but it stopped functioning and really didn't do much for me anyways. I use roughly the same roast profile for all the beans, lowering charge temp for denser beans.

I attached 3 roast graphs. The Brazil roast is Brian's. The beans smell wonderful and I'm excited to cup tomorrow. The Ethiopian is from Knothole on eBay. NGL it doesn't smell nearly as good as the Brazil beans so we'll see. The Nicaragua roast is from an 80lb sack I bought from somebody here in Los Angeles. The bag says Peralta farms. Not sure how they got the beans but they're great.

I'm looking for some feedback on my curves! I'd love another set of eyes on these. I've roasted roughly 200lbs on my own I figured I'd finally seek out some professional advice! Thanks y'all.

[chopperjosh]

Here's the hardware. I probably should've led with this...

[brianmch]

Hey-
Generally speaking, I would say that you're certainly in the ballpark on the Brazil.

For fine tuning its a matter of preference for flavor.  I preferred a little shorter development (FC to end) and a little less temp delta especially as I roasted for dual-use, espresso and drip.  I prepare drip using the transparent V60 so flavor is a thing for me.

This coffee also had quite a bit of sweetness that I was able to get at lighter roast levels too-not cinnamon but pretty light. 

I did take several batches of this a little darker and enjoyed them for straight espresso too.  Lots o chocolate and a little more nutty. 

[ptrmorton]

Wow. That setup looks sooo familiar as my neighbor had something very similar including the extended rotisserie motor (minus the tripod table).  His version had a heat shield that fit over the rotating drum, but under the cover.  Even the brand of grill was the same! Nice job.

[chopperjosh]

Wow. That setup looks sooo familiar as my neighbor had something very similar including the extended rotisserie motor (minus the tripod table).  His version had a heat shield that fit over the rotating drum, but under the cover.  Even the brand of grill was the same! Nice job.

Wouldn't be surprised if I bought it from your neighbor! I crafted the tripod situation for the rotisserie motor, I mounted the motor to what we call a "pigeon plate" in film and then used a gobo head to attach it to a light stand. Then sandbagged it for stability.

That heat shield over the drum sounds like it would really enhance the roast it's a shame I'm no metal craftsman

[chopperjosh]

Hey-
Generally speaking, I would say that you're certainly in the ballpark on the Brazil.

For fine tuning its a matter of preference for flavor.  I preferred a little shorter development (FC to end) and a little less temp delta especially as I roasted for dual-use, espresso and drip.  I prepare drip using the transparent V60 so flavor is a thing for me.

This coffee also had quite a bit of sweetness that I was able to get at lighter roast levels too-not cinnamon but pretty light. 

I did take several batches of this a little darker and enjoyed them for straight espresso too.  Lots o chocolate and a little more nutty.

Brian, thank you! The Brazil is a hit with my peoples btw!

I mostly do espresso on my end so I didn't notice too much, but on the next roast I'll aim to get the temp delta lower for my pour over peeps and report back.

[woodstock]

I also roast using a grill and RK drum.  I need to figure out how to get a thermocouple or two to work with my setup.  It would probably help me greatly improve my roasts.

[ptrmorton]

I also roast using a grill and RK drum.  I need to figure out how to get a thermocouple or two to work with my setup.  It would probably help me greatly improve my roasts.

A hollow axle to thread the wire into the drum at one end is common.

[brianmch]

Hope double dipping is allowed! 

I'm very familiar with the Peralta farms in Nicaragua.  They have several farms so this comment should only be taken as a generality, but I've been happy with the coffee's I got from them.  They've also been curated/approved for import by my import broker, so there could have been batches I wouldn't have liked.

Next, while I don't roast on an RK, my reservation about them is the lack of active ventilation to pull air through the beans (convection in addition to conduction) and the fact that the beans turn in the chaff during the entire roast.  I would at least put a fan in the roaster to actively encourage air draw through the beans. 

The reason I have an issue with the chaff remaining in the beans is that if I don't run enough fan in my Bullet the chaff stays in the beans during the roast too, seriously compromising cup quality.