|
Has anyone tried one of those Nesco roasters? Trying to decide whether to buy one of those, or save up for the Behmor.
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 02:01
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 12:43 |
|
|
a handful of dust posted:Has anyone tried one of those Nesco roasters? I've had one for a long time - my brother bought my dad one for Christmas years back - and I'm literally roasting my first batch with it as I type this. On that note, I can't really speak from experience how well it works because I've used nothing else. I've heard nothing but good things about it, though. Also I saw on one of the coffee bean seller sites that someone had roasted a coffee in a wok skillet. Is this person insane or is that a viable way to roast coffee? 
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 03:05
|
|
|
GODDAMN FOOL posted:Also I saw on one of the coffee bean seller sites that someone had roasted a coffee in a wok skillet. Is this person insane or is that a viable way to roast coffee? People originally roasted in whatever they had or whatever so sure, a wok is fine. It's going to be nearly impossible to get an even, consistent roast though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 03:29
|
|
|
GrAviTy84 posted:People originally roasted in whatever they had or whatever so sure, a wok is fine. It's going to be nearly impossible to get an even, consistent roast though. Yep, I worry about the surface conduction when the heat source for the beans is the pan itself. This means that the majority of the conductance will happen through touch. It's not a guarantee, but you do indeed risk scortching using this method, other skillet methodologies, sheet pans in the oven, etc... Anyway, I'm a big believer in the fuild bed type roasting, which is why I've stuck to the heat gun for my low-tech option. I just haven't seen a way to get as even of a roast both on an individual bean, or across the batch. My hope is that the roasting profile moddability on things like the Behmore improve as the years go before I step up to something more expensive like that. Right now the only thing from a feature standpoint that would probably make me happy in a dedicated roaster would be a Hottop, but those are stoopid pricey. In a side note, roasted the rest of my Columbian that I drank the test batch of this morning. That stuff is crazy sweet and chocolately. Even holds up very well to milk and doesn't lose too much of it's flavor profile. My mesh strainer showed up earlier in the week from Amazon, and I was able to use it with my fan as my cooling mechanism. Much faster. Beans went from 425F to cold in about 60 seconds.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 04:32
|
|
|
GrAviTy84 posted:People originally roasted in whatever they had or whatever so sure, a wok is fine. It's going to be nearly impossible to get an even, consistent roast though. Wait, the Ethiopians didn't have electric agitator roasters in the 600s? 
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 05:11
|
|
|
Loucks posted:Someone Get the Behmor - it's the best home roaster I've ever used. And Joe Behm is an awesome guy. I've been using mine for a few years for light and dark roasts and am very happy with it. I guarantee you'll like it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 05:32
|
|
me about roasters. I'm getting decent results with my air popper, but it'd be really nice to roast more than ~80gr at a time given how much coffee we use. I'm seriously considering the
|
porktree posted:Get the Behmor - it's the best home roaster I've ever used. And Joe Behm is an awesome guy. I've been using mine for a few years for light and dark roasts and am very happy with it. I guarantee you'll like it. Yep, I took it out of the box (along with my 8 lbs of free coffee from Sweet Maria's) and measured out 4 oz of beans, loaded them in the drum, pressed a button, and it came out perfect (~city roast level) on the first try with no prior roasting experience. Money well spent.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2013 07:03
|
|
|
Went to a Blue Bottle cafe yesterday (great poached eggs in addition to manual pour overs) and I've never seen so many iPads in one place outside of an Apple Store. There's something really hosed up about going to a place that sells $5 cups of coffee and less than a block away you can find the sketchiest part of San Francisco full of crackheads.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2013 17:02
|
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:Went to a Blue Bottle cafe yesterday (great poached eggs in addition to manual pour overs) and I've never seen so many iPads in one place outside of an Apple Store. There's something really hosed up about going to a place that sells $5 cups of coffee and less than a block away you can find the sketchiest part of San Francisco full of crackheads. I'm 99% certain you can buy $5 coffee IN the sketchiest part of San Francisco full of crackheads regardless of which part you're referring to.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2013 03:00
|
|
|
Yeah, my wife works across from a great little cafe called Machine in the Mid-Market area and there is an incredible amount of insane poo poo that happens every time I'm out there. Extreme wealth right next to abject poverty is pretty much the SF experience.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2013 06:34
|
|
|
A question about the Nesco and Behmor roasters: how long do you have to wait for the machines to cool down before roasting another batch?
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2013 15:43
|
|
|
medchem posted:A question about the Nesco and Behmor roasters: how long do you have to wait for the machines to cool down before roasting another batch? I wait about 20 minutes between batches with my Nesco.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2013 16:08
|
|
|
medchem posted:A question about the Nesco and Behmor roasters: how long do you have to wait for the machines to cool down before roasting another batch? This is my Saturday roast...  To produces Sunday's espresso... 
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2013 16:11
|
|
|
porktree posted:On the Behmor, once the bean cooling cycle is complete you can start another batch. With roast and cooldown for 1/2 lb of coffee you're looking at @25 minutes. I'm so tempted to save up for a Behmor, but I get such good roasts with the gun all the way up to a pound. I'm guessing my lazy just hasn't creeped up enough. Unrelated, but as a Silvia owner... just how bad IS the temperature surfing on those things? I really... really don't want to feel the constant need to mod the thermostat on a 600 dollar rig.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2013 02:03
|
|
|
Alleric posted:Unrelated, but as a Silvia owner... just how bad IS the temperature surfing on those things? I really... really don't want to feel the constant need to mod the thermostat on a 600 dollar rig. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2013 04:35
|
|
|
porktree posted:I don't have a lot of trouble - I turn it on, then some time later I run it until the lite comes on and then start grinding. Give it anou 30 seconds and then dose/tamp/pull. I have more issues keeping the grind in line with ambient RH. I suppose it depends on your sperge level - as long as I'm getting a half inch or more crema I don't sweat the weighing the coffee or getting the brew head to within a half degree Yeah, I mean any single boiler rig you're going to have to surf a bit if you really... really want your temps dialed in. I've just read about several owners who complained that the thermostat's tolerance for cooldown is pretty wide and telling some temp-surfing horror stories. Not really want I want to chase down first thing... before I've had my coffee.  At any rate, I do surf a bit on my Gaggia for the same reasons: single boiler. I find it quite simple though with frothing milk for the wife's drip and my macchiato right off then backfilling the boiler, flushing the brewgroup until the thermostat re-temps for pulls. Pretty much the same thing you're doing. I'd just heard it was far worse.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2013 06:45
|
|
|
I've only had a Silvia for a month so take this with a grain of salt but I don't find temp surfing to be too onerous. I usually run some hot water out of the steam wand and into my glasses to warm them up, then grind and tamp, then run water through the group head until the light kicks on. As soon as it turns on, I screw the portafilter on to let it warm up, wait for the light to cut off, and dump the water out of the cups and position them. Then, depending on the blend I'm using and how fresh it is I wait between 4 and 10 seconds before starting to pull the shot depending on how hot I want the water. The other trick I've found is to listen to the water in the boiler. Usually after I temp surf up to the high point, I can hear it it simmering in the boiler which means it's probably around 205-210. When I can't hear it anymore, it's probably around 200. The Counter Culture Toscano I've been using likes a 190 brew temp, so once the boiler goes quiet, I wait about 8 seconds before starting to pull the shot. I'll probably end up installing a PID eventually but I kind of like not having one while I'm still learning. Seems to help me get more a feel for the machine (admittedly at the expense of consistency).
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2013 16:01
|
|
|
I spent two hours at work today pulling apart portafilters and groupheads and just getting my deep clean on with my shop's La Cimbali internals and man, I don't think I'd ever want a home espresso machine that wasn't at least a Speedster. I know that's ridiculous home espresso prices but goddamn there is so many tiny little things that can get so drat dirty and I'm too much of a neat freak to handle a machine that isn't designed for professionals to dismantle and abuse.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2013 21:16
|
|
|
Whalley posted:I spent two hours at work today pulling apart portafilters and groupheads and just getting my deep clean on with my shop's La Cimbali internals and man, I don't think I'd ever want a home espresso machine that wasn't at least a Speedster. I know that's ridiculous home espresso prices but goddamn there is so many tiny little things that can get so drat dirty and I'm too much of a neat freak to handle a machine that isn't designed for professionals to dismantle and abuse. They have drugs to help with that sort of thing ya know.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 01:51
|
|
|
Jesus. I've been waiting for the mypressi to come back in stock. Today was finally the day... and they want to charge $25 for ground shipping? gently caress that noise. Hope the resellers start stocking it soon.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 06:29
|
|
|
I roasted a small batch in my air crazy popper for the first time ever tonight and things went pretty smoothly. I got it to a medium roast (when comparing it to some other per-roasted stuff we have lying around) but it doesn't quite smell like I thought fresh roasted coffee would. Will it have a better aroma after I let it degas for a day or 2 or did I just mess something up somehow? I've got the beans sitting in an untightened mason jar.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 06:56
|
|
|
Cyborganizer posted:I roasted a small batch in my air crazy popper for the first time ever tonight and things went pretty smoothly. I got it to a medium roast (when comparing it to some other per-roasted stuff we have lying around) but it doesn't quite smell like I thought fresh roasted coffee would. Will it have a better aroma after I let it degas for a day or 2 or did I just mess something up somehow? I've got the beans sitting in an untightened mason jar. All of my batches with rare exceptions have the faint smell of toasted marshmellows right off the bat. I've no clue why. Once the beans cool down to room temperature more of the indicative smells of the beans used will usually start coming through though, especially if I get my face right down in the beans and get a good whiff. I don't think I've ever had an off-smell happen from lack of time to degas. I doubt you messed anything up. Would you be able to post a pic of the roasted beans?
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 07:33
|
|
|
Had a cup of pour-over coffee from the on-campus "gourmet" coffee place and drat, I think I might understand what you guys are on about. I take my coffee black because  and I've always associated coffee with hella acidity but today there was none of that, just a smooth, maybe even *sweet* drink. The lady (barista, I suppose? Or does that only apply when they make espresso?) mentioned a chocolate note and I might have actually gotten it 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 07:46
|
|
|
sarcasticsmoothie posted:Had a cup of pour-over coffee from the on-campus "gourmet" coffee place and drat, I think I might understand what you guys are on about. I take my coffee black because Next thing you know, you'll be asking her if she can sell you a bag of those beans, then you'll buy a blade grinder and a pourover coffeemaker. Then we recommend you buy an actual burr grinder while welcoming you to this thread at the same time. Let the obsession begin! In other news, I finally ditched my 5-year-old blade grinder. I'm surprised the drat thing still works, all things considered, but it's really time for me to move to a burr grinder; in my case, I'm going with the Hario Mini. I also bought me a Cilio porcelain pourover because my plastic pourover's roughly the same age as the blade grinder, and I'm not sure plastic from back then was rated BPA-free. That, and it's probably not good to keep using the same plastic-heated pourover for that long. My main issue now is transporting the porcelain one; in retrospect, I'm not sure how portable it's going to be if it's delicate.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 08:09
|
|
|
My ceramic Bonmac came in a sturdy box. Keep that for transport.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 08:47
|
|
|
sarcasticsmoothie posted:Had a cup of pour-over coffee from the on-campus "gourmet" coffee place and drat, I think I might understand what you guys are on about. I take my coffee black because One of us, one of us. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 13:59
|
|
|
Started out with just an Aeropress and pre-ground coffee a few weeks ago. I just took this pic this morning. I went a little nuts - Hario burr grinders, Hario kettle, Bonmac dripper, Hario carafe, Zojirushi mug, and I'm still planning to get a better scale in the future! 
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 19:27
|
|
|
Alleric posted:All of my batches with rare exceptions have the faint smell of toasted marshmellows right off the bat. I've no clue why. Once the beans cool down to room temperature more of the indicative smells of the beans used will usually start coming through though, especially if I get my face right down in the beans and get a good whiff. I don't think I've ever had an off-smell happen from lack of time to degas. I didn't take a pic of the beans, but when I checked them this morning they smelled much better. I'm looking forward to that first cup later tonight to see how things turned out. PS Capresso infinity owners out there: please tell me I'm not the only one who tried dumping beans into the hopper only to realize that I didn't take the clear cover off. Happened to me when I first got the grinder and it happened to my wife this morning during her first time using it. I have to come up with a nice little sticker to put on top to remind us that the cover is on.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 20:50
|
|
|
Cyborganizer posted:PS Capresso infinity owners out there: please tell me I'm not the only one who tried dumping beans into the hopper only to realize that I didn't take the clear cover off. Happened to me when I first got the grinder and it happened to my wife this morning during her first time using it. I have to come up with a nice little sticker to put on top to remind us that the cover is on. You mean you dumped beans on the cover only to have them spill all over the counter? yeah...done that. Just wait till you try and remove the hopper with beans in it and spill a half pound errywhere.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 20:53
|
|
|
Haha, yup, first thing you do when you get a Capresso infinity. I haven't taken the hopper off with beans still inside yet.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 23:17
|
|
|
why does the lid on my 14 month old Vario rattle like hell now? It used to fit so tight and snug. No, I didn't put it in hot water or a dishwasher. Granted, my Vario is already louder than normal since I did the belt drive/pulley replacement last summer but now it's REALLY LOUD with the rattling.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2013 23:43
|
|
|
Quick question about the Air Crazy for roasting. I decided I'm gonna try to go ahead and get into roasting my own coffee at home using the Air Crazy. It's cheap, and it will save me $$$ in beans in the long run cause I drink a boatload of coffee. I've been reading about it and it seems like it shouldn't be too hard as long as you stick to small batches. I've seen quite a few forum discussions and posts about how it has a thermostat that will shut it off if it gets too hot which limits people ability to get far into second crack for darker roasts. Therefore, there are a lot of people modding it to bypass the thermometer shutoff. Personally, I hate dark roasts. I buy a lot of MadCap since they sell it at a shop locally, and their beans seem to be roasted pretty medium and I love it. My local roaster who is very affordable with a lot of great single origins sadly roasts the ever loving poo poo out of all of her beans and as fresh as it is when I get it, it all tastes the same. None of the flavor of the coffee comes through, just char. Based on the videos I've watched of the process, I would probably tend to stop roasting at the start of second crack, so if I want to stick to medium roasts, (I guess City to Full City?) would I have any problem doing this with an un-modded Air Crazy? The other things I worry about are the fact that I'll be roasting outside so the ambient temp may make it harder, plus I'll have to use an extension cord. If anyone can share any info or advice I'd appreciate it. Got 3 lbs of beans arriving early next week from sweet maria's and can't wait to try it out. (A pound each of Ethiopian Kochere, Nicaraguan Finca Los Granadillos, and Kenya Nyeri Gaturiri PB)
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 02:33
|
|
|
nosleep posted:Quick question about the Air Crazy for roasting. I decided I'm gonna try to go ahead and get into roasting my own coffee at home using the Air Crazy. It's cheap, and it will save me $$$ in beans in the long run cause I drink a boatload of coffee. I've been reading about it and it seems like it shouldn't be too hard as long as you stick to small batches. I've seen quite a few forum discussions and posts about how it has a thermostat that will shut it off if it gets too hot which limits people ability to get far into second crack for darker roasts. Therefore, there are a lot of people modding it to bypass the thermometer shutoff. If you already own the Air Crazy: Using the extension cord will by it's nature introduce resistance into the circuit going to your popper. Net power available will lower. This may (may) impede your ability to get to darker roasts. From what I've seen from the poppers my friends and I own, quality control in this regard is all over the place. Some poppers don't seem to be as affected by extension cord usage as others, some poppers can be plugged right into a 20 amp circuit of their own and still limp towards the end of first crack. It varies. This is why the older, higher wattage machines are desirable because there's more ability and less variability. Without disabling the thermostat, the scenario you will witness is the heating element firing up until the thermostat detects a given temperature where the probe is mounted on the non-user side of the chamber inside the machine. Once it hits this upper limit, it will cycle the heating element off, but not the fan. Air temp coming into the chamber will still be hot, but will cool a bit. As several cycles of this pass by, the beans will take on more and more heat, but will slow in rate of heat increase. This means first crack will be no problemo to hit, but it may take a while to hit second (if you can...again, the variability of machines and the use of extension cords). Ambient temp outside may indeed make it harder. I guess what I'm saying is that other than the nature of how the thermostat cycles the heating element, each machine's a bit different, and using an extension cord could (could) inhibit you reaching deep roasts. However you should be able to hit City and City + no problemo. And if you hate dark roasts, that's not a bad place to be (but dunno what you consider dark). If you don't already own the Air Crazy: Heat gun. It's a bit more involved, but I haven't seen any inability to park the beans at your temperature of choice with a heat gun, including burned to a crisp (especially if you don't agitate). And if you do indeed go through a boatload of coffee... roasing half or whole pounds at a time beats the pants off of 3 ounces at a time in an air popper.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 03:07
|
|
|
Alleric posted:Heat gun. It's a bit more involved, but I haven't seen any inability to park the beans at your temperature of choice with a heat gun, including burned to a crisp (especially if you don't agitate). And if you do indeed go through a boatload of coffee... roasing half or whole pounds at a time beats the pants off of 3 ounces at a time in an air popper. I've got some friends who are interesting in my coffee and the Air Crazy ain't cuttin' it. Which heat gun are you using?
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 04:37
|
|
|
Google Butt posted:I've got some friends who are interesting in my coffee and the Air Crazy ain't cuttin' it. Which heat gun are you using? From earlier in the thread: The gun: http://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Power-Products-503008-200-Watt/dp/B00004TUCV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355445858&sr=8-1&keywords=wagner+heat+gun Timelapse of my process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1woJAtCWmrc It's a bit boring, but I find it relaxing and it saves a ton of time.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 07:23
|
|
|
Keyser S0ze posted:why does the lid on my 14 month old Vario rattle like hell now? It used to fit so tight and snug. No, I didn't put it in hot water or a dishwasher. Granted, my Vario is already louder than normal since I did the belt drive/pulley replacement last summer but now it's REALLY LOUD with the rattling. My year old Maestro Plus does the same thing, but it doesn't sound as bad as yours apparently does. I did notice that it doesn't rattle when it's on and it's just grinding air. My hunch is something needs to be cleaned with the hopper and where it fits onto the top.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 12:48
|
|
|
I'm loving the heat-gun and dog bowl method (thanks for the tips Alleric!). I thought it would be complicated or time consuming, but really it's fun and relaxing. I also now have a pile of chaff around my roasting spot in the garage, hah! At first I tried to get the temps just right, but now I'm just going by the way the beans are smelling/sounding. That means I'm probably not accurate at all, but as I go along it's getting easier. I'd probably have problems doing more than 1/2 cup in the dog bowl I have, so I might get a bigger one (I have a 32oz I think?). I only drink two cups a day, so 1/2 cup lasts 3-4 days for me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 15:57
|
|
|
dedian posted:I'm loving the heat-gun and dog bowl method (thanks for the tips Alleric!). I thought it would be complicated or time consuming, but really it's fun and relaxing. I also now have a pile of chaff around my roasting spot in the garage, hah! At first I tried to get the temps just right, but now I'm just going by the way the beans are smelling/sounding. That means I'm probably not accurate at all, but as I go along it's getting easier. I'd probably have problems doing more than 1/2 cup in the dog bowl I have, so I might get a bigger one (I have a 32oz I think?). I only drink two cups a day, so 1/2 cup lasts 3-4 days for me. Many gunners seem to use dog bowls. I've no clue why. I just use a cheap 2 quart stainless steel mixing bowl. Target, Amazon, your store of choice. Half pound batches are cake. Full pound batches you have to be a bit careful how active your stirring is late roast, or beans will fly everywhere. But, larger bowls seem to let more heat escape and extend the roast.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 16:39
|
|
|
If I wanted to start roasting about a pound a week which would you guys suggest for a good cheap start? I'm thinking whirlypop or heat gun method.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 17:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 12:43 |
|
|
medchem posted:My year old Maestro Plus does the same thing, but it doesn't sound as bad as yours apparently does. I did notice that it doesn't rattle when it's on and it's just grinding air. My hunch is something needs to be cleaned with the hopper and where it fits onto the top. The new noise is definitely the lid just rattling around because I can press on it and it stops. It's probably just a normal thing with the plastic aging as the hopper isn't as tight either. When I first got it I could barely crank it into position now it just slides right over the switch. Not a big deal - I might run a tiny bit of glue along the lid edge and see if that helps if not I'll just budget for a new hopper and lid each year.
|
|
#
?
Feb 7, 2013 17:14
|
|