CoffeeGeek - Coffee: Home Roasting Talk, coffee bean cooler project

Coffee: Home Roasting Talk
coffee bean cooler project

Cafe Espresso Machines

Video reviews, nationwide installation, leasing options... Nuova Simonelli, Rancilio, La Marzocco.
www.seattlecoffeegear.com

Not Logged in:

updated topics	new posts	new unanswered
search	faq	sign up

Discussions > Coffee > Home Roast > coffee bean...

view previous topic | view next topic | view all topics

showing page 1 of 4

last page

Author

Messages

Clay34
Senior Member

Joined: 8 Oct 2008
Posts: 302
Location: Wisconsin
Expertise: I like coffee

Espresso: Aeropress
Grinder: Baratza Virtuoso
Vac Pot: N/A - 3 Bodum presses
Drip: Bunn VPR APS
Roaster: bread machine, Corretto...

Posted Fri Oct 23, 2009, 10:27am Subject: coffee bean cooler project

About two weeks ago I bought a 5 gallon food grade bucket, found a fan a close out that would fit in the bottom of the bucket when I cut the hole in the bottom, found a SS collander, used some zip ties and through it all together in hopes of making a cooler. Been pouring the beans between two SS bowls for the most part but wanted to upgrade that process. Well my cooler isn't working as well as I think it should. Anyone have some good plans for a bean cooler that they would like to share. I went back a few hundred posts and tried the search function and saw nothing. If you know of something where this has already been discussed would appreciate a link. Thanks, Rick

Larryh86GT
Senior Member

Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Posts: 293
Location: Near sunny Buffalo NY
Expertise: I like coffee

Grinder: Capresso Infinity
Drip: Mr Coffee
Roaster: 73RPM 5lb BBQ drum

Posted Fri Oct 23, 2009, 10:51am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

Hi Rick, I haven't been roasting very long but I found that my shop vac works very efficiently and cools the beans rapidly. I took a small box, size isn't important I think, taped it up to seal it, cut a hole in the top that my large SS strainer sits in just right and cut another hole in the side bottom of the box that the shop vac hose sticks into. When the beans are roasted, I quickly dump them into the strainer and turn on the shop vac sucking cool air past the beans while I stir them. Works great. This is not my idea but it came from this forum. Larry

Posted Fri Oct 23, 2009, 11:03am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

That interesting Larry in that the only real roaster that I have seen did have the air flow pull down through the beans but when I built my attempt I blew chaff all up in my face. Nice idea on the shop vac. Anyone have plans or pictures of what they have done? I have a couple of shop vacs available so this is very doable for an idea. Rick

Posted Fri Oct 23, 2009, 11:29am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

Some links I found Rick: "tried new cooling idea - thanks to the coffee geeks" "Importance of cooling a roast - questions" "improvised bean cooler" These are using a plastic bucket rather than a cardboard box but the idea is the same. Could you just turn your fan the other way which would pull the chaff away from you? If no one posts any pics with a box and shop vac I will post some later. Larry

Posted Sat Oct 24, 2009, 5:55am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

Here is a picture of my low tech cooling system. I prefer to put the shop vac on suck to cool the beans. In less than a minute they are cool to the touch and I toss them between 2 collanders to remove the chaff. (Click for larger image)

Posted Sat Oct 24, 2009, 10:12am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

Thanks for the great links and the push in the right direction Larry. I need a new bucket and lid and I will be on the way to revision 1 of the cooler project. Rick

Posted Sun Oct 25, 2009, 10:49pm Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

Bought a new bucket, lid, SS collander and cut the lid for the collander to fit into. Any ideas on how to make an adapter for the shop vac hose to fit into the bucket? With another hobby of mine we play with PVC often. (building Ponds) Here we use this type of devise when we want to make a water proof hole through a material: http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/2985/Bulkhead-Fittings-Economy/bulkhead/0 The problem w/ the bulkhead is that it is sized for PVC and it is not the same size as the shop vac hose. Just hole saw a hole in the side of the bucket and stick the shop vac hose in that? Need one more push in the right direction on this project.

Posted Mon Oct 26, 2009, 8:13am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

I would try the hole saw method. The plastic should cut nice and clean. Maybe use a piece of scrap plastic to practice on first until you get a good fit. You would want the shopvac hose to fit in the hole kinda snug. Larry

benshot
Senior Member

Joined: 9 May 2009
Posts: 84
Location: west valley salt lake UT
Expertise: I live coffee

Espresso: modified Delonghi...
Grinder: cuisinart conical burr/ hon...
Vac Pot: Yama 2 cup
Drip: Tiamo stainless dripper
Roaster: variac controlled poppery 1

Posted Thu Oct 29, 2009, 10:31am Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

i have a small vacum motor that came out of a hand held, i am going to use some flashing or some kind of sheet metal to make a tube that goes on the top so that the turbine is blowing up trough the beans (if it were sucking; the motor would likely overheat). the tube has to be tall enough so the beans dont jump out, 3ft i guess. so its kind of like a fluid bed cooler. no adjitation required, the air movement does it all. and if i wanted to be really fast i could put dry ice in the bottom before the turbine, so it would suck cold air. but i will be winter soon anyway.

Posted Thu Oct 29, 2009, 12:28pm Subject: Re: coffee bean cooler project

The problem that I had with the up flow design was chaff went everywhere. If you do it outside no problem. Keep us informed on how the project is going for you.

showing page 1 of 4

last page

view previous topic | view next topic | view all topics

Discussions > Coffee > Home Roast > coffee bean...

updated topics

new posts

new unanswered

faq

Not Logged in: log in
Discussions Quick Jump:
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post

Forum Rules:
No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards.
No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum.
No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum.
Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards.
Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics.
Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies.
Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies.
Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts.
Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.

Quality Espresso Machines

Imported Italian Espresso Machines, Coffee Machines & accessories for all your coffee needs!
www.thecoffeebrewers.com