My desert island luxuries would be one of these and a press pot to prepare the coffee in.
Positive Product Points
Walk away and forget convenience
Even roast
"Reasonable" repeatability.
Chaff collection
Monitor bean status by colour.
Feels solid - looks fine
Negative Product Points
Only 1/2 cup (approx 3 oz of green 2.5oz roasted).
Fiddly little time controller.
No programmable roast profile - but nor does any commercial home roaster.
Detailed Commentary
UK pds sterling130 - Andronicas London
i have been home roasting for a couple of years with a popcorn
machine. This device is a piece of cake by comparison. Once you have the
hang of it and have recorded your settings walk away. (Not TOO far just in
case!). Even if you aren‘t quite sure what setting is necessary, just set
the kitchen timer and come back to monitor it after 6 minutes - take it up
to just second crack or whatever - push the cool button and walk away.
The small quantity is a disadvantage but not as much as you would
think. An espresso blend is several beans and i roast up each bean
individually and post roast mix - ending up with a half pound or so - which
lasts me till it gets stale.
Then I roast most nights a varietal for cafetiere the next day and for that
2.5 oz is too much. xmas presents took a while though!
Indoor roasting has two problems - chaff and smoke. The chaff is
controlled by a mesh filter in the top - there is a small amount of bits
thrown out but no more than a grinder. Smoke is much less than my old
popcorn machine but still unacceptable in the kitchen without a vent or
open window. I roast in the shed and have the nicest smelling shed.....
The only setting is the timer. This gives 2nd crack in about 8 mins. I
have played with switching the cooling mode to slow the roast and prolonged
1st crack to 12 minutes so experimentation is possible.
The useable timer range is from 4 to 6. (UK model - YMMV - but probably
not by much). The dial is small - which is a pity because you need a
record of what setting you last used. 0.1 difference is nearly
extrapolatable but necessary for precision.
Remember roast beans stale after a week. I never run out of fresh beans,
they are cheaper than roasted, I can try what I like when I like without
having piles of staling beans around.
Buy kenneth Davids book on Home Roasting to fully understand the parameters
(the booklet is poor) and a big variety of green beans!
