Nice to see something that delivers as advertised.
Positive Product Points
Actually is smokeless Great light roasts Simple operation
Negative Product Points
Tricky with dark roasts - Is it the machine or me? - since I am writing this we will assume machine.
Detailed Commentary
I have put this thing through its paces. Have roasted almost 25 lbs in the five months since I bought it. I have to roast for the morning, then the espresso's through the day and a decaf for us before bed time so it gets its work.
First I have found it very consistent once I got a scale and have been careful to go 4 oz for my light to full city roasts, and 3.25 for my espresso blends. It (as I gather all machines are) is sensitive to power supply. I had two roasts one day where I couldn't get it to even a first crack without going into 20+ minutes of roasting - ended up baking the beans. When I checked my voltage I noticed we were down around 112 volts, so a Variac may be in the future.
It really is smokeless. We are in a condo with a really sensitive fire alarm - (even a grilled cheese has set it off) and I have never set it off yet.
Light to city roasts are almost a no brainer with this and produce excellent cups. Dark roasts that are quite acceptable can be achieved but it takes a bit of experimenting with bean selection, time and preheat.
Try pulling the glass container 20 or so seconds into the cooling cycle and cool with a collander and fan (I use the exhaust from our range hood - cools the beans in less than two minutes) - I think the glass container and metal base retain too much heat and hence the roasting cycle isn't stopped as quickly as it should be. Overall though I am really pleased.
Buying Experience
Green Beanery is a pleasure to work with. Great selection of beans and terrific service. I read that Zach and Dani's are great for customer support, haven't needed to test them
