Hi All I am contemplating buying a coffee roaster. I welcome your recommendations. The selection of roasted decaf beans here in Canada is limited/poor, and quality is hit and miss, so roasting my own would improve my access to beans that I might like. I did (some years ago) have a Behmor and encountered numerous roasting success challenges, to the extent that I eventually sold the machine. My main challenge is that I am quite hard of hearing, such that I (with the Behmor) I couldn’t hear the first or 2nd crack, above the noise of the drum motor and fan, even with a microphone placed outside the unit (and an equalizer to filter out extraneous noise). I had few roasts that I could call tasty. My second challenge is our cold climate. The Behmor produced some extend of coffee roasting exhaust and associated smells. This was acceptable in the summer, as I roasted coffee outside, on the deck of my cottage. However my wife would not likely tolerate that odor indoors. Positioning the unit on our stove top, beneath our unvented kitchen stove fan, would not be a viable option with her. So this needs to be a basement located operation, with no migration of any odor into the house. So the machine needs to have some kind of air cleaner or alternatively an air exhaust that I can easily duct to the outside. My wife drinks Kurig coffee; so my Lelit, NZ and accessories are viewed as consuming kitchen counter space. I think that you may get my drift about this. Hopefully roasting technology has paralleled the “prosumer” trend in espresso machines, such that there are products available that meet the following needs: * machine detection of first and second crack * machine monitoring of temperature within the heart of the bean load (centre of the load/mass) * good rotation of beans * Bluetooth connection to a PC, that controls the entire roasting process using a temperature/time/airflow recipe that I input * automatic logging of roast data, downloadable to a spreadsheet * ability to upload roast profiles received from others * quiet * low or no odor * Reliable (solid build) * Readily available parts * Able to roast 1 kg (ie 2 pounds) * Compact * Max $1,000 Cdn, hopefully much less

> @"JHCCoffee"#p34422 Able to roast 1 kg (ie 2 pounds) > Compact > Max $1,000 Cdn, hopefully much less I daresay that even a machine that only answers your last three points doesn't exist.

I'm sure others will chime in, but as far as I'm aware the only fully automated smokeless home roaster is the Ikawa, capacity is only 100g though, and the cost is £1,270! The bigger the batch the more smoke you'll produce though, so given that concern multiple small batches might actually be better for you.

Unfortunately I think it will be hard to get all of those features, especially first crack detection on a machine under $1000. The market seems to be moving in that direction but at the moment a lot of the products are Kickstarters which are always a gamble. Machines like the kaffelogic nano 7 fit most of your requirements but don't have first crack detection and are right at the top of your budget. Machines like the ikawa are over your budget but are fully automated. So far one of the only machines that fulfills all of the features is the roest but it is way over your budget. You might want to keep your eye on the bunafr that is on Indiegogo currently Although I can't recommend backing a product that doesn't have any prototypes out in the wild. It feels like the products are a year or two away from being easily available to home users at reasonable costs

@"JHCCoffee"#p34422 - No offence, but you are searching for a unicorn. :-)

Such a roaster does not exist and I am not sure ever will.

I have an Ikawa and it suits my needs. But the fact that they increased the price for £999 to £1270 late last year, but then decreased the monthly editing Plus subscription cost from I think £29.99 to £4.99. @"JHCCoffee"#639 The only other smokeless home roaster is the Sandbox R1 or R2, but I think they would blow your budget.

I have been using a Kaffelogic Nano7 for a couple of years now. While it can not roast 1kg, it can roast back to back to back roasts of 100g and, with the new extender coming soon, should be able to do 200g batches. A fan vented from your basement to outdoors is all you would need to keep the house odour free. One caveat, it is very, very difficult to get a great result from/with decaffeinated beans. You just cant get the delicious flavours that you will get from single origin caffeinated beans. You can, however, mix your average decaff roast with a great SO roast and enjoy a great flavour with less buzz.

I have an Aillio Bullet 1kg capacity (which means 800g in reality) and while I can wholeheartedly recommend it, the price is too high. [URL=https://i.imgur.com/yMhluG8.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/yMhluG8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

@"tompoland"#p34442 That's some epic venting. Reminds me when I had a Gene Cafe.

> @"MediumRoastSteam"#p34428 No offence, but you are searching for a unicorn. :-) No offense taken. Not too long ago the NZ was a unicorn. As was what is now the Lelit E v3. *Let’s take price off the criteria list for the moment and see what ideas pop up. I’m also hearing that I’ll need to consider a smaller batch size.* This may end up being a two step process: 1) finding something now, possibly a used item to fit my budget, and then 2) buying one of the roasters that are under development now, once they’ve been released and matured. I am also betting that once the market becomes abit more saturated with these newer products, overall price levels will come down.

Contemplating Buying a Coffee Roaster … but

JonWoo187

JHCCoffee Of course many variables at play, but what I’ve read about the roaster in question is if you plan to go darker expect to cut the batch down to around 75 grams to offset that. Then of course factor in 16-18% loss due to moisture burning off, depending on development level obviously. Overpriced turds for those that want push button convenience, but to each their own.

MWJB

JonWoo187 What home roaster would you recommend for an apartment dweller, who can’t vent the smoke outside?

MediumRoastSteam

JHCCoffee Am I missing something here

Nope. It’s a sample roaster.

JonWoo187

MWJB Good question… if I was in that situation likely a GeneCafe and make a way to vent outdoors… either via an oven/range vent if it does vent outside and not simply recirculate OR use a piece of flex duct and push the exhaust out of a window. Where there’s a will there will always be a way. Regardless of what some roaster claims are with afterburners, etc. coffee will produce some smoke and of course messy chaff. I did apt living for yrs and roasted right on the 2nd floor balcony. Cleaned up any mess with a cordless blower and all was good.

Amberale

I have used a Kaffelogic Nano7 for the last couple of years.
I generally roast 4 × 100g batches on Saturday or Sunday morning while I do the cryptic crossword.
This takes a bit less than an hour and is then vac packed and rested for a week.
It gives me a bit over 300g of roasted beans and 16+ shots.

The new boost kit easily copes with 150g loads and is supposed to work with up to 200g.

I have only roasted inside once( in the laundry ) and it stank out the house.
There is no visible smoke but there is that distinctive coffee roasting stink and the Studmistress is not a coffee fan so I roast outside on the deck.
Plenty of Nano owners roast indoors under rangehoods but a lot also have weird/ugly venting contraptions.

The push button trud works brilliantly.

Ernie1

Useful thread! I’d have probably bought that Ikawa thinking I could just use it without venting! Glad I found out that’s not possible before buying.

I do agree it seems hugely overpriced. It’s just tough to find one that’s convenient for those of us without easy access to venting and also let’s be honest most home roasters look like someone’s reversed a narrow gauge steam engine into your house and connected a length of plastic tumble-dryer tubing.

I’m not averse to getting stuck in and would actually prefer one with more control than the Ikawa.

If only Probat or Diedrich made a countertop sample roaster…

That Roest one looks great but also pretty pricey. I’m guessing it’s aimed at commercial roasters doing samples than home roasters.

@Amberale i do like the look of that one. So you just run the power cable to your deck?
Roasting on the patio is definitely feasible for me so that would be a good solution.

MediumRoastSteam

Ernie1 - not sure how to get one from the UK. There’s RoastRebels in Germany as official distributors - even for the UK. 🤷‍♂️

Jericho Coffee Roasters in Oxford have it on their website but it’s out of stock.

Amberale

Ernie1

I have an outdoor power point on the back deck for an electric BBQ amongst other things.
I can keep a close eye on the roaster in case of fires.
That hasn’t happened to me but some owners have been less than ideal with their emptying of the chaff collector.

I like the new collector as I can watch the beans dance, :)

Doram

FWIW, I used a Gene Cafe for a few years in an apartment. Used to put it on the window sill. The neighbours one commented that I “seem to like toast”. There was some smell inside too, but nothing that I couldn’t live with. Of course this is personal.

I now do it on the garage doorstep, venting to the garden, and obviously that’s more convenient.

Beverast

MediumRoastSteam Yeah Roast Rebels appears to be the only way to buy it from the UK. I bought from Kaffelogic direct when I got mine over a year ago. Has gone up in price by a third (around £300) since I got mine, but looks like you get the newer chaff collector as a standard. I didn’t bother getting the newer chaff collector (there were some quality control issues on launch) as I have never had any problems with the original chaff collector.

Ernie1

Thanks guys. I think I’m gonna go for it.

Jericho is pretty close to me so I might see if they’re getting any soon, otherwise Roast Rebels will be the place!

MediumRoastSteam

Ernie1 Thanks guys. I think I’m gonna go for it.

Good video here of how it works.

dfk41

Like many, I dabbled years ago. I started off with something like this

It was sold by Pennine Tea & Coffee and cost £100 or so. Roasted hardly anything and stunk. It broke down 3 times. They changed it twice then told me to naff off….LOL So, not to be deterred I bought a Gene Cafe and after a good couple of years sold that realising that despite my best efforts I could buy better beans with less hassle. In those days there was very little choice really. @DavecUK did some mods to the Gene which involved fitting a 230 volt element then wiring in a dimmer switch to give you far better control. I often look and admire those who do home roasting but my wife would kill me if I got back into that. Anyway, it is now far too complicated with software and profiles and cost! Not to be a damp squib, but why pay £1300 for a roaster to produce 100 gms (yes, I understand it is a sample roaster). One of my friends offered me his Gene for nothing recently, and I thanked him and said no.

In the old days, when Coffeetime was in its Mark One version Bella Barista used to operate a greens coffee club. Dave suggested to them which beans to buy, BB bought them then Claudette spent days bagging them up into 1kg bags and you bulk bought I think, either 10 or 20 kg! Those were the days!

Rob1

JHCCoffee

JHCCoffee Thanks for the guidance.

So to roast 1 lb, it would take 50 minutes?

I consume about 1 lb per week and like to rest my beans at least 2 weeks, so am I right in saying it would require 100 minutes (almost 2 hours) to produce two 1 pound bags? That’s a lot of time. Am I missing something here?

I think I responded to the original post saying there was no way you’d get a machine with the features you want in the price range quoted. You’re looking at about £6000 for fully automated profiled roasters capable of producing a decent batch size.

I have a Dalian Amazon I’ve hooked up to a computer that can control the heating element. It’s possible to go one step further and control fan and drum speed with further modifications…..not that I’d really want to. With some work I’d be able to make the computer automatically make the adjustment to the heating element to maintain a profile, but I just use it for recording the roast and manually modulating the power to the element as I would if I were using a potentiometer. The total cost of the mod was just over £100 - those special SSRs are expensive.

The Dalian takes about 20 minutes to heat up and a further 20 minutes to roast, you have to stay with the machine as it cools down and make sure you perform maintenance - cleaning the chaff collector, cleaning under the cooling tray, applying lubricant to bearings eventually etc etc. You shouldn’t be leaving a roaster unattended at any point so whatever you do you’re going to be spending about an hour roasting + maintenance on top of that.

If you’re looking for air roasters like the Ikawa, Kaffelogic etc I don’t really see what makes them worth the price. There are plenty of air roasters out there to choose from. The selling point f the Kaffelogic is the profiles you can download but it’s not something I’d be interested in. Not really sure what the selling point of the Ikawa is, I think it’s that it’s portable and can be taken to farms….not something that home roasters are going to be doing. I’d say look on Alibaba and check for reviews for anything that you find interesting.

For example:

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/1kg-coffee-bean-roasting-machine-drum_1600379955291.html

InfamousTuba

Roasters like the kaffelogic and the ikawa pro (also the roest) are really meant to be used as sample roasters even if they are used in the home. The kaffelogic can roast up to 180g with the new expansion, the roest can do 200g but it is much more expensive.

These roasters are generally very well automated and repeatable, you can roast multiple samples back to back without having to have much direct input and they will be roasted very consistently. Maintenance is also minimal, cleaning is simple and results are very good. They are also generally very scalable to production roasters, which is a problem with home roasters.

It depends how much work you want to put in, the kaffelogic will require a lot less work than something like the Dalian. But the Dalian has a bigger batch size, a more hands on approach and doesn’t rely on much software.

Beverast

I have found one good thing roasting on something like the Kaffelogic (and definitely something to consider) is that you will have far less “waste” if something goes wrong, or if the roast does not go how you expect it to, especially if you are roasting something a bit more special, like a natural gesha or something that is a bit more expensive. I would rather waste 80grams (my go-to weight) than 600 grams or more of my special beans. The Kaffelogic suited my needs at the time - My budget at the time was under £1000, and the Kaffelogic was perfect at my price point. I cannot compare the Kaffelogic to the Ikawa as I don’t have an Ikawa, however for reliability and repeatability my Kaffelogic has been a workhorse and exceded my expectations. I do plan on selling it next week so keep that in mind if you are interested in getting a Kaffelogic.

Would I pay over £1000 now for something like the Kaffelogic or Ikawa? Definitely not. I would rather buy a roaster with a bit more capacity, like the Cormorant which I did end up purchasing. I know that I have had my issues with the Cormorant electric (infrared tube related), however there is no denying I have been very happy with the quality of the roasts, and the heating issues are somewhat resolved now.

Ernie1

How much are people paying for greens in the UK? For some reason I thought they were like £5-10 per kg but most places I’ve found online seem to be selling South American at £12-20+ and more for others.

That’s much closer to the cost of professionally roasted coffee than I imagined.

MediumRoastSteam

Ernie1 £5-10 per kg

You’ll need to buy a whole sack - like 60kg if not more - to be able to get anything decent at such prices.

Cuprajake

Yeah I got to the stage where buying was just better for me,

https://www.pennineteaandcoffee.co.uk/collections/green-coffee?sort_by=price-descending

Ernie1

Cuprajake

Yeah I’m questioning it now. I wasn’t expecting to save a lot of money but if it’s going to cost similar, and my roasts would inevitably not be brilliant for a while, may as well leave it to the pros and maybe set up one of those subscriptions for variety.

If I had a garage or outbuilding that I could set up an Ailliio Bullet or similar, and get really invested in it maybe start roasting larger quantities for friends etc, maybe one day. But yeah, I’d need to roast 500g a week and with the cost of greens and the learning curve I think I’ve talked myself out of it.

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