My beloved Huky is showing its age (14 years old). Both probes, the K type yoke and the analog gauge failing to register, I’m now"flying blind". And, sounding like the advance of Cetewayo’s warriors in “Zulu”, there’s an ominous rumbling from the bearings. Retirement beckons, methinks..
Question is, what do I buy next? I’m tempted to the Aillo Bullet, despite the massive price tag. But will the state-of-the-art complexity bring problems down the line? What’s reliability of the induction system like?
The Cormorant appeals, in that it’s only a slightly tricked up counterpart of my current roaster and there wouldn’t be much of a learning curve. I favour the electric version but from reading threads on this forum it sounds like it is a tad under-engineered, with flaky IR tubes.
Or perhaps there is a machine out there that I have missed? Apart from reliability and consistent roasting performance, my wants are few. Software link up capability, obviously. 500 G charge capacity. And I do like to have a few buttons to push and knobs to tweak, I like techie stuff.
Informed opinion welcome and thanks, in advance, for all help received.

    Why not another Huky? I’ve been running mine for six or seven years now and would probably buy another one if it died.

      thusband
      Good question. In fact it would probably make the most sense to say “same again”. But I self-learned long ago that a fascination with technology and a fondness for acquiring new gear is an indelible part of my persona. Cameras, guitars, coffee equipment, same difference. I might be a saner (and richer)man if I’d stuck with my Zenith 3M, Yamaha FG30 and Gaggia Classic but, hey, I’ve had fun.

          ValentinoAzzurro I know the feeling. I almost bought a Cormorant a few years ago but went for a Lelit Bianca instead.

            HarveyMushman
            Drool,drool….

            But at a likely price somewhere topside of €6,000 the Arc 800 would be way beyond my budget. Even were it not there is still the small matter of shoehorning it into my second kitchen that already contains (besides the Huky which is considerably smaller) a freezer, a sous vide tank, a mincer, a sausage stuffer, an ice cream machine and a pasta maker. All of which, with deep regrets, puts the Arc out of court.

            Thanks for the “heads up” anyway.

              DavecUK
              Thanks for that Dave. I am actually leaning quite hard in the direction of the Bullet - I think if the price was around €2800 I’d probably have bought one by now. The induction system certainly seems more durable than infrared tubes and the like.
              The Roest looks interesting but, like the Arc, is way above my budget.

              I know nothing about the Kaleido, so I’ll do some homework. Have you had any truck with them? There is something intriguing about a machine that looks as though it’s walked straight out of a 1970s sci-fi movie!

                  On the Bullet, I’ve been tempted too but I remember @tompoland saying it was overpriced, he might be able to offer further comment on why.

                  La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

                  Ikawa Roaster

                    ValentinoAzzurro I know nothing about the Kaleido, so I’ll do some homework. Have you had any truck with them? There is something intriguing about a machine that looks as though it’s walked straight out of a 1970s sci-fi movie!

                    I have not ever tried one, but every european (Italian) coffee exhibition I go to…they are there.

                    Contact me

                      HarveyMushman ooh not sure I would have said that Harvey. Perhaps something like “there are less expensive options” or “dang, it hurt to pay that much!”.

                      I’ve had mine coming up three years and it did NOT work out of the box due to a faulty bean probe but that was diagnosed by the retailer quick smart and replacement was fast and easy.

                      Its really been great and I love the 1kg capacity (which in reall terms means 800g).

                      But yes, there are less expensive ways to get into roasting I’m sure.

                      However if you have the budget and are roasting around 800g per week, by my calculations the bullet paid for itself in around 18 months (versus buying roasted beans) and it’s the one machine in my coffee suite that genuinely saves money.

                          tompoland HarveyMushman ooh not sure I would have said that Harvey. Perhaps something like “there are less expensive options” or “dang, it hurt to pay that much!”.

                          I had to find it to confirm I wasn’t going mad!

                          I wasn’t sure if you meant it was overpriced or just quite pricey.

                          I’d love one for the exact reasons you mentioned. I’ve also noticed that roasting enough, especially compared to buying decent SO coffees, it eventually works out costing less.

                          Sorry to hijack the topic but @tompoland do you manage keep the smoke outdoors via that venting method? The reason I haven’t bitten the Bullet (ahem) is that I don’t really have a means of fixed ventilation and would have to rig up something like yours.

                          La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

                          Ikawa Roaster

                              tompoland However if you have the budget and are roasting around 800g per week, by my calculations the bullet paid for itself in around 18 months (versus buying roasted beans) and it’s the one machine in my coffee suite that genuinely saves money.

                              That’s impressive. Paid for itself in 18 months. I had to go and do the maths :-)

                              18 months = 78 weeks.
                              Total consumption for 800g per week over 18 months: 62.4kg of roasted coffee.

                              Let’s get some good coffee in the UK, roasted, by roasters that we usually buy here: £30 per kilo, roasted.
                              Let’s say that coffee costs, when bought in bulk, is £8/kg.

                              You also said that 1kg of green coffee in reality yields approx. 800g. Therefore I would need to buy 78kg of green coffee to yield 62.4kg of roasted coffee.

                              So:
                              62.4kg of roasted coffee, at £30/kg: £1,872 over 18 months if bought from a roaster.
                              78kg of greens, at £8/kg: £624 over 18 months for green coffee. The difference is £1,248. £69.33 per month.

                              The cost of the Bullet in the UK is approx. £3,300 after a quick google search. This would mean it would take approx. 47 months for the roaster to pay for itself. That’s just under 4 years. That is, of course, excluding electricity, trial and testing and roasts which just went wrong.

                              With my usage It would take me over a decade for a roaster like that to pay for itself.

                              May I ask you to show your maths and rationale, please? I’m curious. :-)

                                  tompoland
                                  Thanks for that, Tom. Nice to read your positive comments.
                                  Things are becoming a bit clearer now.
                                  I’ve read a lot on the Meccano… sorry, the Kaleido and I don’t really fancy it. Think I might pass up on the Cormorant,too.
                                  So,I might just bite the bullet and buy The Bullet.
                                  But, before I do,I might take a look at the Ikawa Home, which gets a good rap from many sources.
                                  Plus Points: It can do back to back roasts. It’s tweakable, gives me something to mess with.The small charge would allow me to sample different origins in a short space of time. It’s around €1250, compared to the Bullet’s €3600.
                                  Minus Points: You’d have to do back to back roasts. The small maximum charge (100g) means I would have to roast 5 to 6 Times a week to guarantee continuity of supply.** Also, the technology is a bit of a mystery to me - and I ready for a new learning curve?
                                  HarveyMushman?

                                  ** suppose I could use the time practising guitar or improving my chess😎

                                      MediumRoastSteam I’m happy to go with your maths rather than my memory (which is what I was going on, never a good idea so thanks for fact checking).

                                      Recalculation in AUD (pay off period remaims in the more common currency of time)

                                      Previous rossted beans for 800g was $40 (prorated from $50 per kilo)

                                      Green beans $17 per kilo yielding 800g.

                                      Bullet $5,000

                                      1x roast per week saving 40 - 17 = 33 per week or 1,716 per annum.

                                      5,000 / 33 = 3 years pay off. Not the 18 months that I remembered but still not too shabby.

                                      No allowance for power, run off solar.

                                      To be fair, I’ve used about 1 in 50 roasts for burr seasoning so there should be a small allowance made for waste, especially firing the early part of the learning curve. Another fact that diminishes my ROI is the temptation to occasionally buy beans at $30 a kilo.

                                      @MediumRoastSteam I appreciate you catching my mistake. You could keep yourself gainfully employed as a fact checker.

                                          HarveyMushman

                                          Ah the plot thickens.

                                          Great detective work, you and @MediumRoastSteam are keeping me on my toes.

                                          That post was in response to @JHCCoffee asking for advice on buying a roaster with the context of “Max $1,000 Cdn, hopefully much less”.

                                          Hence: “while I can wholeheartedly recommend it, the price is too high”.

                                          What a difference conext makes!

                                            ValentinoAzzurro small maximum charge (100g)

                                            That would drive me nuts 🙃

                                            I think it makes more sense as a small batch sample roaster. Heck, I can easily destroy 60 - 80g dialling in a new bean!

                                              HarveyMushman you manage keep the smoke outdoors via that venting method?

                                              Yes it works surprisingly well.

                                              And I have a wife who, whilst extraordinarily tolerant of the buying and selling of grinders, is at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to odours.

                                              I roast in a room that was designed to be a home office space, so inside the house. I just shut the door while roasting and whilstnthere is so e rssidual odour itndossnt linger long.

                                              The extraction fan is a cheapie off ebay.

                                              The aluminium ducting is from an electrical supplies wholesaler (although the local giant hardware store had them too).

                                              The O ring clamps are from the aforementioned hardware store.

                                              The desktop arm holding up the “chimney” was an unused microphone stand.

                                              The chimney itself was a old Tupperware container that my wife is probably still looking for (better to ask for forgiveness than permission).

                                              And the only other ingredient is copious quantities of duct tape.

                                                tompoland 1x roast per week saving 40 - 17 = 33 per week or 1,716 per annum.

                                                5,000 / 33 = 3 years pay off. Not the 18 months that I remembered but still not too shabby.

                                                Caught another mistake. 40 - 17 = 23, not 33. Therefore 1,196 per annum. 5,000 / 33 = 217 weeks or approx. 4 years. 😉

                                                Regardless, in the grand scheme of things, not too bad. 👍

                                                  @MediumRoastSteam

                                                  The maths for me are swayed by favouring apparently expensive roasters. Ozone, Newground, AllPress etc, their SO’s are £40-45 a kilo. We get through 2kg a month.

                                                  I just had a look and I can buy greens from the exact same region as one of the coffees currently on offer above for £7 a kilo. I’m seeing approx 11% loss on roasting although that might be due to smaller batches and lighter roasts than Tom.

                                                  There’s definitely savings to be made in the longer term.

                                                  @tompoland that’s great, thanks! Glad to hear it works well, I’m certainly keen to get a bigger capacity roaster to pair with the Ikawa and the Bullet ticks the boxes.

                                                  La Marzocco Linea Mini - Mazzer Philos

                                                  Ikawa Roaster