mikegm - never had one, so can’t say much. However, if I were you… I’d save your money. I myself found that roasting is an expensive wasteful hobby when one doesn’t have the right equipment. I tried a breadmaker with a heat gun, and a heat gun with an air blower controlled by Arduino. Yes, they both roasted coffee, but the results weren’t great. The Gene Cafe and the Behmor produced far better results than those methods, and, despite not being very good at roasting, I do roast my own coffee with the Behmor with acceptable and very drinkable results. I also had the opportunity to use the Sandbox smart R1 for a few weeks, and, to me, that roaster produced the best results - but it’s not cheap.
I also had he opportunity recently to what someone roasting with the Allio Bullet and it’s a far cry from the aforementioned toy roasters. However, the price is also considerably cheaper.
All in all… my all means give it a go at roasting at home, but don’t expect miracles with budget and cheap paraphernalia. The good thing about roasting on a pan, is that you can understand all the phases of coffee roasting and the processes and transformations and chemical reactions happening. It’s quite a complicated process, and minute differences in temperature application can make or break your roast.
Good luck!
