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applescrap said:
Thanks for the tips and for asking. I am using whirly pop on new ge stove. With 1# I usually hit 1c at 730 or 8 and finish between 9 and 10 minutes. With this coffee the roast variation was wild so I tried to start at hi then switch to medium. Its the biggest most powerful burner on medium. This roast was over 1.5 pounds of coffee. My only other experience doing that showed that it took longer to roast more coffee. In fact based on my experience,. I would be extremely impressed to see one and a half to two pounds of coffee roasted in 11 minutes. It makes me wonder what the adjustment is for a larger roast batch. Maybe with the methods I'm using the only way I can keep it under 11 minutes is to roast a pound at a time? Anyways switched to medium heat at 9 minutes, then at 13 or so dumped it early and put it back in to finish. Appreciate all the help. With the whirly pop seems have to choose more variation and quicker roast vs more muted flavors but less variation?
Click to expand...

This helps put things in context. Your WP roaster is basically all direct heat so w/o having any experience using one, my gut says to tread lightly; ESPECIALLY with DP beans. Although longer roast times might not be traditional, it might be your best bet considering your roasting system. My basis behind that would be to more gently apply the heat to a more delicate bean.

We need to get you an adjustable heat gun & yard sale bread machine. You could keep your capacity & greatly increase your control over the roast.
 
Jammin thats good tips again, thanks. Yep, direct heat. The problem i have had with slowing down is standing there 18 minutes twirlling the knob. They have bread machines at goodwill all the time, any thoughts on harbour freight heat gun. From video online looks like you can roast 2 pounds?
 
Anyone else roast the Ethiopian Fare Sala yet? I finally got around to roasting 1 batch tonight. 1C was very difficult to hear. Curious if anyone has feedback on a roast level they preferred. I kept this batch on the light side as usual. Brewing it starting tmrw.

applescrap said:
Jammin thats good tips again, thanks. Yep, direct heat. The problem i have had with slowing down is standing there 18 minutes twirlling the knob. They have bread machines at goodwill all the time, any thoughts on harbour freight heat gun. From video online looks like you can roast 2 pounds?
Click to expand...


2lbs in my experience would be a heavy load. I think 12oz batches were the sweet spot on my last kit.

I need to do some homework for you but you ideally want to find either AC or DC driven stir motor. I can't remember which is the one you want so Ill get back to you once i get to the bottom of it. The important part is being able to direct wire the motor for stirring.

When building your BM/HG roaster I would advise to look for a BM that has viewing window that is top mount and parallel to the ground. The goal is to remove all the extraneous BS from the top of the roaster and use the viewing window to mount your HG for hand free roasting.

The basics of the BM build will be stripping the computer & disconnecting the heating element. My old rig was direct wired to the motor & as soon as I plugged it in the motor would start stirring.

Im sure a Harbor Freight HG would be fine just make sure the heat is adjustable. My old HG was a porter cable model i think and it had an adjustment wheel for heat. I feel this is a very important feature to have & will make your roaster a VERY agile machine.

Im really hoping you go through with the build as I know you will love the results. The HG/BM is a seriously awesome kit.
 
Thanks jammin for all the help, Im all in full monty (no pic, sorry :) ). Pretty much following your advice to a t. I think I can direct wire, err I mean passedPawn can tell me what to do! Plug in and it goes round and round = me not turning s..t. variable heat gun top mounted.

What about the built-in element?
 
^the built in element is counterproductive as it is all dir ft heat. The heat gun is mostly convective which is awesome. If you're hell bent on capacity keep it as I've heard legends of 2lb roasts going that route!

Im gonna be a little lazy here and spam you with a couple inspirational links -


Wiring the bread machine - hopefully the info I promised you:
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=528


Sub-forum dedicated to HG/BM. Similar to a sub forum here like Electirc Brewing etc...
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewforum.php?forum_id=140

My old build:
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=2274


And the legend of the 2.5lb HG/BM roast!
http://forum.homeroasters.org/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=817&pid=7780
 
jammin said:
Anyone else roast the Ethiopian Fare Sala yet? I finally got around to roasting 1 batch tonight. 1C was very difficult to hear. Curious if anyone has feedback on a roast level they preferred. I kept this batch on the light side as usual. Brewing it starting tmrw.
Click to expand...

I'll be interested to hear about your results. I almost reached for that coffee a little bit ago, but I'm roasting a different Ethopian right now. Hoping to not miss much of the game, but I'm all out of roasted coffee, something's gotta give!
 
I did the Fara Sala and had a nice long 1c. Dropped it about 15 secs after 1c ended.

Flavors just weren't really what I expected, even with 3-7 days of rest. It was a soft flavor, with the slightest hint of a berry.

The potential is there, I just have to find out how to get it out. I had used my typical Ethiopian roast profile which always does me right, but this time just didn't work.
 
^after getting through a mug of the FS I can see what you mean about subdued flavors. It's a really nice coffee though. Next roast I'm gonna push a bit faster & dump a hair lighter. The acidity is very low so need to try & tame it. I think the coffee is fairly dry too so am extended roast doesn't do it any favors.
 
Yeah, I'm going to go for a quicker roast on this one too, and see what happens.

I roasted up about 2 lbs of Tanzania earlier in the week to take to work and share, as I'm getting a lot of questions in the lunchroom as to what the heck I'm doing with a kettle and a cone (V60). And then I ended up not going into the office for the rest of the week, so now I'm stuck with 2 lbs of coffee between the wife and me. Going to be a very energetic week, indeed!
 
I bought bodhis sale nicaragua this week. Every coffee I have ordered from them has been outstanding. Plus I like the sales they do. Makes picking coffee easy. Whatever's on sale when I need it, I get. The fara is my first order from Sweet Maria's.
 
^keep us posted on the FS. Seems like a lot of us got in on it so it would be cool to hear a lot of experiences/results

*weird to have opened my old HG/BM thread from 2011 & see myself raving about the Gedeo Worka that I just ordered again recently. I've had that coffee from multiple retailers & had it pro roasted from Klatch. One of the top 3 Ethiopians I've ever had & easily the fruitiest. Can't wait to see how this years crop is.
I'm gonna roast some very soon & if it's as good as years past you guys seriously need to get some.
 
jammin said:
^keep us posted on the FS. Seems like a lot of us got in on it so it would be cool to hear a lot of experiences/results

*weird to have opened my old HG/BM thread from 2011 & see myself raving about the Gedeo Worka that I just ordered again recently. I've had that coffee from multiple retailers & had it pro roasted from Klatch. One of the top 3 Ethiopians I've ever had & easily the fruitiest. Can't wait to see how this years crop is.
I'm gonna roast some very soon & if it's as good as years past you guys seriously need to get some.
Click to expand...

I'm going to do a side-by-side this weekend using a pour-over. All 5 of my batches at the same time. I'll post the results. I'll do my best, but I don't have an educated tongue for coffee (I know when I like it, but not sure how to describe why).
 
applescrap said:
I bought bodhis sale nicaragua this week. Every coffee I have ordered from them has been outstanding. Plus I like the sales they do. Makes picking coffee easy. Whatever's on sale when I need it, I get. The fara is my first order from Sweet Maria's.
Click to expand...

They have even cheaper prices on ebay with free shipping. I got 5 lb of Sumatran for something like $15.
 
passedpawn said:
I'm going to do a side-by-side this weekend using a pour-over. All 5 of my batches at the same time. I'll post the results. I'll do my best, but I don't have an educated tongue for coffee (I know when I like it, but not sure how to describe why).
Click to expand...

I applaud the heck out of that. I bet you'll be surprised how different each batch is. If you're like me, it will leave you wondering what you missed on even your best batches when you're drinking them. Such a great way to learn!
 
I picked up some ECY dry process Janbar, and another Dry shakiso kayon.
Roasted them tonight and I blasted through 1C too fast on the S.K. roast, no matter what I tried it just didn't want to slow down. Dumped 10:05 into roast fearing I'd soon be upon 2C.
The Janbar also seemed to want to race through 1C but not as bad, and this was the first roast of the two.
Anybody else have success with either of these? Both smelled great and look forward to try them tomorrow.

TD
 
applescrap said:
I bought bodhis sale nicaragua this week. Every coffee I have ordered from them has been outstanding. Plus I like the sales they do. Makes picking coffee easy. Whatever's on sale when I need it, I get. The fara is my first order from Sweet Maria's.
Click to expand...

I'm a sucker for the the sale stuff too, it's not always exactly what I want but it's usually something I haven't tried, at a price I can't argue with.

I'm thinking about ordering some Peru FTO San Ignacio Cajamarca - APESI from Burman on Friday. $3.99/lb. It's going to be either that or, an Indian Robusto, or a Peru San Ignacio which is also the same price. I usually order 5-10 lbs at a time.
 
I like the bodhi sales for when I'm brewing for family and going through a lot, especially in a drip machine. The shipping is a little high/lb but you can't beat $3.50ish for the price.
 
passedpawn said:
I'm going to do a side-by-side this weekend using a pour-over. All 5 of my batches at the same time. I'll post the results. I'll do my best, but I don't have an educated tongue for coffee (I know when I like it, but not sure how to describe why).
Click to expand...

Im excited for the results to. It would be interesting if someone triangle tested you with them a bunch of times also. Cool experiment
 
So lucky me they had 3 bread machines at Goodwill. The sunbeam was out, leaving this one I got, and a wellbilt. I remember seeing the Wb for some reason, But ultimately decided on this one because it had the viewing window. So I need to crack it open and wire it and also how do I get that glass out should I just break it out.
 
Okay got it apart, only cut power to board so far. There are these 3 wires coming off motor. Hoping one of you brilliant gents will help as I dont know jack chit :)
 
Is it a 120v a/c motor? You should be able to direct wire it if so

That BM looks PERFECT!

The plastic shell on the lid should be removeable along with the viewing window.


I drilled a hole right through the side of the body into the bread pan. Made the hole just big enough for a 1/8" thermocouple probe. That could allow you to monitor bean temp which is a HUGE step forward in roast control
 
I have no idea about motors. Has black start capacitor. I am no good with motors. It's so cool really I found a picture that you posted on a different forum! Thanks for the help. Took yellow to one side of plug and blue to the other. It spins, but is that right. Clockwise. Belt drive on the bottom. It seems the beans would go up and over the stir fin as opposed to the fin pushing them. The plastic seems casted to the metal underneath on the lid. Anyways thanks again for all your help

View attachment 1478292227194.jpg
 
So you think the motor is spinning the wrong way? Should just be able to flip the polarity.

So it should be spinning pretty fast when you plug it in now right?

Man it sounds like you're close to getting in your first roast - can't wait to hear how it goes!
 
Yep spins fast....clockwise which is up and over paddle. Figured I'm not going to worry about it until I see it working. I'm a little worried about the Teflon, but I'm on my way to Harbor Freight for a $15 dual temp heat gun. So excited
 
a simple bbq thermometer would work great - maybe something like this? im sure you already have something around the house you can measure temp with. i need to do my homework with Artisan to see what all it supports. Artisan was tough for me to get used to initially but i can't roast without it anymore. worth factoring into your search as you build the kit out
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GZXKM5I/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

you will need to remove the thermometer @ the end of each roast in order to pull the bread pan out.


did you get an adjustable heat gun yet? the adjustable part is very important
 
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Well I'm on my way to Harbor Freight for a dual temp, high low. It might not be ideal but for $15 im willing to give it a try as I want to roast today
 
i like this guys setup except for the thermocouple positioning. If he ran it through the side he could monitor the temp of the bean mass. If you get a datalogger & second thermocouple you could monitor environmental temp which is extremely useful for creating a gentle stretch when finishing the roast. Im basically salivating @ the idea of getting a 1/16" the reacts instantly due to it's small thermal mass. You could mount it such that it is directly positioned front of the HG to give you real time feedback on how hot your roasting air is. I kid you not, with this you would have insanely precise control of the roast - like pro level, gas fired drum roaster agility - only better.
[youtube]o7WjbvNoKCc[/youtube]



this is the original thermometer I used with my HG/BM.
https://www.sweetmarias.com/product/digital-thermometer-with-thermocouple
therm1_746xauto-jpg-keep-ratio.jpeg



a "hand held" style TC is what i replaced the stock bare probe (which works but it's not pretty).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GN7VV8O/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
31cYeqHk0NL.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Still kind of in build mode. Cant wait to check out what yoy sent me. Arghhh I cant use that f...in hg. It has that cheap toxic smell to it. I don't want to stick it near the coffee
 
Here's my motorized whirly pop build a la @zippybasher. I used a 12v battery trickle charger to power the motor. Worked great on a 1lb roast. About 9 minutes to 1c. Full city I think, would have liked to pull it sooner but I'm just getting the hang of this. I've got another 6lbs of a Costa Rican sampler to practice on.
 
Haha, love it. I was dreaming that I was on a cloud of coffee being floated around.

I'm not pming this in case anybody else needs the info. How close do you think I should put the heat tip to the coffee. The cheap heat gun has a pretty strong blow on it too.
 
Ethiopian Fara Sala throwdown. Let the games begin. I roasted these 5 1# batches at different times and temps. I attempted to get them all to the same roast level (limit variables to just time/temp), but some were still darker. So I have arranged my tasting flight in order of roast level, light to dark. More later.

_mg_1728-67725.jpg


_mg_1732-67726.jpg
 

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