I have been home roasting for a while just because getting fresh roasted beans isn't always convenient and i would like to roast more. For now i have been using the popcorn popper method. it works, bit messy and stinky(have to do it indoors since im in an apt and don't have plug on my balcony, and extension cords dont seem to work well. I find the quantity of beans i get in one batch good for a while, im the only coffee drinker in my house so roasting big batches isn't necessary. I thought of doing the bread maker heat gun combo, but want more control over the heat and such. I looked into getting the FrenchRoast SR500. and the i-roast 2. I like the idea of having and saving profiles (although dont know how much i would use them) the SR500 seems like i can adjust things as i want when watching the roast. It just seems like a bit more work especially if you need to stir the beans at the begining when they are heavy (see sweet maria's review vid). Ive read pros and cons between the sr500 and i-roast...cant decide. Anything else in that price rage worth looking at?

Given the choices, I would say the iRoast is the obvious choice. If you have any sort of ventilation at all, I would consider the Behmor which makes very little smoke so long as you do not push past Second Crack. I use it indoors in the kitchen, for example.

I've used an IRoast for the last year and a half. In the winter when I have to roast inside I vent the smoke out the window using standard clothes dryer ducting. You still get some smell inside but not bad. Going only by the information on the SM site the Freshroast sounds like more trouble than it's worth. I don't see any advantage vs. the IRoast other than it's quieter which to me is not a big deal. I added a temp probe to the IRoast (the one sold by SM) to get a more accurate temperature reading but otherwise it's a stock and has been working great.

Hi Alex
I have two friends who were Townhome dwellers and had to roast indoors.

Both (independent of each other and against my suggestions) bought Nesco (then Zach & Dani) roasters, and both fell in love with them and literally wore them out roasting at home. They will easily do 4 oz at a time, are not noisy and produced little if any smoke.

I was amazed when over at their houses how easy they were and how little smoke, residual odor and mess they made. The wives were not coffee drinkers, and were happy their hubbies had discovered something so house-friendly.

+1

One of the all time greatest coffee's ever tasted was done by a pal using Z&D, now Nesco. Very consistent roasts, quiet, usable indoors but some roastaroma.

Use an FR original for sample roaster. Modified to control heat w constant fan speed. Simple and reliable. Very consistent roasts, but needs venting.

Had 2 iRoars. Operative word : had. Too noisy and inconsistent [ for yhs ]

I got a refurbished Behmor for ~$200, and am extremely satisfied. It's consistent and very easy to use, though you give up some control in exchange for ease-of-use (which doesn't bother me, as the results are good and I doubt I'd be able to get that last few percent out of the beans regardless of how much control I was given).

When I lived in an apartment, I was able to get away with roasting a full pound to FC+ near a window with a fan directing the smoke out the window, but it did impart that distinct coffee-roasting aroma to the room for the rest of the day. Roasting half a pound would produce a lot less smoke (and smell?), and some of the ventilation mods people have come up with seem much more effective than a fan.

These days my wife doesn't want me roasting in the house, and I've had good success roasting in the garage (my current preference, as I can just leave everything set up) or on the deck with a heavy-gauge extension cord. With the extension cord, I have to drop back to 14oz for a few coffees if I want to get into 2nd crack, but other than that it still works great for me.