Hello everyone, I am just wondering what is the best roaster for me. I never roasted before so I am a bit clueless on how it works. I only need it for espresso so I am thinking dark beans on the second crack would do. Anyway, I found a few roasters that can be used indoors but not sure if they are truly smoke free for roaster and I am hoping to discover new roaster. My findings were either the Behmor 1600 or I-Coffee roaster.

I-Coffee: http://sorrentinacoffee.myshopify.com/p...an-roaster

I would appreciate your recommendations. Thanks

"This removes virtually all smoke during the roasting cycle. "
Roasting coffee creates smoke. Roasting to the level which you desire, I hazard to state that all roasters will create smoke regardless of the claims. using a range hood that vents to the outdoors or a box fan in a window works quite well, but without some ventilation system the aroma (or odor depending on your point of view) will fill the home.

There are no 100% smoke free roasters. Indoors or out... the smoke has to go somewhere. Some commercial roasters in urban environments are now using ESP (electrostatic precipitators) to treat the smoke such that the output has greatly reduced particulate, less odor and is at a cooler temp - but it's still smoke and still has to go somewhere.

The Nesco roaster has a catalytic converter that does eliminate the smoke. But the coffee it roasts is almost undrinkably flat, even if you reduce the load. You better off getting a good roaster and using a dryer vent and an exhaust or cooling fan to rig something that will exhaust the smoke.

Phaelon56 wrote:There are no 100% smoke free roasters.

That's not the case. For light commercial use (< 300 lbs/day), the FreshRoastSystems roaster is 100% smoke free. All it emits is warm/hot air around 120 F from the top. No smoke, no particulates, nada.

I've been using one since late 2007. It sits right below the smoke detector in our shop.

There are others that are very close, but this is the only roaster I know that needs no venting of any kind.

Do you know where I could buy one for UK? How much will it cost? And is there a video where I could see the roaster perform?

For light commercial use...

Are there any home roasters that can do a decent job without a lot of smoke? I live in a small condo, and I've been using a popcorn popper on my balcony, but it does produce a good amount of smoke after second crack starts. When it gets colder out I would love to be able to continue roasting indoors, but I don't want to set off my smoke (and carbon monoxide) detectors or those of my neighbors. I wonder if one of the small home roasters like iRoast2 would be ok if operated next to an open window, maybe with a small fan blowing toward the window? Is the Nesco roaster really that bad?

For a small home roasting appliance, for as little money as possible, with decent smoke control, the GeneCafe is the best bet. It has an easy to direct smoke outlet. The iRoast2 does roast a decent coffee, but it has a lower capacity and won't last as long. It would also take more of a Rube-Goldbergish set up to roast indoors to clear the smoke.

A 250g load in my hot top will fill a two car garage with smoke. Carbon filters will cut it down but roasting coffee makes smoke. It is just the nature of the process.

cannonfodder wrote:A 250g load in my hot top will fill a two car garage with smoke. Carbon filters will cut it down but roasting coffee makes smoke. It is just the nature of the process.

To to keep some optimism in the discussion :

I have a Hottop, roast to FC+ (beginning of second crack), with the roaster on the range, right under the range hood (pushing air outside of course). The Hottop doesn't have an afterburner.

By keeping the hood running at all time (low speed at beginning, medium speed during roast and high speed at the end of roast/while ejecting), smoke is absolutely not an issue for me. One can certainly tell that roasting is going on, but nothing to cause any kind of issue (ionising smoke detector never goes off, we have no lung/throat/eyes irritation and the house doesn't smell for days).

If you like darker roasts (French/Italian), you would get more smoke but I still don't see this as an issue if you have a good range hood / evacuation fan solution.