Ken Fox wrote:On to the Diedrich. As many know, Diedrich is a large roaster manufacturer now located in Northern Idaho, although previously in Southern California. There are historical relationships with the company that spun off Gloria Jeans and other cafe franchises, but the current corporate structure is now limited to coffee equipment manufacturing.
Not true. Martin Diedrich is the one who had the coffee shops, etc. Stephan Diedrich has always been in the roaster business.
They have come up with a "cute" 1lb, electrically operated coffee roaster that they are targeting at the home market:
http://www.diedrichroasters.com/homeroast.htmlThis is essentially a scale model of a big commercial drum roaster, made with exacting detail, in much the same way that detailed scale models are made of locomotives and other things that collectors collect.
Really bad analogy. A model train is a miniature of a real train, made for the express purpose of entertainment. While the Diedrich is a small roaster, it produces the exact same thing that a large roaster does - roasted coffee. So, much like a real train, it delivers the goods.
On close visual inspection this is what it purports to be, a very small, scaled down, version of a big drum roaster. I spent about half an hour at the Diedrich booth and came away impressed with the detail, but unimpressed with the practicality and price of this product. I should add that they have a 2lb version of this roaster in development, that will also be electrically operated, but which is not yet even in the prototype phase. Presumably it will be even more expensive.
Your point is? You can't afford it?
As pictured, at least if you could keep it clean, and could tolerate the smoke from the bean dumps at the end of roasting, it would fit into a modern kitchen. It draws a lot of amps and would probably need its own electrical circuit.
Lots of speculation - no experience. The roaster draws 8 Amps on low, 10 Amps on medium, and 12.8 Amps on high. As for smoke, there is none during roasting and very little when you dump the beans. We have a smoke alarm in the kitchen, it's never gone off even after multiple batches.
So what are the practical things I take issue with? For one thing, the price is simply way above what most dedicated home roasters would pay; around $5000 plus crating and shipping if you want such "optional" things as a cooling tray.
So basically, your just pissed that you don't have the income to afford it - sounds like a personal problem. My advice - make more money.
In my conversations with their representative I had the impression that the cooling tray is not very efficient and that it takes 5 minutes to cool off the beans; with my own roaster this takes under 2 minutes. The design of the cooling tray, without stirring vanes has its limitations. My own roaster's cooling tray lacks stirring vanes also but it has a VERY powerful dedicated fan and the air movement more than compensates.
It takes about 3 minutes to cool the roast. You stir it with a wooden spoon. Whew! That's a lot of work! The fan system works quite well to pull the air through the roast. Your "impression" is exactly that - just YOUR impression.
Controllability of the roaster's temperatures is via a 3-position electrical element switch and venting/dampers, of which there are two. Although this is more or less the same design (at least as regards airflow) of a bigger commercial drum roaster, one has to question the utility in such a small roaster.
Why? It works exactly the same way a larger roaster does. You go to 50:50 air at about 8 minutes and full roasting drum air at about 12 minutes. The fact you don't understand HOW to use it doesn't decrease the utility for someone who does.
There will obviously be a significant learning curve in order to use this roaster well; don't worry, for hundreds of dollars you can take a course at Diedrich, but would have to budget your airfare and other expenses on top of the $5K for the roaster!
Believe it or not - professional roasting equipment has a significant learning curve - even the "automated" models. If you can't handle the learning curve, then stick with your roaster. But, it does give a lot of control over the roast process if you choose to learn how to use it.
My opinion is that they should have greatly simplified the roaster design to reduce the learning curve, increase usability, and reduce the cost. They could have kept the overall "Lionel Train" type miniaturization, but simplified, if the intention was to put it into high end kitchens. OR, they could have offered a simplified version. I for one do not think that this sophisticated airflow design is necessary in a 1lb roaster, and they could have compensated by increasing the adjustibility of the heating element, making the 3-position switch into one that was infinitely adjustable.
Exactly HOW, would they simplify it? Again, the fact that you don't know how to use it, doesn't make it difficult. There is a point in the roast when you go from full by pass air to 50:50, and then another point when you go to full roasting drum air. This is exactly what you do with a larger roaster. I for one, think you're really trying to make a mole hill into a mountain.
At this price this roaster simply makes no sense other than for the odd high end homeowner who wants a cute toy-like coffee roaster in their kitchen, next to the Viking or Wolf Range, and the Subzero. I am assuming in this post that the roaster works well and produces tasty coffee, which could also be an issue I have not addressed. For the more serious home coffee roaster who wants something more substantial than a Hottop, and who does not want to use a BBQ drum, there are few rational choices. Before buying this Diedrich, however, I'd suggest buying a larger shop roaster, one of the many models that roast between a kg and 6lbs. Most of these can be used with smaller bean loads, and if you ever get tired of them, could be resold for a large percentage of what you paid for them. Prices for this sort of small shop roaster appear to be in the $6K-$8K range, not a whole lot more when you factor in the utility. This Diedrich roaster is not going to be easily resellable, in my opinion, and I doubt that very many real roasting operations would consider this a cost effective or useful sample roaster to put into their shop.
Except, you need: space for the roaster, dedicated gas service to the roaster location, and venting that will meets the requirements of the roaster installed by a professional. The Diedrich sits on the counter and is vented outdoors quite easily. In fact, a friend has his vented through his stove top vent hood through an adapter that fits in place of the vent hood filter screen.
As for how many they make - they've been selling 2-4 per month - you do the math. You have to understand that Stephan Diedrich did not do this roaster. He was away from the business being treated for a health problem, and the staff took it upon themselves to make the home roaster. He was not enthusiastic about the product, as he felt it would take away production staff from the larger roaster manufacturing. What's happened is that they've had to add employees to the company to address the demand for the product.
All of your speculation is exactly that - pure speculation, no information, and no real facts. What's the point?
, but I'm surprised that it's taken so long for the Behmor roaster to get mentioned on H-B. There are already over 200 posts on a 
Or could get fancy and use electronic programable control. Hell a PID can do that or could be more sophisticated.
, OK, the Turkish roaster, I'm a bit embarrased to say that I had a literature pak from Toper and their rep, Delaware City Coffee Company. It was here in my office. After going to their website and looking through the literature, I'll venture that they've got a good track record. And from what you've added Dave, I'll also venture that they're built like a brick house. And for that reason alone, I don't think that machine, or any roaster, will ever find its way into our home!
