I need a new roaster!

[Brad]

I have been home roasting for about 1 year using an alpenrost I found at a house sale. The alpenrost is beginning to act up and needs to be replaced. Has anyone tried the "javapro-crc 2 lb." ? Are there any reviews. What are your thoughts? Or should I just get a Behmor or a HotTop. Thanks.

[Randy G.]

I would very much like to see more technical information and some actual roasting data to document what the roaster is actually capable of doing in regards to control. As an example, take a look at the graph at the bottom of this page:
http://www.coffeeroastersclub.com...sts_5_lbs_warranty
What does it actually show? I have to assume that this was done with no beans in the roaster. it says that the roaster stabilized at 525 F in about 15 minutes with the exhaust on, and that it will reach 600 F with the exhaust off. Below the graph it states: "above study done with both primary and secondary (RoastBLAST) heating elements on.)"
I HAVE to assume that this is an empty drum because before the roaster reaches 500 degrees it would be on fire. And 600 F? What is the point of that?
The above is on the page selling the 5 pound roaster (there was no such graph on the page or the 2 pound capacity unit). I have to assume that adding five pounds of beans would substantially lengthen the time it takes to reach the temps on the graph, but what would those times be? I don't know. How useful is that graph at all?

We can assume what all that means, but the information there does little to verify the device's actual ability to roast coffee. I am not knocking the product, but the mass of testimonials and the lack of technical details that would be necessary for a coffee enthusiast to know would make me want to dig further before purchasing.

Is there a temperature control? A thermostat? Thermometer to indicate temperature? Can you program it in any way? How is the drum removed safely when the roast is over? Is there any safety devices installed for over-heat conditions? That is important because the device has no cooling, but they do sell an external cooler and chaff remover.

I did notice that they sell a drum capable of roasting 20 pounds(!) in a BBQ. What BTU BBQ would be necessary to do that in under 15 or 16 minutes I wonder. carefully read the page selling this unit (for $900!). Lots of repeated sales rhetoric but little detailed info referring to coffee roasting. Can you imagine lifting that thing out of BBQ to dump the beans for cooling?

All IMO, of course....

[Brad]

Randy,
Thanks for the great input. Being able to roast 2 lb. would be nice, but not if it was ash.

[OkcEspresso]

20 lbs in a barbecue? A 5 gallon bucket topped off will hold about 15 lbs of larger sized roasted beans (Sumatrans, Pacamaras, etc). That would be a hell of a BBQ grill to get a 5 gallon bucket sized drum inside. That and the smoke would kill everything within a 20 foot radius.

[Randy G.]

Randy,
Thanks for the great input. Being able to roast 2 lb. would be nice, but not if it was ash.

My concern was not so much that it was capable of achieving such high temperatures, but that they were doing so with no coffee in the device and that it took so long. It also makes one think that it has no safety hardware built in to limit the high temps. The question remains- Why don't they give any real time roasting graphs at the units capacity? I also wonder how they measured those temperatures.

reading between the lines at the website, the lack of information raises more questions than the website answers.