This is a continuation of Setup Saga of a Newbie Part 2: The Espresso Machine

I had planned to start this after my espresso machine was done but my parts supplier has been jerking me around and I got bored...

Initially the plan I had in my mind was to take an ordinary digital toaster oven that had a built in rotisserie and use it as-is.





After a little bit of reading I realized that the stock 2.5 RPM motor wasn't going to cut it. I disassembled the toaster oven and found a synchronous ac motor inside. A little bit of research later I discovered that their mounts and shafts are fairly standard and that the motors are available in a variety of speeds. I ordered a 60 rpm motor and while I was at it decided to pick up a PID and SSR. Then I went about gutting the toaster oven:









I cut a hole in the control panel and put the PID in:








I decided to put the mains switch in the back:






(also pictured is the new motor mounted)






I started on the wiring and got some rock wool and cut it to size for the oven:








Added fan and rotisserie switches to the control panel:






Put the SSR and control panel in:






Cleaned up the wiring a bit:





From the front:




Then I performed a "smoke" test:


Unfortunately, as you can see in the video the torque required to turn the drum is too much for the motor and causes it to lose synchronization. It works intermittently but that isn't good enough for me:


I have another motor on order. Hopefully the lower speed higher torque motor will be enough to make it work consistently. That's it for now. I'lll report when I get it working 100%.

This is a really cool project, hope everything works out! Looks like it will be a Behmor with PID controls - hopefully at a cheaper cost too.

Not to be Debbie Downer, but what are you going to do about chaff? Unless chaff is either removed from the system or collected and kept far from the heater elements, a roaster is a fire waiting to happen.

Also, where and how will you vent smoke?

Debbie
Rich

You're not being a Debbie downer. Haha. That's a legitimate logistics issue. For right now I have a broiler tray for under the drum (and a fire extinguisher in the garage next to my bench where I'll be doing my roasting). If that doesn't prove to be sufficient, my plan is to order a Behmor chaff collector and retrofit it to my setup. This is my "getting to know roasting basics" kit. After I have a reasonable idea of what I'm doing I'd like to build a roaster from scratch (sheet metal and all) ideally with an arduino board controlling everything... at which point I'm REALLY going to need your input (and everyone else's).