I've wanted to home roast for some time now, and are very interested in buying a drum roasting chamber for my new Weber Spirit gas grill. The steel roasting chambers seem somewhat expensive for a hunk of metal. The Behmor 1600 drum roaster's replacement drum looks identical to most gas grill drum roasters and it costs only $20:

http://www.invalsa.com/popup_image.php?pID=551

I would imagine it would only need a slight mod to be able to hand crank it, or hook up to a rotisserie. Does anyone have any experience using this drum on a gas grill?

Hi Mike,

I stumbled on this video today randomly after reading your thread and had to report back to you:)



I don't know anything about roasting, but I figured you HAD to see this lol.

Cheers,
Jackson

Mike,

I found a site the other day where a guy was making roasting drums from Home Depot parts. Stainless mesh cylindrical trash cans, and various other items for end caps. He put it together with pop rivets because he couldn't weld. He showed various sizes from a small batch drum up to a pound or more at a time. I'll see if I can find that, again.

BTW, OT but I'm in the market for a new grill and considering either the Weber Spirit or Genesis. Figure I can't go wrong either way, but leaning toward the Genesis even though it's more expensive.

Didn't find "that link" but here's one probably better with several ideas for fabbing your own drums, as well as other homemade methods.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/homemade-homeroasters.php

Haha. I'm using my power drill as a rotisserie motor as well. It works really well. Can get kind of nerve racking when the zip ties loosen up slightly.

Thought I would report back. I ended buying a 1lb drum from coffee roasters club. I'm powering the drum w/ a cordless 18v Black and Decker power drill. I cut out a piece of styrofoam to stabilize the drill as it lays on its side on the grill. I still have a great deal to learn. I would love to hear back from anyone who roasts coffee this way. So far i've roasted the following: SM Liquid Amber, SM Monkey, SM Moka Kadir, and SM Classic Espresso. The most successful roast was the Liquid Amber Blend. I just roasted up a 1/2 lb of Guatemala Acatenago. I followed SM's recommendations of going a few snaps into 2nd. I hit first crack at around 11 minutes, vented my grill to bring the temp down, and went a few minutes after 1st crack into a few snaps of second. I hope to enjoy this as a SO espresso in a few days. I will also break in my AeroPress with this roast, should be here by friday. Again I would love to hear everyones technique using a BBQ grill drum roaster.

I have just begun experimenting with gas grill roasting. My initial results with a spare Behmor drum lead me to conclude that the Behmor drum is too small for a 1lb load in the gas grill. Of course, I am using a standard rotisserie motor, and the slow speed may be a major factor here - maybe a faster-moving drill motor could compensate. My first batch with a 1lb load (+3oz) had some beans burnt while others were clearly pre-1st crack. My second batch with 10oz was much better, but still very uneven.

Its pretty easy to modify. I used a cut-off wheel on my dremel to cut off the two end knobs. Then I took a drill bit and drilled a hole in the middle of the steel square where the knobs used to stick out. I forget the exact diameter, but it need to be the same as the length of one of the sides of your spit (smaller than a diagonal cross-section). I then used the small dremel cutter (looks like a drill bit, but with spiral sides) to make "corners" on the round holes so the square spit will just fit. The main downside to this is that you have to completely remove the drum in order to open it when your roast is done.

If you don't have it I highly recommend the thermocouple and digital thermometer available from Sweet Maria's. Mount the tip just level and center of the drum. This will offer invaluable feedback about the temps in your grill for use as a reference point for each roast.

Second, I have good success preheating my grill, installing a cold drum and then giving the beans just enough heat to reach first crack in about 12 minutes or so (this will vary with each coffee bean/blend) and then lower the temp a little to extend the roast. Don't fill the grill with too much cool air (I don't open or vent at all, rather lower the burners at a decent time) or the roast will stall.

BBQ roasting is easy and with practice is capable of offering very good results. All of my home roast is RK Drum BBQ roasted and I'm very happy with it.

I may order that Thermocouple and digital thermometer in my next order. I may not need it though. My Weber grill thermometer seems to be perfectly level with the roasting drum. I usually do alot of venting once I hit a full FC, maybe i'll try without venting.

I would buy the unit from Len at http://www.coffeeroastersclub.com I purchased my roaster from this gentleman and I am planning on getting a five lb drum for my roaster this summer.

Hope this helps