I've been contemplating roasting at home for a few reasons now. 1) it would be very gratifying to make delicious blends myself (a long term goal), 2) getting beans cheaper would be great and 3) I'm tired of rationing beans like they're a limited commodity when I can roast them in higher volumes more cheaply and with near immediate availability (store greens rather than roasted beans).

The trouble is that a 'good' roaster isn't cheap. I don't want a cheap roaster that will lead to bad results (and quitting roasting at home) or the need for prompt upgrading. However, my fear is spending a bunch of coin but then failing miserably with my results and quitting. I've been looking at a Huky 500. Hopefully some of you guys will support my leap and then pick up the pieces by buying my equipment from me. Tell me I can do it!

Start with a behmor, you can do it and when it is time for the next move you will know it. I am ready and it will probably be an Ambex YM2.

I was chatting with the Sweet Maria's folks. Interestingly they told me to avoid the Behmor for espresso use. I know too little about it to truly understand why.

I do not understand their advice, the behmor can take a roast into 2nd crack easy enough if you like really dark and oily beans. Trust me when I say that the behmor is a fantastic roaster to learn on and I like I said you will know when and if you want to keep moving up. What roaster are they trying to get you to buy?

They weren't really pushing anything but the Hottop became the focus by the end of the discussion. I'm all for the learning process as part of the enjoyment but I have no interest in messing around with popcorn machines or the little air roasters. My wife who knows me too well said "you better get the expensive one or else you'll be buying it in a month anyway when you don't like the cheap one." I figure with a Huky, I could always turn it around at for decent recoup of investment.

spearfish25 wrote:2) getting beans cheaper would be great

Some people save money home roasting, many, probably most end up spending it on roasters, equipment, specialty beans, etc. It's like any hobby, you can take it as deep as your time and pockets will let you.

spearfish25 wrote:3) I'm tired of rationing beans like they're a limited commodity when I can roast them in higher volumes more cheaply and with near immediate availability (store greens rather than roasted beans).

How much time to do you have to roast on a regular basis? I've got plenty of greens but have a hard time finding the time to roast on the regular to keep me in a surplus of beans. I roast on a Behmor too, so I end up with < 300 grams from a batch and that goes quickly. Something to think about, you buy commercial coffee but you're also buying the roaster's time to roast and QC the coffee, roasting is fun but make sure you can budget the time and money to get the results your looking for.

yakster wrote:Some people save money home roasting, many, probably most end up spending it on roasters, equipment, specialty beans, etc. It's like any hobby, you can take it as deep as your time and pockets will let you.

Let's start there: What is your budget for a roaster?

You've already invested around $3500 in your espresso machine and grinder...If you get a Behmor it would be a good option to learn on at the very least. If, in a couple years or less, you are ready to upgrade then you can sell it pretty easily for around 60-70% of what you paid for it. Start small to learn and move up from there. You could also start really small with an air popper or whirley popper just to get your feet wet.

I could stomach up to about $1600 for the roaster. Assuming that I'll enjoy it as I have with all other aspects of my coffee hobby, the roaster will get plenty of use. Also it appears the move expensive options retain more resale value.

Important factors for me are ease of maintenance and cleaning, durability, and obviously output quality. I'd like a roaster than can achieve the following: chaff collection (i.e. no stove toppers or popcorn air poppers), controllability during the roast, ability to monitor by sight and sound to learn the nuances, ease of cleaning/maintenance (important for me, I like to keep my stuff nice), and be able to rapidly cool post-roast. This seemed to leave me with very few options. The Behmor looks to be an 'eyes off' roaster where you can't see the beans. Also taking it apart for cooling looks like a hot juggle. The Hottop has the cooling benefits but is a mess for disassembly in cleaning. I looked at a Quest M3, but that too has disassembly challenges. I ended up focusing on the Huky since cleaning is very straight forward, the modular nature of components are easy to swap, it roasts a variety of charge sizes, and apparently does a pretty nice job in the process. My only real concern is that it could be intimidating to start out on.