I'm looking to expand my roasting capabilities from what I use now which is 2 Behmors roasting back to back.
I like the Idea of being able to roast a pound or two of coffee at once like I would be able to do with a RK-drum but I'm not sold on how much control I would have over profiling the roast and accurately monitoring temp.Also I live in the northeast so I would have to contend with the cold and snow for a few months of the year. With the Hottop I would have great control over the roast,but only able to do 250g of coffee at a time. Also I would have the cost of replacement elements,filters ect. Not too sure on the life of the heating element,how many pounds of coffee is the element rated for? I know the Behmor elements are rated for about 200 lb of coffee.I dont roast to sell but I do roast 5 to 10 lb a week for myself and not sure about the longevity of the Hottop or being able to keep up with my routine. until I can afford something like a pro sample roaster these are the only options I see available in my price range at this time. I know Hottop was working on something allowing a larger batch but I havent seen or heard anything on it for a while.

In addition to the reasons you cited, I'm against roasting on the grill because it allows zero eye contact with the roast, I'm paranoid about grilling flavors mixing in my my coffee, and even if you PID your grill, you still don't have the option to control airflow.

Sounds to me like you want a Husky 500.

kboom1 wrote:I know Hottop was working on something allowing a larger batch but I havent seen or heard anything on it for a while.

Yes it's been a long, long time coming. Not sure what's holding it up as all the parts molds were done last Fall. Michael tells me it will roast 1.5lbs & have dual elements as well as some other nice features. I know he's frustrated with the factory's delay on getting this into production but roasters are only a small sideline for the company that builds them. Maybe we'll see something in Boston???

UltramaticOrange wrote:In addition to the reasons you cited, I'm against roasting on the grill because it allows zero eye contact with the roast, I'm paranoid about grilling flavors mixing in my my coffee, and even if you PID your grill, you still don't have the option to control airflow.

Sounds to me like you want a Husky 500.

I looked at huky 500 once or twice but could not find any links to price and few reviews/articles
found here at HB and on the net.

JohnB. wrote:Yes it's been a long, long time coming. Not sure what's holding it up as all the parts molds were done last Fall. Michael tells me it will roast 1.5lbs & have dual elements as well as some other nice features. I know he's frustrated with the factory's delay on getting this into production but roasters are only a small sideline for the company that builds them. Maybe we'll see something in Boston???

Definitly a long time coming.hopefully we will hear some good news in Boston. I need to get my roasting equipment in order before one of my other machines go on the fritz.espresso machine upgraditis stopped me from doing this last year.

It is very close. 1KG capacity. Hardware done. I was told molds for production of hardware are ready. Final programming for control and GUI being completed as we speak. I helped design the user interface, or at least went over the design and improved it where it needed to be. Difficult with the time constraints I was given (could have spent a month in it- had a few days). We shall see how much of my input gets used. Wanted simple thiongs like keeping the "STOP/EJECT" button away from all other inputs, etc. Has a lot of great stuff, but a few minor features I wanted not included, but that is life. Probably not ready for the show (ARGHHHH, he screams once again), but from what I know, at this point it seems weeks (and not months or years) away... We shall see.

boy it would be nice to see it. too bad it wont be ready in time. do you know if there will be the different models or just one with all the features? any Idea on $$$ or is it classified as of now.

One model with basically both the same functions as the "B" and a better, modified version of the "P" that is more user friendly.

Cost...? From what I hear, as they say, if you have to ask....

the wife/banker /jailer/ ect, gave me the go ahead to expand. maybe it's better not to know $$$ right now. I just hope it's released before she changes her mind.

Randy G. wrote:It is very close. 1KG capacity.

That's a big jump up from the 750 gram capacity Michael mentioned last time we spoke. Is that official? Hopefully the full manual mode is still one of the options?

From talking to Michael I think the price is going to be more then most hobbyists are going to want to spend but it should be interesting to see where it actually comes in. The target buyer is a small cafe/shop that wants to roast their own beans not your typical home roaster.