Hello people,

I'm upgrading roasters and considering the following (or similar alternatives I'm made aware of):

• Hottop
  Quest M3
  Huky
  Santoker Revolution 500
  North TJ-067

I'll be monitoring BT and ET and roasting with Artisan.

I roast SO, post-blend for espresso, and our daily consumption is low. This means an important consideration for me is the ability of the roaster to offer responsive control over relatively small batch weights.

80% of my roasts are on charge weights of between 100g and 175g (minimum 80g, maximum 350g).

The roasters I'm looking at differ in terms of their ability to give reliable BT and ET temps for charge weights this low.

So let's say we take money out of the equation and assume that any of the above roasters are an option. Which one is best optimized for Artisan-monitored roasting of a sweet spot bean mass between 100-175g?


Advice welcomed.

As a Quest owner, that's right in the sweet spot. I use 150.0 g batches and get 3 per pound.

I believe the Huky has a larger minimum batch size. I can't speak for the others.

Here is how I would rate them
5 Hottop
4 Quest M3
3 Huky
1 Santoker Revolution 500
1 North TJ-067

Really its hard to rate them if you didn't own them..
I own a TJ-067G and have owned a Hottop before..

I'd take the Hottop and Quest off the list as they are not in the same class as the others unless you add in cost..

If your stuck at 350g roasts I would say the clear winner is the Santoker or Huky

Thanks for the feedback. In case it wasn't clear enough I am not asking which is the "best" roaster here with all things considered (e.g. cost, design etc.). I realize there are many other differences and broadly speaking the capabilities (and price) of these roasters goes up as you work down my list.

What I am asking is for insight and experience into how well these roasters can control roasts in the 100-175g range. Despite their large differences, all are said to be capable of roasting in the range I am interested in. Even with the TJ-067 (the biggest capacity roaster on my list) users have reported responsive and well controlled roasts as low as 100g. In fact variable drum speed, fan control and fine adjustment capability of gas for the larger roasters here can all play a role in keeping these higher sweet spot roasters serviceable for lower charge weights.

Yes but your asking how a 1000g North roaster can control a 175g roast..
250g roasters vs 500g vs 1000g
Gas vs Electric

I rated them in over all quality from what I know and have read..
I have learned much since I bought my first Behmor roaster...
If your stuck at roasting 175g buy a roaster with a slightly bigger maximum capacity than 175g, not 5x your max roast size..
My best roasts in the TJ are all above 500g and roasting a 100g in a 1000g roaster I guess would be much like turning it into a air roaster..

I think the TJ is an incredible bargain so why not put the quality of roast over size of roast..

Gas vs Electric, gas is much easier to control..
What I thought was going to be a huge challenge and scared me a little. I was surprised at how much easier it was to control than electric..

My choice using your criteria would be the Huky

I'm borrowing a Quest that is due to be returned. My experience with it's thick elements is that it's very sluggish. Just to preheat requires much over and undershooting my way to temp which just takes more time than I have. Good roasting doesn't absolutely require rapid changes, but it helps to have the ability available. I'm certain heat gun elements would work better if they would fit. However, I doubt I'll ever actually purchase a non gas roaster given this experience.

Thanks all. Marshall your feedback on the Quest is interesting - Jan do you find it difficult to hit a target preheat temp? Quest users, whats been your experience generally with the overshooting/undershooting Marshall is referring to? Clearly the Quest is the roaster in my list that is exactly in the sweet spot for my batch sizes but it is an outlier in terms of design and I have concerns about going with electric versus gas.

Johnny, thanks for your more detailed experience with the North, that is very helpful. I suppose I could have started a thread specific to each of the larger gas roasters here - the Huky, Santoker and North - and asked users how they find control with charge weights of 100-200g or so. That is in effect what I really want to get a better understanding of. I get that most of your roasts are with larger batch sizes but what I would love to hear more on is how these roasters perform around low bean mass charges. I am inherently more drawn to the gas roasters than an electric option but at the end of the day I will go with the roaster that is going to give me best control at my batch sizes.

Thanks again.

dave_in_gva wrote:Thanks all. Marshall your feedback on the Quest is interesting - Jan do you find it difficult to hit a target preheat temp? Quest users, whats been your experience generally with the overshooting/undershooting Marshall is referring to? Clearly the Quest is the roaster in my list that is exactly in the sweet spot for my batch sizes but it is an outlier in terms of design and I have concerns about going with electric versus gas.

I don't find hitting target temps terribly hard. Maybe it's just because my previous roasters didn't even offer that level of control, but it's perfectly doable.

The Quest's design is very weird. In particular, airflow is... strange and not very much like a production roaster. The drum's relatively thin. The element is more than strong enough but not ultra-responsive like gas. I'd love the same roaster with a more robust fan and a gas element. But those minor limitations are easy to work around. I've never had a profile I simply couldn't do because of the roaster. Also, keep in mind that a lot of people try to do 200-300+ g batches on the Quest. And in that case you can make it work but will be limited in your profiling options. If you use it for 120-200g batches, the power's more than adequate.

I've thought about a Huky - more power and better airflow dynamics, but its ideal batch size is larger. I roast to experiment and wind up roasting way more than I can drink, so I prefer a small batch.

Get the Huky or Santoker...
The TJ can roast 1kg+ with ease..
Most electric roaster say to use a 500g max but they work best roasting 250g
I was hoping this was true about the TJ and 500g was the sweet spot but it is a true 1kg roaster..

NoStream wrote:I don't find hitting target temps terribly hard. Maybe it's just because my previous roasters didn't even offer that level of control, but it's perfectly doable.

The Quest's design is very weird. In particular, airflow is... strange and not very much like a production roaster. The drum's relatively thin. The element is more than strong enough but not ultra-responsive like gas. I'd love the same roaster with a more robust fan and a gas element. But those minor limitations are easy to work around. I've never had a profile I simply couldn't do because of the roaster. Also, keep in mind that a lot of people try to do 200-300+ g batches on the Quest. And in that case you can make it work but will be limited in your profiling options. If you use it for 120-200g batches, the power's more than adequate.

I've thought about a Huky - more power and better airflow dynamics, but its ideal batch size is larger. I roast to experiment and wind up roasting way more than I can drink, so I prefer a small batch.

I have a 2014 Quest and agree with all of this.