I know there has been a lot of discussion lately (the past few months, and currently) in this forum about profiling, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of consensus on this issue, but I'm going to go ahead and give it a whack anyway. I've got a Hottop B arriving today, directly from Hottop. I've been roasting with an iRoar for a couple of months, and I've actually (believe it or not) gotten to a place where I'm making good coffee (not Paradise quality, but hey . . . ), both press and espresso, and I feel comfortable with a range of beans.

But now the learning curve is about to start all over again, and I'd like to try to flatten that curve out as much as possible. So the question is, where should I start? I've got a range of beans to play with, and I'd like to trash as few roasts as possible getting to something good. The two options I've found so far are

a) just going with the factory default (which I don't actually know exactly what it is), adjusting fan speed and/or power setting once I hear first crack start to attempt to slow things down,

or

b) use the (discredited?) profile that coffee.me was happy with before he decided that home roasting was a foolish endeavor: 225g; F1, P10, 6:00; F1, P4, 6:00 (or until desired roast)

Any thoughts on this?

Bonus Points: I've got a wire bead thermocouple that I'd like to get installed in this puppy before I start. Looks like many snake down through the bean chute, some run through the front window(?), and some drill in through the back (not really something I want to do). Can you recommend an easy, yet relatively reliable method for installing a thermocouple in this? (Again, bear in mind that I've got a wire bead-type TC.)

Thanks!!!

I'd suggest starting with the HT B Auto mode & modify it as required to length/shorten drying time & slow things down around 1C. Once you get something you are happy with save it.

If you come in through the chute cover you would want to use a 6" probe type t/c. With a wire bead t/c I'd suggest going through the wall. I tried the 6" probe in the cover for awhile but went to an Omega XCIB-K163 t/c mounted through the wall for both ET & BT.

i've only had my hottop B for a few months, but i started here: http://www.home-barista.com/home-...ile%20catch#p91272

keep in mind the profiles are generated with an input voltage of around 130V instead of normal US 120V. Use a variac if you need/want the extra power/faster roasts.

For my first roast, i chose the profile that looked the most promising and used it directly, and just made sure the temp didn't get out of control or start dropping. for subsequent roasts i modified it to suit the bean (faster, slower, longer, or shorter).

good luck

OK, so I've now done a few roasts with the Hottop B. First two had drops when the machine prompted to drop (170ish HT temp). Third roast dropped at 350 "Bean Mass" temp (thermocouple). This produced a flatter curve after the initial couple of minutes. Aside from drop I'm basically trying to accomplish the following (with good results by the third roast):
1) After the initial couple of minutes post-drop, get the bean mass temp to jump by no more than 20 degrees a minute (power staying at max with fan kicked on to low after a couple minutes) up until . . .

2) 350F bean temp, at which time I kick the heat down so that it's coasting by the time FC comes along (in the 390s). During FC, I now target temp increases of 4 or 5 degrees per minute (FC lasts right around 2 minutes with a couple of snaps on either side of that windown) until . . .

3) FC is ending, so I kick the fan up another notch to keep temps progressing in that 5 degree/minute range, ending the roast after another minute or so with my bean mass temp in the neighborhood of 420 for a City+ roast, getting out when I get a whiff that SC is about to kick in.

So . . . any comments from my dear friends there in the peanut gallery?

A week has gone by, and I've done a ton of reading, and a ton of roasting. I'm getting some cups that I'm happy with, especially some Kenya from SM's that turned out very nice. Just wanted to post a pic of a roast and ask what you folks thought of it. I'm currently measuring with a TC in the bean mass and (until I receive the second TC I have on order) logging the HT's temp reading as well. Here's the log:



Blue line = HT temp reading and Red line = bean mass reading. This is a roast I did tonight of the Kenya peaberry (a bit darker of a roast than I prefer, but it makes the wife happier). Each x axis tick mark = 30 seconds. Beans are charged at 350 according to "bean mass" TC, right at two minutes since the HT started its timer. I'm running with power 10, fan 1 until BT is at 340, when I drop it to power 8. At 375 I drop power back to 6. First crack (starting at 397 BT) runs start to finish in right at two minutes, at which time (about 405), I go to power 4 and fan 3 until end of roast when I hear the first snaps of second crack at 435 (almost exactly 4:30 after first crack ended).

I'd very much appreciate any advice you can give me on what I may be doing right or wrong. Thanks in advance.

-I've experimented with a high charge temp before, are you just experimenting too or are you trying to solve a certain issue? Why not charge the HT when it tells you to, i.e. at 167F on the LCD?

-Your roast's total time is about 16mins, right? It looks to me as if you're using a >=300g batch. If you want to experiment with different looking profiles, use a much smaller load, e.g. 150g. That way you can speed up certain parts, slow others, maintain a lower ET, etc.

-Others could tell you more about the Kenya you're roasting but AFAIK Kenyas are bright and your long profile helps in reducing the acidity for espresso.

I realized after posting that I forgot to include the batch weight: 250g (curious as to why you thought that I was over 300g).

I'm charging at a higher temp mostly because I saw that a lot of folks out there were doing such things to speed up the time to FC. It took several more minutes and was a much flatter curve overall when I was doing it that way. I should probably try back-to-back roasts and compare results from them charging at the "recommended" temp and also at the higher temp. What's everyone else out there doing??

maxwellh wrote:What's everyone else out there doing??

My general practice is to charge at 380F ET. To calibrate, my ET sensor reads 360F when the internal sensor reads 167F. At 1:00 after charging, I see a turning point temperature of around 160F measured in the bean mass.

For beans that I have reason to believe need a shorter drying phase (Brazil Ipanema Tree Dried from SM comes to mind), I will charge at 400F ET.

Jim

I think you sensor is reading closer to standard bean temperature data than the internal one, and would be easier to use, at lest for for me.

Personally, I think 6 1/2 minutes from first crack to end of roast is way too long; I'd be looking for about 3 to 4 minutes. But that part of the profile is more a taste thing; and the rest of it looks about right.

Interesting. I have seen a near consensus (is there such a thing on coffee forums!? ) about the importance of time between FC and SC . . . I'm getting a 3-4 degree/minute rise from right before until right after FC and then it's more like 8 degree/minute rise until SC. It might be worth trying not dropping the power so much right before FC (and therefore waiting until FC is nearly finished to drop power) to see about shortening that inter-crack time up a bit. Definitely something to look at. But I'd like more info on charge temp if any other Hottop users can jump in. I currently see a turning point at about 130 after 30 seconds (again, charging at 350 per my bean TC). Might this be too high a charge temp?

Thanks for the info so far, folks!