I'd like to roast (roughly) four batches of (roughly) 350g dose per week, at about 10 minutes per batch to FC -- not counting warmup.

There are money limits. It seems that by the time you get done fully setting up a roaster, you're slightly under -- but not nearly far enough under -- five figures for a 1 lb San Franciscan or 1 lb U.S. Roaster. That's well beyond even my fantasy limits.

Nosing around, it seems as though the best deals might be one of the Taiwanese roasters. But "seems" goes with clueless humility and I'm certainly open to suggestions.

Whether Mini 500, 800n or any other 500g ish bargain roaster (if there are any)...

What about reliability? Anyone know enough to comment?

I'm asking for a ballpark number for a roaster set up, including ET and BT probes, whatever constitutes the most precise air-flow and gas valving, duties, freight, etc. In short, soup to nuts but not counting setup, gas plumbing, exhaust plumbing, a table, or...

You don't have to break it down too fine. I'm not at that stage yet. Nearest $500 will tell me if the idea is realistic, or whether I'm better off staying electric. Heck, even nearest $1000.

Actually, I know so little that any thoughts at all regarding upgrading my roaster from a Hot Top would be welcome. Maybe just pushing lots of batches through a Quest...? You lose gas responsiveness (not that I've ever had it), but God knows the price fit is more comfortable.

Interestingly Linda, my wife, is at least as if not more interested in upping our roast equipment than I am. In another thread someone suggested addicting your spouse to good lattes as a way of justifying spending money on the hobby. There's no free lunch. It seems latte addiction has a dark side.

BDL

Rich,

HotTop is hard to beat when you include price-to-performance and consistency in calculation. There is nothing like it. Next is Quest M3 but batch is about same so I am not sure what you get with that update. If you are starting from scratch then Quest is good choice but as upgrade to HotTop, I don't know how to justify it... Depends on what back to back roasting is worth it to you.

I investigated Mini 500 from Taiwan and that will run you at least $3500 plus all the hassle to import it. For hassle taste this is excellent outline: Yang-Chia 800n Coffee Roaster

There is pretty much no warranty, hard and long access to critical parts and you do all work yourself.

You could build your own roaster which I think if you are handy and have time is very good option.

If HotTop ever builds 1lb roaster I suspect it will be winner for home use...

In short, for good gas home roaster get ready to drop about $6000 and more starting with US Roasters and on top end ending with San Franciscan at about $9000 shipped..

The least expensive one from Taiwan is the Huky500 @$1200 which is a hobbyist roaster. The mini500/800n is $85000nt which includes crating and is a commercial machine. If your planning on learning how to drum roast with the idea of possibly going commercial, then the baby pro roaster would work. The Huky500 looks beautiful and has been in production for years BUT the user base in the US is tiny/silent.

I would recommend holding off on Huky. It is not certain that it actually works and can do claimed 500 grams.

Since you live in LA, try a BBQ. By all accounts, relatively inexpensive, and from first hand knowledge, make excellent roasts in the hands of an expert.

http://www.rkdrums.com/

I like my Hot Top quite a bit, it's great... but somewhat less than ideal. The biggest problem is the turnaround time from batch to batch in that successive small batches take forever, but large batches (I usually go around 220g which I consider max for the roaster) tend to be a bit baked. It's also not what you'd call really responsive, not allowing for the kind of "seat of the pants" adjustments which I'd like to get.

Did I mention that I really like it? Yes, I did and yes I do.

I hear good things about the Quest M3; but was also wondering if it represents much of a step up in terms of the (admittedly incremental) improvements I'd like. My guess is that there's only so far an electric roaster can take you.

Dennis's take that the Quest is a good -- and possibly slightly better -- alternative to a Hot Top, rather than a cognizable replacement was already my paranoid suspicion. It's not surprising to have the opinion reinforced, but not particularly good news.

Ike, for a lot of reasons a BBQ Grill/Roaster like the RK isn't happening. Let's just say I'm looking for more precision and a more "inclusive" package.

I can't find any meaningful Huky 500 material with Teh Google -- which is a scary thing. Too scary. I think I remember the Huky 300 though. It was powered by a gas hot plate, right? Interesting, but if it's what I remember, my impression at the time was, "not ready for prime time." If there are reasons I should change my opinion, I'm wide open to hearing them.

The Mini 500/Yang Chia 800n look very interesting. I've devoured the threads, perused the HK and Taiwan sellers' sites (although I don't speak Chinese), and found out what I could from Hank and Henry. I get that it's going to cost me somewhere slightly north of 3K USD to get one here, on my patio roasting bench. At this stage, they look very interesting but I'd like to know more about what it takes beyond ordering and shipping to get them up and running at a very high level, including mounting BT and ET thermocouples. It would be good to have some feedback on the learning curve required for pro quality roasting. Also, of course, I'm wondering about reliability and what resources are available for parts and "knowledge base" when something (inevitably) goes wrong.

I might conceivably stretch to a U.S. Roaster, but it's more than I planned on spending. On top of that, I want a cooling tray with a stirrer -- far more because I'm childish than because it really makes much difference. Still, when you consider the built in safety measures, quality of workmanship, ease of finding parts, ease of finding someone to fix it... the 2.5X cost might be worth it. I'm entirely agnostic so far... this is research for a purchase that's probably a year in the future.

At the end of the day (or year or even two years) we might well be left with the Hot Top as the best choice for us. That wouldn't be horrible news. As it is, we enjoy our home roasts as much or more than anything we can ordinarily buy; and there's certainly room for me to improve.

So... there it is.

BDL

A cooperative roaster is what's needed. I would like to share a commercial gas-powered roaster. But only in a metropolitan area is that remotely possible. Just as much a pipe dream as spending $10K for your own kit.

Hmmm, I just ordered a Diedrich IR-2.5 and was thinking about arranging a co-op in LA around my IR-1 once we get the bigger roaster. Or I may sell the IR-1. I have a couple of months to figure it out.

The cooling tray with stir bar and separate fan is really really nice, but not necessary.

The guy that builds the Huky Mr. Li is in Kaoshiung Taiwan same place as the Quest M3, both handmade products. The Huky500 has a stove modified with a pressure gauge and needle valve as an option, basically the same setup as the 800n. He sells an upgrade with all the thermocouples as well. Li is a hobbyist just like us, and seems to be fluent in English or has a killer translation app. The "500" is an upgrade of the "300" with an improved internal drum fin design. The drum is a perforated "direct fire" design, and has a sliding tray added to the bottom to make it into a "semi-direct fire". He can send out his roaster by surface post, and our USPS will take care of the rest (you pay the duty at the PO?). The vent can also be extended out a window for indoor roasting in bad weather.

The Yang roasters are available in any size you want up to industrial, all with cast iron drums and variable speed DC motors. Mr. Yang's business is commercial in nature, although he sells to hobbyists who are interested. I don't thing dealing with hobbyists is his "cup of tea", they're not fluent in English anyway. He has a dealer in Taipei to take care of customers, no roasters at the factory for viewing. It seems a lot of cafe's in Taiwan roast their own coffee, so there is a good market with the smaller machines (500g, 1k, 4K).

Now here in the USA there is a guy selling 1K roasters on Ebay as the "hand cranked roaster". I have exchanged quite a few emails with Lloyd, he builds them as a part time business maybe 3-4 a year. He told me the drum was 3/16" solid carbon steel, vented in the rear. His design is non-electric for farmers' market, vegetable stand, or coffee plantation. The roaster could be motorized, as the shaft extends out the back and an a fan could be added to the vent tube/bean drop in the front. Lloyd's in the Dallas/FW area, and it's way too far for me to drop by for a visit. None for sale at the moment although one could be ordered. The last one sold 12/11 for $975 plus shipping (weighs over 80lbs.)

Huky500 has a pretty good reputation in the Taiwanese and Chinese coffee forums, just not in English. I think we miss out on a lot of good products due to language barriers and certain unwillingness to investigate.

Most hobbyists, or for that matter, coffee professionals, would not have the chance to use the majority of current roasters on the market. The closest I could think is at Willem Boot's and the annual SCAA roasting class, and even then, it is only for the brief time, for only a few machines. I don't think one can really get to the finer points of each device.

Another gas roaster I briefly considered was the Fuji Royal Discovery, which roasts 200g. The roaster is small enough that it can be shipped via regular postal service/EMS. The price was approximately USD $4500.

Most roasters at this level would be quite durable, as they are really commercial machines. Most I believe would perform well, and bad roasts are due to the operator, not the device. Due to the weight and shipping cost, even with warranty, I don't think it would be a reasonable option to ship it back to manufacturer for service, located "only" in Idaho, Nevada, or Florida. The domestic shipping hassle negates the "local" advantage, and likely it would be a fix it myself with supplied parts scenario, so it is no different than buying overseas.

When the Quest was first "discovered" here, spare parts would have to be sent from Taiwan.

Cooling does not require the stirrer, as long as hot air is carried away with the blower. The stirrer however is quite helpful for mixing/blending. The separate blowers are a good thing, as cooling and roasting can be concurrent without interruption, and saves time in commercial settings.

For two years, I have not had any problems, and BellaTaiwan has answered my newbie e-mails within 1-2 days. When I order merchandise from overseas, generally it only takes about 7-10 days, not that different than shipping UPS New York to San Francisco.