I've been using a whirley pop roaster for quite some time... The result is nice looking and fresh beans once time and amount of heat have been figured out. The beans' color is not as uniform as beans I buy at artisan roaster stores. It's also pretty hard to stop at exactly the degree of roast you want.

Question for somebody who has experience with both whirley pop and hot top or some fancy roaster: do you get anything besides convenience out of big bucks roasters or they produce superior quality too? Thanks.

I used an air popper years ago and one I added the ability to control the heating element I was quite happy with the roasts. Someday I'll find it and try again. Today I have a Behmor and in between for a very short time I had a Z&D. For me, the biggest advantage of the Behmor is the larger roasts, time has become more of an issue and only having to roast once a week or so is a big advantage. I can't tell you if it roasts better as there was 15 years or so in the middle, but I was completely happy with the popper in 1982 and I'm reasonably happy with the Behmor today. I had much more control with the popper and a thermometer through the top with the probe in the bean mass allowed me the hit the profile the book I had claimed would be good. When I got the right coffee, I was in heaven. Same today, but I think I struggle more with the Behmor.

Ira

I began roasting with a popcorn style roaster called Caffe Rosto. Used it for two years and roasted by bean color and cracks. The aroma of the beans after these roasts were fantastic.

Then upgrade time came, ordered another rosto from greenbeanery received it and then had second thoughts, returned the rosto to greenbeanery was refunded minus a restocking fee (don't want to discuss that) and ordered a Behmor from our alchemist. I have used the behmor for two years, following cracks and color. I have not been disappointed. The quantity that you can roast is larger and ease of use is great. The roasted coffee is good yet after roasting with the rosto and the Behmor side to side and doing blind taste tests with friends, it is clear for me that the rosto roasts coffee that has a better aroma and as far as taste goes they are different but both good. My wife says the behmor brings out the high notes more (a classical musicians vocabulary). The Rosto has a more full flavour.

So now I use both, and I am very satisfied, even thinking of making blends with coffees from each.

One question though. Why is the roasts from the Rosto more aromatic than the Behmor? I am thinking it has to do with the processes, behmor drum roast with no air flow, Rosto with constant air flow. Thinking of putting an hot air gun through the side wall of a behmor and turbocharging it.

Another note, Rosto roasts are much faster, and to get the roast color even I agitate the Rosto while it is roasting.

asdf777 wrote:Question for somebody who has experience with both whirley pop and hot top or some fancy roaster: do you get anything besides convenience out of big bucks roasters or they produce superior quality too? Thanks.

Is there a bean that should taste good but doesn't when you roast it? For instance, a coffee you like from a professional roaster that doesn;t turn out right when you do it? If there is, it's time to switch; if there isn't, then stay with what you have.

Thanks, guys. The whirley pop roaster is a stovetop roaster and not the same as air poppers (http://www.sweetmarias.com/whirleypop.jpg). It can take 1/2 pound easily. I have never been able to compare same beans side by side, but what I roast myself tastes good. As I mentioned, the color is a bit uneven and it's hard to get a desired roast level (basically, I can only roast light (city/full city) or dark (vienna/french).

I was just wondering if there is any benefit of switching to something like hot top or behmor in terms of quality or you're paying for convenience only.

BTW, I have also used air poppers, and the quality was really good, but the batch size sucked, and equipment kept breaking (probably from overheating). What I really liked about hot air roasting, though, was that it seemed to be the least invasive and didn't carbonize the outer bean surface with hot metal like the stovetop technique.

You can do good roast with a whirly pop providing you are willing to do the work (stir vigorously, keep the surface temperatures of the roaster below 500F, and use few enough beans to keep roast times under 15 minutes).

I and the other people answering have no clue whether you are doing this or are willing to do it. Certainly, it is less work getting competent roasts from more automated equipment. You probably knew this before you posted, so that is not what you are really asking. I'm guessing your question is about the knowledge required to do good roasts. This is the same for every roasting device, although something like a fully automated Hottop allows you to roast without a clue if you stick only to coffees for which the built in profiles work.

As mentioned many times before, you acquire roasting knowledge by comparing your roasts to those of good roasters. One way to do this is to buy the same coffee green and roasted. You can do this from Intelly or Metropolis locally, or Klatsh, Paradise, Terroir, or PTs nationally.

Whirley pop roasting is similar to pan roasting. As you mention you don't end up with the prettiest roast but they can taste good. Tom from Sweet Marias questioned how good these kind of roasts can be and asked a few of his customers who have experience to send him some samples. He found some of them to be surprisingly good. You will get some tipping and effects from conduction. This can effect the taste of lighter roasts but not not necessarily in a negative way depending on what you like. I think you could end up with lighter roasts with less hints of roast tastes with a hottop if that's what your looking for.

I've used both. I started with a Whirly Pop and used it for about 1.5 years. It was OK. I definitely liked the beans, especially when compared to what is available locally for me. The smoke became an issue for my wife, but I liked it. The roast I sent to Tom was said to be good. When my plastic gears on the top of the popper degraded where I couldn't turn the beans adequately, ... I upgraded.

Now I've been using the Behmor for about 6 months and I love it. There is a convenience factor in terms of smoke suppression and largish batch size. But, for me, I like the roasts better out of the Behmor. They appear more even and more controlled. Of course, I have help with Ira's Behmor Thing program, which helps my simple mind tremendously. I like being able to change profiles and alter the roasting cycles with some degree, compared to the stove top.

I've considered the Hot Top for a future roaster, but I think I'll probably stick with Behmor due to its batch size, and relative simplicity. But of course, this is a way's off. ... oh, what's that honey, no, no, no, I'm not upgrading anymore, I'm perfectly content.