I should have clarified: I like the new Huky.

That makes sense to me now; thanks for clarifying.

wayneg1 wrote:I just confirmed my Huky 500T order a few minutes ago with Mr. Li. I went with the 48rpm motor and perforated drum. I saw some posts where people were seasoning the solid drum. Does the perforated drum need to be seasoned as well?

Wayne G

Welcome to "the club" and congratulations on your new roaster.
Seasoning the inside is done with a number of full load roasts taken deep into French/Vienna territory. Then you shut the heat down and let the beans sweat it out and thus cover the inside of the drum with a thin layer of coffee oils.
(FYI: I'm curently using a solid drum, on which I seasoned the outside. I'm in the process of ordering a perforated drum together with the T-model update...)
But I think you're refering to the outside of the drum. I would do the same with that, i.e. roughen the surface a bit. Then I will cover it with some vegetable oil and burn that in. (Either on the roaster with the IR burner, or with a blow torch.)

I never seasoned the drum of my perforated HUKY drum.
It never occurred to me.

As far as I know, no one to date has actually asked Mr. Li for his input on the subject. Somehow I think he would have advised us to do it if he thought it was important. But, I suggest asking him and reporting back if/as/when you get an answer. It would be helpful to a lot of people coming down the pike to their new HUKYs.

Susan

Hi there!

Here's a new one about to join the club. I'm in the process of placing the order with Mr Li, and so far I have not considered any modification. I'm going with the Solid Drum and 72RPM motor. Important detail to note is that I'll be using an open flame heat source, therefore the solid drum sounds like a better option. It's also coming with a heat diffuser.

I think I'm good in terms of heat, as my burner can go up to 17500 BTU (it's a built-in natural gas side burner installed in a granite countertop. The manufacturer is DCS). Any of you guys has any experience in terms of that to share? I'm attaching here some pictures of the burners, this is where my new friend is going to seat. The black cast-iron griddle is 22x11 inches, so I think it will fit like a charm. Mr Li looked at the pictures and just recommended me to remove the rubber feet.




One question I have is about the analog ET thermometer. Does Mr Li send it with a digital probe if I ask so, or is it something I need to change myself once I receive the Huky?

And last but not least, I'm very interested in the seasoning topic, as well as very nervous about my first roasts, as I've just came back from Brazil with 5kg of amazing beans directly from the farmers hands. Including 1kg of the 1st place winner at the last International Coffee Week.

Maybe I should buy some lower quality beans to avoid wasting the good ones?

Thank you all and I hope I'll be sharing some of my experience soon!

Aguirre

Aguirre wrote:...

One question I have is about the analog ET thermometer. Does Mr Li send it with a digital probe if I ask so, or is it something I need to change myself once I receive the Huky?

And last but not least, I'm very interested in the seasoning topic, as well as very nervous about my first roasts, as I've just came back from Brazil with 5kg of amazing beans directly from the farmers hands. Including 1kg of the 1st place winner at the last International Coffee Week.
Maybe I should buy some lower quality beans to avoid wasting the good ones?

Thank you all and I hope I'll be sharing some of my experience soon!

Aguirre

You have to be explicit about Mr. Li exchanging the analogue ET meter with a digital one. No problems, just let him know before shipment.

If you got hold of some excellent beans, keep them until you feel really confident with the roaster. When I bought my Huky I started with a few kgs of "sweep beans", i.e. beans litterary sweept up from the floor of a green beans supplier. The first 500g roast(s) was driven looong into Vienna territory, after which I turned off the heat and let the beans spin and sweat inside the roaster for half an hour or so. (That will give the inside of the drum a thin coating of coffee oils, which was my intent.)
Then start with smaller loads of decent, drinkable coffee, until you know that you will not mess up, but can follow a designated roasting plan (Which can be after 20 roasts ... or 200. You'll learn a lot on the way anyhow, just see to that you have fun.).

Thank you a lot edtbjon, that's a good advice. Means I'll have to look for the closest green bean supplier while waiting for my Huky delivery

SJM wrote:I never seasoned the drum of my perforated HUKY drum.
As far as I know, no one to date has actually asked Mr. Li for his input on the subject. Somehow I think he would have advised us to do it if he thought it was important. But, I suggest asking him and reporting back if/as/when you get an answer. It would be helpful to a lot of people coming down the pike to their new HUKYs.

For the solid drum seasoning the outer side of the Huky drum, it made a huge measurable difference with my testing. If found similar results with outer-seasoning my TJ-067 drum (didn't do similar experimentation as with the Huky, so I don't have any graphs to show). I have found that coconut oil is ideal for this purpose (and smells nice during the process!).

Aguirre wrote:Important detail to note is that I'll be using an open flame heat source, therefore the solid drum sounds like a better option... (it's a built-in natural gas side burner installed in a granite countertop. The manufacturer is DCS). Any of you guys has any experience in terms of that to share?

Lot's actually, that's germane to your proposed setup. I fully documented my adventure of integrating the Huky with a stove cooktop burner here, way back on the Huky early-adopter days. Turns out for most Huky adopters, this approach was more the exception than rule, as most seem to use the stock IR burner. If you want to take up cooktop integration, take heed to the challenges I chronicled in the linked review, namely the height of the cooling fan and lake exhaust pipe adjustment (though I think some of this may now be solved with the new t-coupling apparatus and with what now looks like an adjustable collar setup ).

Let us know how it works out.

I just upgraded my Huky to a model T. (I like the "T" denomination, as the simplicity of the Huky somewhat reminds of a certain old Ford car model. )
The exhaust pipe is cut so that you just lift the collar that goes down in the (upside down) funnel in the exhaust fan/bowl, after which you just slide out the sieve/funnel and empty it as needed. The length of that last vertical part of the exhaust is adjusted for a setup with an IR burner in mind. (See the picture in the first post of this very thread.)
If you put the Huky on a normal gas stove which is usually just about level with the area around the burner, the exhaust pipe will be too long and you have to lift or tilt the while apparatus just to empty the sieve from chaff (which is a good idea to do in between every roast, to maintain a consistent airflow).