When looking at my Artisan profile or the one shown in the video by Rob Dionne, it can be a challenge because we have similar but not identical roasters to yours. I'm guessing that he has a double walled drum similar to yours. Also, I'm using 100% air from the outset, Rob is using 40%. 40% on his ma...

For your second profile, the charge temp seems right but you seem to be doing a long soak instead of powering up right away. Also if the damper's partly open you're still slowing things down. If you're not driving in enough heat early you may be pushing the roast later. My roaster is probably an ear...

You asked about coffee roasters in Olympia, WA. Olympia Coffee Roasting was excellent last time I checked. Dancing Goats should be good and used to be called Batdorf and Bronson. If you find yourself driving from Olympia to Portland, I'm on the way and can demonstrate a proper pull on a vintage La P...

Your assumption may be correct. But it'll take awhile to dial in starting roasts for particular varietals. Plus it would help to measure bean density, at least by volume, and starting moisture content in order to pre-adjust your roast. You'll always be dialing in toward better results. This is one o...

Gary, I don't know if this latest experiment challenges your previous generalization because you're testing very distinct and different coffees from different places, one natural and one washed

In Rob's case, I don't think so. He is concerned with inlet temperature not being excessive and manages that with high airflow to distribute heat through the roasting chamber. In my fluid bed roaster, I don't do a maximum load so that the air will freely circulate through the bean mass. With my 1 Kg...

You might also set the air flow at maximum so that roasting temperature is spread through the roasting chamber. That's what I've done with a North TJ-067 1 Kg propane roaster. I start with the highest power setting when the beans are most able to absorb heat and bring it back throughout the roast. I...

Rob Hoos sets airflow at 100% from the outset on his 3Kg USRC roaster. At least that's how I understood that point in his paper on tipping. I do that now on my 1Kg propane drum roaster and get very good results, applying consistent heat without tipping. It helped to get used to a fluid bed sample ro...

It's hard to tell whether that's rust or brass showing through where the chrome was removed by intensive descaling. With the siphon tube, you could try seeing whether Evaporust removes that coating. If not, it's copper. But it looks rough rather than shiny. I think someone mentioned earlier in the t...

Agreed. I've never had a siphon tube look roughly red like that. They're either black with oxidation or pink, smooth copper