pcofftenyo wrote:I know I'm a bit late here but the bullet capacity is 1kg/roast and am pretty sure that it can do more than 3 roasts/day.

That said, I have one and much prefer roasts out of my Huky.

A used Dietrich 3kg can be had for appx 6-7K usd which will roast all day long.

Honestly they're not that hard to learn. To master is another story but to produce marketable coffee isn't that tough.

Thank you for your honest opinion on the Bullet. I've seen it discussed before that it can be tough to dial in a good roast on the Bullet. What would you say is holding back the Bullet or what does it struggle with that a more traditional style roaster like the Huky doesn't in your experience?

There is a lot more to running a roasting business than just roasting. I spend 5% of my time in front of a roaster. The rest is operating the business. The thought of doing 50-70 roasts a week gives me the willies.

If you want to sell to coffee shops (I don't), find out from them where they get their coffee. If you can't find out that kind of information up front, then you will never sell them coffee. What do they like about their vendor, what don't they like. Many coffee shops have their coffee supply tied into their equipment. Large roasting companies give all kinds of incentives in free and cheap equipment, grinders, brewers, espresso machines, in order to secure a coffee account. Many shops are locked in to this agreement. If they switch coffee suppliers, they replacement equipment. That's a major PITA. Is your coffee good enough to warrant such an upheaval? Do you want to get into the coffee equipment business?

If I were you, I would either buy a small 500g roaster to learn to roast and then, if you decide you like it, you can move to a larger one and use the small one as a sample roaster. Or, buy a used 5-6kg roaster (the smallest size to realistically run a roasting business) and learn on that. If you don't like it, you can recoup you investment. Cost of learning is greater on a large capacity roaster, and what are you going to do with all those training batches?

The last thing you want to do now is buy a new piece of expensive equipment in this economic climate. Today I tried to buy the same exact undercounter fridge I bought for my coffee bar last year for $1700 and it was $2500! That's crazy.

Most people thinking about getting into the roasting business think first about buying the roaster. In reality, that is the last thing you should be doing after all marketing research and business planning is in place.

Thank you for you response, I appreciate it. I said in my OP that I've been getting this together for around 1 year and am now finalizing my roaster selection, so buying the roaster is, like you said, the last thing that I am doing. I'd say I have several 100 hours preparing branding, marketing, business strategy, potential clientele, leasing/real estate options, and so forth. I've been kicking the final selection down the road for awhile because of the overwhelming number of options. I've had home roasters for awhile, so I'm not 100% new to roasting. I am new to roasting at a scalable rate and want to make sure I know all my options or can learn a bit from those that traveled before. Unfortunately roasting on the Behmor isn't something that translates very well to commercial equipment. I feel like I have a decent grasp on the theory but am completely ignorant on manual drum roasters or commercial roasting equipment in general.

I know what you mean about prices! I've seen posts on here saying something like a Sonofesco 1-2lb machine used for $1k or so would be a good starting option to get going quickly, but they are now $4k+ and nowhere to be found used! I'd pick up a used Sonofresco for $1k in a heartbeat if they were around just to tinker on. Some posts show the Bullet used to cost $1500 a few year ago, now it is $3400+. I saw a Coffee Tech Solar advertised for $4500 used from a few years ago, now they are well over $10k+.

I'm guessing it is a combo of the COVID roast-at-home interest then folks try to turn it into a business explosion of specialty coffee roasters in the past year or so. It is probably a pretty crowded market in the cities these days, but my area doesn't have a roaster within a 100 mile radius and I've had a lot of interest so far. We have many micro breweries and wineries so I believe the area could support a specialty coffee company.

Thanks for your help

Milligan wrote:Thank you for your honest opinion on the Bullet. I've seen it discussed before that it can be tough to dial in a good roast on the Bullet. What would you say is holding back the Bullet or what does it struggle with that a more traditional style roaster like the Huky doesn't in your experience?

The Bullet is slower to respond than the Huky regarding heat application and reduction. The Huky has a very thin drum so it transmits and releases quickly. Many drums use cast iron so they're more heat-mass too. Others also have heat not just at the bottom but IR grids along the sides from say 3pm to 9pm clockface.

I think the Bullet's fan is stronger and it can suck temps down faster.

My buddy's in the same spot you are in a sense: He's wanting to go from his 3kg to a 10 kilo with a $6K usd to $18K usd spread.

pcofftenyo wrote:Many drums use cast iron so they're more heat-mass too.

Where do you have this information from. I was just told by Probat that they never produced a single machine with a cast iron drum. The mixing pedals might be from cast iron on some very old models.

pcofftenyo wrote:The Bullet is slower to respond than the Huky regarding heat application and reduction. The Huky has a very thin drum so it transmits and releases quickly. Many drums use cast iron so they're more heat-mass too. Others also have heat not just at the bottom but IR grids along the sides from say 3pm to 9pm clockface.

I think the Bullet's fan is stronger and it can suck temps down faster.

My buddy's in the same spot you are in a sense: He's wanting to go from his 3kg to a 10 kilo with a $6K usd to $18K usd spread.

What 3kg machine does your friend use? Good spot to be in if he is needing more capacity. It is an odd time it seems as I stated earlier. Prices are sometimes 2x higher for a machine than just a couple of years ago. Hard to feel good about making a decision.

MaKoMo wrote:Where do you have this information from. I was just told by Probat that they never produced a single machine with a cast iron drum. The mixing pedals might be from cast iron on some very old models.

He probably just meant heavy metal construction which holds more heat.

I put in a request last week from CoffeeTech and haven't gotten a response. I also reached out to two of their affiliates with no response as well yet. Are these guys still in business? I noticed their social media still seems to be current. Not exactly instilling much confidence if I can't get information on how to give them money When I reached out to Ikawa they had a response back within the day. It may be because CoffeeTech doesn't have a big presence in the states?

*Spoke too soon, an affiliate did get back with me but they do not sell the equipment. They put me in touch with someone that works there so hopefully that get the ball rolling a bit.