Almico wrote:First order of business will be to poke a hole in it for a new BT probe. Hopefully, not too hard. I believe SF roasters are all mild steel, no cast iron or SS.

Schedule 40 high carbon steel. No cast iron. Sherman Dodd wasn't a fan of cast iron.

Very nice score.

hankua wrote:I guess "loud" is relative, the guys at that roastery keep music blasting in the background. For me the hydraulic ram on the SF75 discharge gate warrants earplugs, can't hear first crack either. They roast outstanding coffee at Bold Bean, you should be able to do the same.

This was the UG15 I went to see a few weeks ago. Absolutely silly quiet.
And even as quiet as it was, you could not hear first crack without opening a port by the chimney.

According to SF, "The SF-75 is the largest drum coffee roaster available from the San Franciscan Roaster Company. Despite its size and power, The SF-75 is one of the quietest roasters in the world."

I have a feeling it's not as quiet as that UG15. I think the difference is in the fans. The UG15 has huge, belt-driven fans that are likely lower RPM than the spinning squirrel cages of modern roasters.

EddyQ wrote:Al,
Is this your new place? Pretty serious!

That's the seller's place.

I had a place in mind, but I visited the space today and the ceiling is a lot lower than I remembered. There is a suspended ceiling at 9.5' that would have to be removed, some HVAC adjusted and maybe even joists in the roof removed and boxed off for the afterburner. I need 3' of clearance above a 96" high afterburner.

I knew I was in for project when I hit that Bid Now button. I'm planning on about another $15K to get it going the way I want.

Interestingly, I'm going through roaster videos and am amazed at how many very large, "sophisticated" machines have $3 timers stuck to the control box. Even the UG15 I went to see has one on a post next to the roaster. It's astounding how may roasters are still doing their craft by a $3 timer. Even Don Cox of Bald Guy Brew, the SF east coast roasting school, has a timer on the control box:
I really glad I got into this in the era of Artisan. Thanks Marco!!

Almico wrote:I have a pair of VOTT A5s for just such a purpose. They've been in the LR for a few years (again, no wife), but I could use the room.
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nice bit of kit!
Would I have the room I'd probably use fullrange horns, alas....

I'm guessing the SF75 can be ordered with a variety of options, Bold Bean got the basic manual model with the damper. I don't remember seeing a VFD drive on the drum motor either. They started without the loader, and got one within the first year. Maybe someone with good hearing who roasts on the 75 can hear first crack, it's very faint; mine is not great. It also puts out a lot of heat, not fun in the hot Florida summers. I've watched BB roast on the SF75 many times when it was in a retail location, they really had it zeroed in. I think there may be some development going on in the cooling bin, the outer edge in the tray lacks perforation.

Mine has a VFD on the drum, we're not sure about the air. But the fan has a 3ph motor and adding the VFD would not be hard. I can mount the knob interface remotely to my control panel (Jake G.!) The top tube damper is infinitely variable (no detents), but there is an air pressure magnehelic right on the control box.

I saw the Instagram post with the sellers new Deidrich CR-70 and it looks like it has it own loader, so I'm hoping mine comes with the old one. I'll be roasting 15-20# batches for a while, but it's nice to know I can roast more when the time comes and standing on a stool dumping a 60# bucket of coffee into a hopper 8' off the ground does not sound like fun.

I was just talking about installation locations with a friend. The place I was considering is 1300 sqft, but it has a low ceiling. If I rip out the suspended ceiling, roof insulation and some rafter joists, I can box in 48"sq and just get 11' above the afterburner. I might need to look for another location.

Air condition is an interesting question. Do I "heat" and "cool" the same space? Do I build in an office and keep it air conditioned? Moving from one space to the other is not pleasant.

My 5kg roaster does not cool exceptionally well. I let beans cool 3/4 of the way through the next roast before I dump them. I have cooling bin development time built into my profiles. I've pulled beans straight out of the roaster and cooled them in seconds and then compared. There is really not a big difference in 1 minute cooling and 5 minutes. But the color does change 5 Agtron while cooling.

One thing I'm curious about is the gas control lever. There is a big gas pressure gauge next to the controls, but I'm wondering how well the gas lever/valve works.

Almico wrote:I really glad I got into this in the era of Artisan. Thanks Marco!!

Thanks Almico! But don't go out of the street now and clap loud. This didn't help the nurses either.

I'm using my roasting space to kill the other phase of my audio