Get a Watt Meter ASAP for an Electric Roaster

Discuss roast levels and profiles for espresso, equipment for roasting coffee.
jevenator
Posts: 640
Joined: 5 years ago

#1: Post by jevenator »

I have an electric roaster (Quest M3) that I have been roasting on since Oct last year and have been going through ups and down with it making great coffee and some disgusting coffee especially with those natural roasts haha.

I bought a watt meter back in April and I've been roasting with that ever since and it has made my roasts so much more consistent and able to log/track them so I can repeat roasts or change things better. Before just looking at the amps every single time to get it perfect is much harder than reading a display on the wattmeter with exactly what power your roaster is drawing. And you won't fall to parallax error looking at the amp dial.

It's a better way to communicate as well because if someone has a different outlet that can offer different power output slightly as well. I am surprised by how little you need to turn the dial as well to make a difference.

I usually am dropping by 50-100 watt every 10-20degrees at a time when I am making adjustments. At max, with a low fan setting I get around 1160 watts and there is a small dead zone in the dial when I start to turn it down and then it picks up to be linear in its adjustment.

So just wanted to share. If you have a Quest M3 for example and you don't have a watt meter I would highly recommend the $30 investment into it.

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Brewzologist
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#2: Post by Brewzologist »

Completely agree. I roasted with a Behmor for years and never without a watt meter.

Marcelnl
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Joined: 10 years ago

#3: Post by Marcelnl »

thanks, though I'm using a Huky I just remembered I bought a Watt meter and could use it to measure my fan setting a bit better than by rule of thumb!
LMWDP #483

Mbb
Posts: 465
Joined: 6 years ago

#4: Post by Mbb »

Agree
Great CHEAP improvement in repeatability and setting accuracy

Can be had for as little as $15

Janus77
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Joined: 4 years ago

#5: Post by Janus77 »

I purchased a watt meter on the recommendation of a friend about 6 months ago. Wish i'd taken the advice much earlier, has made a huge difference to roast consistency. A curve doesn't tell you much if the heat and air adjustments aren't accurate and repeatable.

Bunkmil
Posts: 358
Joined: 10 years ago

#6: Post by Bunkmil »

Yep I have been roasting with a watt meter for years on my Quest M3s.
Much more easy to know your heat setting and to repeat a profile.

Roasty
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#7: Post by Roasty »

Any specific Watt Meter recommendations? If you could point me to one on amazon, it would be much appreciated. :D

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btreichel
Posts: 141
Joined: 8 years ago

#8: Post by btreichel »

My old variac just died (was using one for power, one for fan in my old P1 days ). Just got a new 2KVA, have also had a killawatt for years. Roast by power, and bean mass. Thats how I can hit a consistent 10 min to 1st, regardless if its 90+ outside, or 30.

Nunas
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#9: Post by Nunas »

Just look on Amazon for Kil-a-watt. It's possibly the original. I have one and the quality is excellent. There are now many copies also on Amazon for as little as $20.

dhdhk
Posts: 37
Joined: 5 years ago

#10: Post by dhdhk »

Interesting.... are you saying that the watt meter makes it easier to control the roast curve to match a profile? Or do you think that even if the roast curve matches according to Aritsan/probe, there might actually be differences in heat output? I roast with an electric drum roaster and I can get things pretty close just by eyeing the curve in the background and fiddling with the heat throttle.

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