The PRO100x arrived and it has two noteworthy new features. The moisture graph with auto FC detect has been well publicized. Less well known, but just as important (IMHO) is the light!


This makes it MUCH easier to see what's going on, especially once the glass top gets any roast deposits, which only get illuminated from above by an exterior light.

The auto FC detect is great. I've always been hearing FC at about 206-209 degrees C. The moisture graph is much clearer, most times getting 199-201:


Once in a while, it changes its mind, moving FC from 199 to 206:


These are all single origin, so I don't know what exactly is going on with the beans. There are usually two local maxima at 200 and 206.

It's too soon to judge the output (all roasted for espresso), but a few shots that I ground and let sit for an hour before pulling have been tasty. Here's one roast. I dropped it before the end because that DTR was looking high. Then I thought about it and realized that the IKAWA's doesn't spend a minute or two after the drop before they start to increase temperature, so the DTR numbers will always look high. Maybe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯



Matt

Thanks for posting! That chamber looks sooo clean

Have you spotted where the moisture sensor is located? Also, it's not obvious where the chamber light is located either.

I've observed a range of behaviors for the moisture readings across source origins. Some of the origins I've tested produced results that have been kinda ragged like your charts, and others have been formula-smooth.

It looks (to me) like more smoothing would've put the FC detection of the two runs within 15 seconds of each other - perhaps there's a setting for that? Curious how the curves of the second run are so much 'quieter'.

Besides detecting first crack, are there any hints in the app for how IKAWA will turn moisture readings into actionable data? Perhaps they need early adopters like you to build up their database.

No! I don't know where either the sensor or the light is located, but I haven't looked inside the chamber with an inspection mirror. There really is no documentation (that I've found) on how to use the new features. I've been hitting random buttons to see what they (seem to) do. There are two more automation modes. One will continue a fixed time past auto detected FC, the other will try for a target DTR. I haven't tried either yet.

I have (so far) been unable to see the moisture graph during the roast. It shows up in the Roast Log.

I hope these get into more people's hands. I was told that mine went out with the first batch. I mailed my old one back on July 26th and got the new one on August 8th. Oh, and it does come with a Samsung Tablet, as the iOS version isn't ready yet. Kudos to IKAWA for providing a workaround! I've never used Android before, and it's a pretty sluggish tablet (Galaxy A7 Lite), but it is well up to the task of running their software, and that's all it is tasked with doing.

Oh, and in two back to back runs, the case never got above 106 degrees F. I'll try 5 some time...

I'm getting very similar readings from my "HacKAWA" system: same shape but around 10-20% lower than what you're showing. I consider that very encouraging; with just a bit of calibration I'll be able to relate and contribute to the Pro100x community. Might be time to pick a 'calibration source green'...

As for why my readings were lower, I can think of three likely culprits:

1) Batch size. I haven't run the experiments yet, but I'm expecting a linear relationship between batch size and moisture readings. I've been using 65g batches so far, and I'm estimating your batch size was in the 75-100g range - amiright?

2) The greens. I've already seen differences between source origins and age that span a greater difference than the gap between our readings. As for 'single origin', I'm not expecting that always means all the greens came from the same genetically-identical plants, all harvested from the same place at the same time. Just a theory: the width of the peak of the "rate of moisture release" curve might be related to slightly different groups of greens being combined during harvest and processing. That second mini-peak you see might be from a different farm, or a spot where the soil was a bit different. The width of the peak might be wider for a blend, and narrower for a small batch from a single farm.

3) Fan speed. Like batch size, I expect a pretty direct relationship between the volume of air pushed over the beans and their effect on the moisture readings. It might even be possible to use fan speed to correct for the batch size to get more consistent readings and roasting results. I've been reluctant to deviate from my steady 80% fan setting, but now I have a measurement of how the roast is reacting to the total heat input - that might help explain why the same profile with different batch sizes yields different roast levels.

GDM528 wrote: 1) Batch size. I haven't run the experiments yet, but I'm expecting a linear relationship between batch size and moisture readings. I've been using 65g batches so far, and I'm estimating your batch size was in the 75-100g range - amiright?

I ran one at 100g and the rest at 85g. It seems to handle 100g better than the last model - I didn't see any beans stuck forever in the center.

I took the top off to clean it and Lo! the light and moisture sensor were visible.


The light, blue circle, is off, so not very prominent. The moisture sensor, red circle, explains why a long-handled hex nut driver and long needle shaped thing were included in the case. Did I mention that there are no instructions?

The screw visible between the two circles is part of a new doser mechanism. Instead of the doser spinning around 360 degrees, it can only move one way to open until it hits the stop, and then back the other way to close. More reliable and prevents the "few beans that didn't make it into the chamber" issue.

I gave some serious consideration to joining the club. I'd love to have the FC detection and auto development. I just couldn't justify the $2500+ I'd need to pay in exchange for my current Pro100 machine. Felt to me like a very steep cost to upgrade.

Oh, no question. It's a total extravagance for a home roaster like me. Getting equipment above my grade motivates me to improve. Of course, better coffee should be motivation enough.

I really need instruction. Learning any difficult activity without expert feedback is horribly inefficient. Coffee classes aren't hard to find, but roasting is harder, and using an IKAWA narrows the field even more.

RyanP wrote:I gave some serious consideration to joining the club. I'd love to have the FC detection and auto development. I just couldn't justify the $2500+ I'd need to pay in exchange for my current Pro100 machine. Felt to me like a very steep cost to upgrade.

I considered it too, but I purchased my Cormorant for that price difference so it was hard to justify that expense for a, albeit really cool, feature set. Too bad they don't have kit for the Pro100 owners. I'd likely spend 1000-1500 on a kit.

mgrayson wrote:I ran one at 100g and the rest at 85g. It seems to handle 100g better than the last model - I didn't see any beans stuck forever in the center.

Thanks!

Very sloppy math:
Your curves show about a 7-point rise in humidity from T=0 and my runs show about a 5-point rise.

7/5 = 1.4x

85g / 65g = 1.3x

That's well within the variations of different source greens. I also tend to run my fan speed a bit higher than the profiles I typically see from IKAWA, which will decrease my humidity readings a bit.

Too bad IKAWA doesn't include fields for the batch size and fan speed on the same screen that displays the moisture data.