Some interesting (to me) things about their build:

1) The thermocouple is outside of the drum, yikes. I think that means it will track the applied heat more closely than the actual temperature around the beans. I suppose the positive take on that, is the feedback loops will be less prone to scorch the beans.

2) The thermocouple bead is exposed - yay! Dramatically faster response time. Faster thermocouples = faster control loops = tighter control = again, less scorching. Might get fouled up with roasting effluence, but it looks reasonably accessible for cleaning (if even necessary).



3) The drum is fabricated from a single sheet of what looks like aluminum, laser/waterjet cut so it will hinge in an orderly fashion when bent into a tube. Clever way to reduce manufacturing labor. However this design looks significantly less permeable than the bars of the larger models, such that the IR lamps will largely just be heating the drum, and heat the beans primarily through conduction. Dunno if that's good, bad, or indifferent.

4) The chassis is welded in several places, which adds to the manufacturing cost, but says they care enough about the machine aesthetics to suppress cheap-sounding rattles.

I am usually wrong about these things, but me thinks the drum is some sort of steel.

Xian also showed a photo of a TC barely inside the drum. Is it buried in the bean mass? The other TC is probably ET.

FWIW the Kaffelogic roaster has a bare bead TC extended well inside the drum. I was told it's durable and easily replaced.

The design of the drum has changed a bit from the units I have seen demoed from months back, seems like my drum is made from the sheet of metal instead of the bars.

When I originally came across the Kaleido roasters the drums all looked like this


The little hopper area holds about 150g


With the drum not moving a 150g charge the beans sit right below the bead, but when the drum is rotating the probe is usually in contact with some beans

SquidMan wrote:I am usually wrong about these things, but me thinks the drum is some sort of steel.

I'm inclined to agree, just not accustomed to seeing steel with such a strong white/silver tint to it and such a deeply scored brushed texture on the surface. The latest photos do make it look more like steel. I imagine the choice of material for the drum can have a significant impact on the heat transfer.

Looks like stainless steel to me.

SquidMan wrote:I have both the M6 and M1, the probe inside the drum is just a tiny bead TC barely sticking in.

You write that you are roasting 150g. Unless you've already written this and I've missed it, how long do your roasts take and what roast levels are you reaching in those times? Some of us are skeptical about whether the M1 has enough power.

My typical roasts take around 7-9 minutes in the city+ to full city range. I took some old beans and just let it run going up and down the power levels and I can get burnt and oily and ash in 11-12 minutes while never going up to 100% power.