Worth it's own thread I suppose. I don't think I own anything that's stock. Heck, I'd probably modify a spatula if I thought it would work better.

Anyways, here's my Quest M3 at it's current state. Further mods are coming, namely external bean cooling which will accomplish the task much faster and allow me to separate the two processes if I choose.



The stock tryer handle on the Quest is wimpy and inadequate. It's awkward to hold and it sits close enough to the face of the roaster that it's easy to accidentally touch the hot metal inadvertently. A custom longer tryer not only functions 20x better, it looks way cool. The rest of the knobs are the same Bacote to match. The longer knobs make things easier to grab as well.

Which would you rather have to grab and hold on to?


I've mentioned in the past that I find using Orphan Espresso's flexible neck flashlight indispensable when roasting, since I can direct a very strong white light directly into the viewing window to properly monitor the roast in between tryer sampling for sniffing or closer inspection. The only downside to using the light was the slight jeweling/radial grain to the front of the roaster face really creates quite a bit of irritating glare and reflection of that light, so I also painted the front face in the same matte black. Altogether, this little baby is a dream to use. It works just so darn well.

Ignore the messy stovetop I got some gritty sooty stuff on the surfaces while taking it apart, I just quickly set the roaster there to snap this picture after finishing reassembling it after painting it. But it shows how the OE light sits perfectly perched on my ovens door handle and aims right into the viewing glass.

The shot below shows a simple wrap of tape around the light that keeps it from rotating during use.

Forgot about the external fan mod. Super cheap PC fan, wired to 110v AC plug. This fan has triple the CFM airflow as the stock fan and makes less then a whisper of noise. A more elegant solution is in the works. Until then, I'll likely get a simple metal fan screen so I don't have to worry about it falling into the beans and stopping. It's not powerful enough to damage the beans, the blades just stop immediately.

If I had a lathe (and the talent) I'd stick a custom handle on everything! No, this beautiful woodwork came from the hands of our very own FotonDvr (Stephen). He and I have been dialoguing about the Quest for the past 2 months and he offered to make me a set. His work is incredible. Surgical like precision.

There'll be a stand alone cooling tray with a fan built into a lid that will be placed over the basket. Other than that, there's not much else that can be done.

Thanks Tom!

I will be working on my own Quest in the not to distant future, but first I have a cooling tray rack to build for you.

Cheers,

Stephen

Has anyone seen or used one of these? http://store.igrillinc.com/igrill-black/

UPDATE:

i-Grill will only go to 400f so I guess it was a good idea, but just not capable of taking the heat for roasting more than a turkey.

Here is something that makes the Quest easier to load a charge of beans. It gets the beans past the top duct in the Quest and all of them enter the roasting drum.

Aluminum funnel with stainless steel drop tube.

I am currently working on a rotating arm cooling tray with a fan, similar to Will Chan's, but with the fan on the bottom and the ability to connect to a bagless vacuum system.

Some more FotonDrv magic! Thanks Stephen.







Terence

Terence:

It appears that your Quest has the face plate mirrored which would mean that the drum turns in the other direction! How old is your Quest?

Stephen

I've only had it for about a month.

T