# Designing a Domestic Roaster



## JoeRus (Oct 17, 2015)

Hi Guys,

I am a product design student looking to design a domestic coffee roaster. I've gained a lot of insight from my initial research however it is still new territory to me. I am a coffee enthusiast myself, however have only ever tried roasting beans in a skillet at home.

I am aiming at designing and prototyping a home roaster which would look to roast enough beans for around 20 - 40 cups of coffee. The techniques of roasting (ie fluid bed or drum) and cooling will depend upon my research and any feedback that I receive.

The key issue I would like your help in understanding is why there seems to be no market leading commercially manufactured roaster at present? Why might the current ones not be sufficient? And why do so many seem to prefer building their own?

With this in mind I would very much appreciate any experience or advice from avid home roasters such as yourselves.

Thank you

Joe


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

JoeRus said:


> The key issue I would like your help in understanding is why there seems to be no market leading commercially manufactured roaster at present? Why might the current ones not be sufficient? And why do so many seem to prefer building their own?
> 
> With this in mind I would very much appreciate any experience or advice from avid home roasters such as yourselves.
> 
> ...


Well there is the Gene Cafe, Hottop, Quest M3, Fracino Rostalino and the soon to arrive Aillo Bullet R1 to name a few. I'm not sure a lot of people build their own?

My advice would be to research the current crop of roasters on the market and understand how they work, their limitations/advantages etc..This will help you in understanding the technologies, what might need to be in your design and what sort of cost the market will bear for such a roaster.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

I believe people were doing popcorn popper mods and "stir crazy" coffee roasters with a halogen oven lid shoved on top and some mods to the vanes and insulation to the motor. Some people built their own based on the same design, drilling holes in cooking pots, sourcing their own motors etc. Now most people just buy the Gene Cafe or the like. When people were building their roasters I think Gene Cafe was either unheard of or it didn't exist. In any case it came down to the prohibitive cost of roasters like the hottop more often than a lack of alternatives. Some people wanted to achieve a larger batch size than was possible on existing roasters too.

So some starting points:

Batch Sizes.

Cost.

Control over the roast.

Reliability.

Size.

Smoke ventilation.


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## coldplayer (Oct 3, 2013)

In my experience, the guys who build or modify their roasters are generally tinkerers and eccentric types like myself. They roast because it is fun, not because the current roasters available are "not sufficient". I have used popcorn poppers, a couple of Korean roasters and a Dieckmann Rostmeister, modifying them all to gain an element of control of the roast. From here, if we continue to roast, we progress onto something like a Gene Café or a Hottop. The Gene Café seems to be a decent compromise between cost and control for a lot of people. With a well documented heat control modification, the Gene Café is a very popular choice for the cost conscious home roaster. Probably the main reason there is not a "market leading commercially manufactured roaster" at present, is that there are many sources of high quality, freshly roasted beans, at a very reasonable cost. To spend a substantial amount on a home roaster is largely pointless, if fresh, quality beans are required. The Gene Café is successful because, at the price, it fits most peoples needs. If you were to design a "new" home roaster, it would have to be a good compromise between control, batch size, reliability, cleanliness and cost.....and for the majority of people who enjoy fresh coffee, the cost, I would suggest, is the prime consideration. Personally I would love to try/own something like a Quest M3 or a Hottop, but just cannot justify the cost (to she who must be obeyed, if i am being honest) and I am sure I am not alone in being in this situation. DavecUK is an extremely experienced roaster expert, i would definitely take his advice.


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## Coffeejon (Oct 10, 2014)

JoeRus said:


> The key issue I would like your help in understanding is why there seems to be no market leading commercially manufactured roaster at present?


My thought on this is it's still quite a small market and still quite niche. Until some one can design a Nespresso roaster/Bean to cup for the mass market, it will stay small. The Bullet R1 is probably the closest to a wider audience, but still niche (and expensive). Also remember, it's quite a hard art roasting & takes allot of time & effort to learn how to do it. I think the Bullet R1 could crack (see what I did there







this problem by offering transferable profiles for beans, so you could in theory 'try' someone else's roasting profile on the same beans. This I feel is the next step for home roasting, though on smaller scale than the Bullet.

.... Just seen this http://www.ikawacoffee.com/ some one is way ahead of me


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