# Treated myself to a nice German bean roaster.



## Wuyang

Given its near Christmas I decided to use the last of my savings and splash out on a suitable roaster. Opted for a German model in the end as I felt it would be best suited to my small batches. Having loads of fun messing around and the results so far have been quite impressive.....wish I'd done it sooner.


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## coffeechap

which model?


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## Wuyang

Severin


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## Wuyang

http://www.severin.com/kitchen/sweet-treats/popcorn-makers/popcorn-maker-pc-3751


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## Rob1

Modded it out yet?


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## hotmetal

Einmal gepoppt niemehr gestoppt ha ha!


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## "coffee 4/1"

Mmm, (impressive) do you mean, faster than the fastest bean thats ever been roasted fast, without modding.


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## MrShades

Errrr.... without modding it, this popcorn popper appears to take a small batch of beans to first crack in about 3 mins.... which is clearly bonkers. You need a dimmer in the heating circuit at the very least I think.


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## Wuyang

Not modded. Main thing is I'm happy with it, it does great popcorn and coffee, incredibly simple to use, would recommend it to anyone wanting to try roasting without spending too much. I found a few recommendations of this machine for coffee roasting in the Amazon product review section. It's ideal for me.


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## MrShades

Wuyang said:


> Not modded. Main thing is I'm happy with it, it does great popcorn and coffee, incredibly simple to use, would recommend it to anyone wanting to try roasting without spending too much. I found a few recommendations of this machine for coffee roasting in the Amazon product review section. It's ideal for me.


Great stuff- as long as you're happy!

Any roasting is good roasting, but get your screwdrivers out and I get the impression that it could be better.

Enjoy!


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## Wuyang

What mods.......? Open to all advice.

I will take more notice next time I roast, but 5 mins comes to mind for first crack for about 80/90ish grams of coffee seems to taste nice.....that's all I really have to go on.


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## froggystyle

Google popcorn roaster, the Americans love these and lots of discussions on one of the forums, cant remember the name of it though.


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## emin-j

I have the same machine









This was my first attempt before I discovered medium roast ,









http://http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?4724-Startup-Kit&p=25895#post25895


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## Wuyang

emin-j said:


> I have the same machine
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> This was my first attempt before I discovered medium roast ,
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> http://http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?4724-Startup-Kit&p=25895#post25895


How you getting on with it?

Mine came with UK plug fitted.


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## grumpydaddy

You bunch of buggers with your bright ideas....

Now you have me interested in modding a popcorn machine. Still at maybe £10 delivered for a secondhand Prima it should not break the bank


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## emin-j

Wuyang said:


> How you getting on with it?
> 
> Mine came with UK plug fitted.


Not used it for a while, the plastic cover gets very hot and the smaller section started melting so then draped a upturned gauze kitchen strainer over the top to stop the beans popcorning,had a second strainer to tip the roasted beans into then back into the first strainer juggler style to cool the beans then tip them onto a cold plate.


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## Rob1

You open it up and wire in a dimmer for the fan speed and a on/off switch for the heating element. I'd try and add dimmer switches for both. You'll probably find instructions on Sweet Maria's and probably home barista.


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## Wuyang

emin-j said:


> Not used it for a while, the plastic cover gets very hot and the smaller section started melting so then draped a upturned gauze kitchen strainer over the top to stop the beans popcorning,had a second strainer to tip the roasted beans into then back into the first strainer juggler style to cool the beans then tip them onto a cold plate.


I take the plastic covers off and for the time been just put a baked bean can open at both ends in its place. Going to make a light mesh one,,,few minutes job.


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## Wuyang

Thinking about it though I don't think it needs modding unless I'm missing something......it roasts the beans well and hasn't cut out yet, seems to get them dark enough if that's your thing, but doesn't burn them like some popcorn roasters seem to do very quickly.


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## froggystyle

Too hot, too fast.


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## "coffee 4/1"

grumpydaddy said:


> You bunch of buggers with your bright ideas....
> 
> Now you have me interested in modding a popcorn machine. Still at maybe £10 delivered for a secondhand Prima it should not break the bank











for lever machines it's best to get the freshest beans so have a go, right of photo is prima popper which tips beans to bean cooler, has thermocouple probe, glass chimney,chaff collector, split fan, with varic transformer, ideal roast 90g at 12min


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## grumpydaddy

Care to elaborate on the "split fan and variac"?

Are you controlling heat output or fan speed or both?

edit: and what, pray tell, is the white thingamy bobber on top of the cooler?


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## Drewster

grumpydaddy said:


> Care to elaborate on the "split fan and variac"?
> 
> Are you controlling heat output or fan speed or both?
> 
> edit: and what, pray tell, *is the white thingamy bobber on top of the cooler?*


Unless I am mistaken that is the top part of a Halogen cooker.....


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## Wuyang

\ said:


> View attachment 18203
> 
> 
> for lever machines it's best to get the freshest beans so have a go, right of photo is prima popper which tips beans to bean cooler, has thermocouple probe, glass chimney,chaff collector, split fan, with varic transformer, ideal roast 90g at 12min


Nice looking set-up


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## "coffee 4/1"

the variable transformer is to control the heat, fan on permeant, popper for sample roast, turbo oven my type of KKTO roaster as mine is a triple pot design, for 200g-500gm of beans, of the two you see the KKTO is the better for no tipping & even roast through out the bean, typical weight loss 15% of roast


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## Wuyang

Any idea what dimmer switch I would need for the heating element?......heard high wattage mentioned.

Any links appreciate appreciated ?


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## grumpydaddy

I am going to try this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351115305541?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


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## Wuyang

Thanks........,,,,, do you have any idea of the dimensions.......in that can you fit internally?

Might be asking questions on wiring up when I buy one....

Thanks

wuyang


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## grumpydaddy

Input supply voltage: 110V ~ 250V AC

The output voltage:50V-250V(Output voltage


The maximum output power: 2000W


The maximum output current :25A

The voltage regulating range:50V-250V AC(Output voltage


The operation environment temperature:-20℃-40℃


*Dimension: Approx. 47*35*27mm*


Won't know it it will fit inside until the popper arrives. Thinking of adding air intake near it to maintain cooling if it does fit


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## Wuyang

Cheers Grumpydaddy.........have you gone for the prima popper?


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## grumpydaddy

Yes, at £10.70 delivered it seemed like something I can play around with without worrying too much.

Might help you with yours in that I can make the mistakes on the cheap one so you don't have to


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## "coffee 4/1"

have a look at homeroaster.org all things popper there, might help.


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## martinierius

This should inspire you: a popper modded out with programmable profiles.

Almost as good as an Ikawa roaster at a fraction of the cost.


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## Wuyang

grumpydaddy said:


> Yes, at £10.70 delivered it seemed like something I can play around with without worrying too much.
> 
> Might help you with yours in that I can make the mistakes on the cheap one so you don't have to


Have you had time to play around with the popper, adapting etc? Just wondering how you are getting on...


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## grumpydaddy

Pretty much all the other guys at work have taken Longer leave this Christmas but not me....I'm just very busy.... to the point where when I get home I don't want to be doing anything like this....

So short answer is no, not yet.

I have read up a bit on profiles though, just to get a feel for how fast I should be aiming for (typically). Want to be able to slow things down a bit

Have ordered some popping corn too for the Kids (and got a second prima for them) should go well with Netflix.

If you have not seen it here is something for you.... good info site I feel

https://legacy.sweetmarias.com/library/content/using-sight-determine-degree-roast


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