# Hottop owners



## 4085

Hi

I am considering a new roaster. I have, and am a big fan of the Gene Cafe, but if I change, want to try something else. There is very little choice for us in the UK, and as much as I have argued with Ht owners, I have to give it consideration. People say email Shelly, they offer great service and that is re-assuring. does the UK model come for 240 volt? Does anyone know when dealing direct with them, how to view the cost as people say there is a difference between the $ rate quoted and the conversion to £


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## ronsil

The model for the UK comes with 240v equipment.

Forget the 'P' model - go for the 'B'. You will find it not too dissimilar to the Genecafe but with much more control.

It is true, the price in $$ you see on 'Hottopusa' will translate direct into ££s. In addition, as I have said before, the duty/tax payable is a lottery. In the last 5 years I have imported 2 Hottops from Taiwan & not been charged duty. On the other hand I have brought items recently into UK from the USA & had to pay a full 25% tax/duty before delivery. You have to be prepared for this & breathe a sigh of relief if you don't have to pay.

When I bought my Versalab some years ago it also came delivered without extra charge.

The Hottops are great work horses & if looked after & kept well cleaned, you would be amazed how filthy they can get inside the works, they go on for a very long time.

You will certainly hear all the 'cracks' which is more than can be said for the GC. The HT is pretty silent in operation & the motor runs very smoothly.

I have added a lot of electronics to my HTs & having 2 allows me to continuously roast without adopting methods to rapidly cool a machine for back to back roasts.


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## 4085

Thanks Ron, but can I check who you are suggesting I deal with? Hottop USA or direct to Taiwan. Could you give me a website?


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## 4085

On the Taiwan website, they only list two models, KN-8828 and KN-8828D.......


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## ronsil

Taiwan website useless for single sales & hasn't been updated for years. The 2 models you mention are obsolete.

Email Shelly - Shelly Chiang [email protected] <shelly> & she will give you the prices & what is currently available to the UK</shelly>

Talk to her, she is a very nice business person. She knows me very well

Hottopusa is very useful & full of information, repairs etc but they will not sell outside of [email protected]>


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## 4085

Thanks for the advice Ron. I have contacted Shelly and received the following back:

Dear David,

We have a warehouse in UK and send from UK, so you don't need to pay extra

import tax, we have two models, price as below

KN8828B-2K GBP890

KN8828P-2K GBP790

The price all inc shipping cost, we also offer warranty for one year,

payment is by transfer, we'd like to know which model you want, thanks.

Best regards,

Edward

That takes a bit out of the lottery approach but there is one heck of a discrepancy over the USA price!

Right, I know you are always helpful, so can I ask another couple oif questions, and any Hottopers can answer. I like the Gene because of its simplicity, 2 buttons, one for time, one for hear. It has been suggested that the B model is similar. So, are we saying that the machine has a number of set profiles, but that you can over rise those manually? Also, can you point me at the logging data you use. I musyt admit over the last couple of years I have not been logging my roasts at all, but perhaps should start again

Thanks in anticipation


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## ronsil

You can override the built in profile & then save it as your own for future use. What is interesting is that HT appear to have reduced the price of the 'P' to below that of the 'B'. The 'P' was supposed to be their flagship model. I guess, like me, 'real' roasters don't like it as its not easy to control without a lot of patience.

Until I recently made my machines fully computer controlled I used a probe(Omega) drilled through the chute lid & kept full records using the excellent (super) Roast Logger program by GreenBean. This program is available free for download from TMC.

I suggest you look back in this CFUK 'Home Roasters' section to about last September where you will find an overload of information I put up when I computerised my machine. There are lots of data charts to look at. BTW I am not suggesting you fully computerise. Its overkill for perhaps 1-2 roasts a week. However the mod of adding a probe through the chute lid is well worth while as you then keep automatic records of all your roasts. I did this very happily for 3-4 years & found it very useful. GreenBeans program allows you to extend this with the use of a webcam (OCR) aimed at the temp figures on the HT control panel. Thus you can get bean temperature & an approx. but consistent, environment temp

I think there are only a few other HT users here. You may have to gather any extra info you require via TMC


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## 4085

Ron, I have read through your posts and it is very interesting indeed. Unfortunately, it is all well above anything that I am capable of and I do not know anyone locally who would do it for me. So unless you went into the sideline that you mentioned at the end of your thread of doing it to Expobaristas machine, I am just going to have to decide B or P and ignore the fact I am not using it to its full potential!


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## ronsil

See my PM on this. I would suggest asking Edward at Hottop if they have made a mistake with the price as the 'B' model has always been much cheaper than the 'P' You may find you can save a few pennies.

We couldn't proceed any further with Expo's Machine as it is analogue & they do not convert easily or cheaply.

Finally, I repeat, do not land yourself with a P you will always regret it. GreenBean & many,many others will tell you the same


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## Peelie72

Thats way too much for this piece of kit, with or without courier. Add import duty on that & it's going to hurt.

Quest M3 - everyone loves that machine & it looks & sounds built to last, for this price bracket, I'd consider it seriously.

I got my hands on a new Behmor 1600 a couple of months ago. Its a great little machine. Just like My Gaggia TS & Rocky grinder, the onus is totally on me. I am the weakest link.

The Behmor is very quiet. You can soon pick up on the different sounding "pops" & "ticks" of the first & second cracks.

I like a roast slightly on the dark side, no issues with the Behmor, It's simply said on the instructions to protect the manufacturers arse.

Window open, under the cooker hood, no smoke issues worth talking about. When I cook fish or roast-off some spices, there's a bit of a whiff in the kitchen, ain't a bad whiff, just a whiff, same as the Behmor.


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