# Quest M3 - all set for first roast 😬



## Beeroclock

All set for first roast - probably tomorrow now.. anyone on a 220v Quest MK1 care to give some advice, wouldbe most welcome. Have 2 probes - 1 in a MET position just outside the drum and a Bean Temp probe - which could probably do with being a bit lower - but that's how it goes at the moment.

cheers Phil


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## Beeroclock

4th roast in - still getting to grips with Roastmaster app.


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## Hasi

Great stuff









Can yours (MK1) shut down airflow completely?

My 220V M3 (MK2 I believe) might be almost the same, except for the fan cannot be turned off (which is ok, never have it below 3 anyways)

Interesting addition of aluminium foil... is it to prevent the NSA from spying on your profile?

Could you do a photo of where you placed the probes, exactly?


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## jlarkin

I'm fairly sure that 4 roasts in means you've passed the number of times I used it! Well done


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## Hasi

jlarkin said:


> I'm fairly sure that 4 roasts in means you've passed the number of times I used it! Well done


Why is that?

Didn't you like it?


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## Beeroclock

Hi Hasi

Mine is the Mk1 with thicker drum - have taken it apart today and the drum has been painted (black on the outside) which explains the heat retention..The "tin foil" is actually a heat lagging of some sort - again to help with heat retention. From what I gather these mods allow for less fluctuation in drum temperature - less twitchy - but make it less responsive to heat change. I'm still learning to "drive" the Quest, I'm finding heat stability in the drum is pretty good - however controlling MET is a challenge am controlling this with opening and closing the bean shoot - which affects the airflow.

Remember I'm a newbie









Not my machine but my current probes are in the BT1 and Met position - am going to try a BT2 probe as well but will have to get another meter as the Bluetherm Q only accepts 2 probes. May have to look at Artisan as well because Roastmaster does not allow more than 2 probes I believe.


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## jlarkin

Hasi said:


> Why is that?
> 
> Didn't you like it?


No. I bought it with the intention of trying to give it a really good go. I never got around to properly doing it and have always had a penchant for buying too many beans - from too many different roasters - to actually push me to doing it properly at home.

I saw BeerO had posted a wanted thread so decided to sell it rather than leave it unused. I'm semi-pleased with my decision. I'll have to stop reading his threads though because I may come down with a "nostalgia for what could have been"


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## Beeroclock

We'll see how long I need to scratch this itch for - something I've always wanted to do and I'm grateful to you for letting it go. At the very least - I'm learning and that's what it's all about.

Going forward - will always give you first dibs - if I move on...

Thanks Phil


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## Hasi

Beeroclock said:


> Hi Hasi
> 
> Mine is the Mk1 with thicker drum - have taken it apart today and the drum has been painted (black on the outside) which explains the heat retention..The "tin foil" is actually a heat lagging of some sort - again to help with heat retention. From what I gather these mods allow for less fluctuation in drum temperature - less twitchy - but make it less responsive to heat change. I'm still learning to "drive" the Quest, I'm finding heat stability in the drum is pretty good - however controlling MET is a challenge am controlling this with opening and closing the bean shoot - which affects the airflow.
> 
> Remember I'm a newbie
> 
> View attachment 32068
> 
> 
> Not my machine but my current probes are in the BT1 and Met position - am going to try a BT2 probe as well but will have to get another meter as the Bluetherm Q only accepts 2 probes. May have to look at Artisan as well because Roastmaster does not allow more than 2 probes I believe.


Hi Phil,

I see







though, I don't quite understand the benefits of the heat lagging mod. The way I have used my M3 for hundreds of roasts over the past years did never suggest an issue with heat whatsoever









As for the probes, I took a pro's (Claus Fricke of Rohkaffee Company Berlin) advice and went with BT and ET only. I don't get the fuzz about MET in such small roasters, really. In a commerical machine of certain dimensions and capacity, different temp zones become more of a thing.

In general, ET tells you where you are going before the beans can adopt the temperature from their environment. So it serves as a heads-up/alarm bell to take action before leaving the path of an underlying profile curve. Especially with this array, using the MET and opening/closing the bean chute will trick your perception of what's going on. More than a probe sitting @ET position, considering internal airflow of the M3's roast chamber.

BT2 will be good if roasting small batches, but a PITA when dumping the beans as it's always in the way. In a few weeks to months, you'll be roasting >250g back-to-back a couple of cycles to fulfil your (and your happy friends') demand. So think twice about the effect of drilling holes into screws and placing an irritating probe before you carry it out









Long story short: BT and ET is all you need. In the roaster.

Ambient temp might be worth considering, but neglectable as long as you roast in a constant environment such as your kitchen.

I do use Artisan and can say it's fairly straight forward. It also needs to be - as an open source project driven by users in the first place.

Always press buttons BEFORE you take any action (applies to all roasting software) - so it's guaranteed to be on spot. If you run into trouble performing the action, you might forget about the button...

One example of how to set up a roast in the M3 (my basic principle that I modify only slightly from bean to bean):

- Preheat thoroughly

- Charge at target BT (say 221.5C) - air=3, heaters=4Amps (or greater, depending on ambient temp) - Bean Chute stays open

- @Turning Point (TP) adjust heaters to >4Amps

- @End of Dry Phase (150C), close Bean Chute

- @FCs air=5, lower heaters slightly

- @FCe air=7, heaters=4Amps (this is due to the low mass, maybe it's the MK2 or the lack of thermal insulation BUT it helps with bringing it up to a reasonable charge temp when back-to-back roasting)

- mid-way to SCs, air=max, heaters=0

- when dumping beans, first thing you wanna do is open Bean Chute if you plan to use the built-in bean cooler a second later. Failing to do so will cut off airflow and risk damage to the unit.

PS: you might wanna read through this: http://legacy.sweetmarias.com/roast.carlstaub.html

edit: forgot to post the second link! http://forums.roastersguild.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=87


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## Beeroclock

Thanks Hasi

which version of the Quest do you have? is it the older thicker drum? You are charging at quite a high temp is this because you are loading with 250g beans? - Have been going with 150g so far - but can see that this could become tedious over time...

Cheers Phil


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## Hasi

Hi Phil,

yea, go for 250g! Also, the process becomes more controllable/predictable.

Don't be afraid to throw away a batch or two. Even if you can't pull shots, you can pull experience!

I do have the 1.5mm (or was it 1.6?) drum it came with when I bought it new some three years ago. Drum rotates clockwise, tryer on the right. Must be a Mk2 then?!

I didn't fancy any modifications because I got used to it out-of-the-box

Charge temps are one huge topic, good point.

As outlined in my second link above, roast temperatures are being understood as relative figures. They largely depend on type of roaster, machine-specific factors, sensor specs, gauge variance, ambient/external influences... you name it.

Beans continuously heat up after being dropped into the drum, what we're "measuring" until TP (or maybe even until end of dry phase, again, depending on the setup) is the sensor slowly adopting bean temperature. So, especially these early measurements are best to be viewed as indicators you can respond to and make adjustments relating to your own profile rather than comparing with others online - don't mean to be rude







it's just what makes roasting coffee so adventureous! And sometimes arty or jimdandy... but unique! You need to get to know your tool so you can work with it









In https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2016/02/the-s-curve-roast-profile-exploring-roasting-basics/ you'll see that with larger roasters, heat input is pretty much shut down until TP, because huge thermal mass will transfer heat in due time to achieve a reasonable dry phase length. Not so much with my setup: low thermal mass of roaster and beans, beans stored at around 14-15C. Also, mains current is rather low and dropping under load in the area, limiting power output quite a bit. I simply need to reach a rather high drop temp to arrive at a drinkable profile.

Happy learning!


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