# Are you a Home Roaster?



## ronsil

I always feel that this Home Roasting Forum is under used by real home roasters. With that in mind I thought it might be a good idea to find out who are the Home Roasters & what machinery they are using.

With sufficient interest this could lead to exchanging our roasted beans for appraisal, green bean discussion, profile exchange, equipment discussion & even joint purchases.

So initially to test the water, so to speak, I am asking all Home Roasters on CFUK to reply in this thread listing any roasting equipment they use. The roaster size should be a max of 1 kg load

Appended is a list, in no particular order, of all safe Home Roasting equipment that is available in the UK. If I have missed one please feel free to say so. I have deliberately left off the machines like the coffee bean roaster Lakeland used to sell because it is a fire hazard & you can only roast limited type pre prepared beans

Genecafe Original

Genecafe Modded

Behmor 1600

Imex CR100

Popcorn Popper

Popcorn Popper Modded

Roastilino Counter Top

I-Roast 1

I-Roast 2

Hottop D

Hottop B or B2

Hottop P or P2

Hottop B2-K

Hottop P2-K

Quest M3

Stainless Steel Bowl & Heatgun

Whirley Pop Roaster

BBQ Drum Roaster

Toper Cafemino 1 Kg hardly home machine but someone may have one.

Anything else homemade or imported.

I will collate the replies to give an indication of what is currently happening in the Home Roaster World for CFUK.

Happy roasting.


----------



## The Systemic Kid

Great idea Ron. just about to start firing up - well, not literally I hope - a Quest M3.


----------



## Glenn

Great idea Ron

Ikawa is also a roaster to add to your list


----------



## 4085

I have a Gene Cafe which is modded, but alas, I have to admit since I found raves Java Jampit I have not fired her up!


----------



## vintagecigarman

Been using a Behmor 1600 for about 4 years. Roasting twelve ounces at a time, around three times a week.


----------



## DavecUK

I have:

Modded Gene

Weird Chinese roaster (shite)

Chinese Alpenroast Clone (shite)

Quest M3 (not bad)

Genecafe CBR1200 1kg Commercial Roaster (very good)


----------



## ronsil

DavecUK said:


> Genecafe CBR1200 1kg Commercial Roaster


Wow!!. - Seen your picture of that on CG. Is it all manual, like its little brother, or can you set it up to control everything in advance.?

Don't want to sidetrack this thread but was really interested in that beauty.

Anyway folk please keep your roaster details rolling in. Don't be put off by the 'big' stuff, we want your input be it ever so humble,


----------



## DavidBondy

Behmor 1600. Roasting 700g per week in two batches.

I've also owned the AlpenRoast (stopped using when neighbours kept calling the Fire Brigade) and the iRoast 1 & 2.

If the Behmor dies then I will buy the Gene Cafe (probably from Claudette)!

David


----------



## DavecUK

The Big Gencafe is similar ish in temperature control as the smaller Gene, but that's where the similarity ends. It has a bean hopper, to load beans after a computer controlled preheat, automatically (or manually), dumps the beans into a chute and into a cooling tray below (fan cooled), you can then roast (and cool at the same time) your next batch. Plus 2 heater buttons allowing you to turn a heater off, bean mass/chamber temperature. Unlike the Gene you don't remove the chamber to add/eject beans, only for cleaning.

It does roast really well, but of course this is the product of bean mass, with small bean masses 200-300g, it's very hard to get a good roast, as the bean mass reaches 1kg or larger, you tend to get better roasts from roasters.


----------



## Geordie Boy

I've an unmodded Genecafe. At the moment I'm only really using it to roast for brewed for work (I probably do 1kg a month).

wow.....that Genecafe CBR1200 looks like the normal on steroids


----------



## bronc

I hope that Steve will manage to get CE approval for the Behmor by the end of the year because I can't wait to get my hands on one.


----------



## Michael the bowler

I have a Dieckmann aroma kaffee, which I believe is the one Lakeland used to sell.

I haven't used the pretreated chaff free beans since I used the ones that came with the machine.

Roasting on stainless steel hob with extractor hood on full power eliminates potential fire risk from the flying chaff!

I roast 300g of green coffee on a weekly basis and have done for the last two years.


----------



## ronsil

Interesting - Thank you for that information


----------



## sjenner

DavecUK said:


> The Big Gencafe is similar ish in temperature control as the smaller Gene, but that's where the similarity ends. It has a bean hopper, to load beans after a computer controlled preheat, automatically (or manually), dumps the beans into a chute and into a cooling tray below (fan cooled), you can then roast (and cool at the same time) your next batch. Plus 2 heater buttons allowing you to turn a heater off, bean mass/chamber temperature. Unlike the Gene you don't remove the chamber to add/eject beans, only for cleaning.
> 
> It does roast really well, but of course this is the product of bean mass, with small bean masses 200-300g, it's very hard to get a good roast, as the bean mass reaches 1kg or larger, you tend to get better roasts from roasters.


Is the Genecafe CBR1200 sold in the UK? The comment that bean mass needs to be higher than most home roasters manage, makes for a strong argument against them, doesn't it?

Qualifier... I know nothing (nada) about coffee roasting.


----------



## ronsil

Come on People....

I know from the many PMs I get asking questions about roasting that there are many more on here who have not yet posted.


----------



## iroko

Gene Cafe Roaster, I roast 250g which lasts about 3-4 weeks, most of the time I go too dark to what I want, still tastes good to me though.

Interesting that more bean mass helps.


----------



## The Systemic Kid

iroko said:


> Interesting that more bean mass helps.


Think the greater the bean mass refers to the challenge of keeping on top of the process, i.e. the roast not running away with itself. With a smaller capacity roaster things like voltage stability and environmental temperature can have a notable effect on the roast outcome when it comes to repeatability. With a commercial sized roaster, it is easier to stay on top of the variables so the roaster can repeat a particular roast more or less exactly especially with the introduction of computer control which some home roasters come with as standard or after sales mod.


----------



## lookseehear

I would hardly consider myself a home roaster but I do own a behmor which I bought second hand 6 months or so ago.

I've roasted 4 or 5 batches in that time and not been that impressed with any of them. They generally end up too dark or tasting too 'roasty' for my tastes.

I'm tempted to fire it back up again soon though for another try.


----------



## MrShades

I've owned a Hottop B2-K for a few months, and roast 250g batches around once or twice a week (depending on how often I work from home, and coffee consumption increases). I buy nothing but green beans now.

I recently bought a "job lot" (12Kg) of Monsoon Malabar from Redber Coffee (at a good price, delivered) - as I'm particularly fond of it - and am roasting it dark/very dark. They sent me some Ethiopian Sidamo, which I'm also enjoying at the moment.

As the only coffee drinker in the house, my wife thinks I'm bonkers - but I guess that's not unusual for many members on here!


----------



## DavidBondy

MrShades said:


> ... and am roasting it dark/very dark ...


I too like a very dark roast. Probably my bean of choice is Old Brown Java but I am working my way through a 20kg mixed batch that I bought from BB.

David


----------



## ronsil

I have

1 x Hottop P2 Modded full computer control.

1 x Hottop B2 or P2 (2 interchangeable control panels) Irrelevant really as also full computer control.

The second HT was purchased as a P2-K but had to take out K probe & retro fit an original button sensor. Hottop appear to have made a change to the P2-K Control Board which currently is not compatible with the added computer boards. Strangely there is no issue with the B2-K.

Here are the current machine totals as of todays date

View attachment 3306


Please keep posting


----------



## vintagecigarman

The comparatively small numbers quite amaze me, Ron. There must be a fairly substantial number of home roasters out there - certainly enough to keep Gene Cafes (and formerly Behmors) imported in considerable numbers, and a number of sellers retailing green beans. It just seems strange that anyone serious enough to roast their own doesn't get involved in this Forum, but that is obviously the case.


----------



## coffeechap

I seriously considered it but felt coffee is enough of an obsession without it taking even more of my time, besides I think I prefer to leave it to the experts


----------



## urbanbumpkin

coffeechap said:


> I seriously considered it but felt coffee is enough of an obsession without it taking even more of my time, besides I think I prefer to leave it to the experts


Ha ha that's a fair point.


----------



## w1lldabeast

I roast in a home made roaster. Roughly 300g a week.

The roaster is made up of a mini rotisserie oven, drum from a Behmor, k type temp probe for environmental temp (no bt probe yet) and I've had to make some changes to the heating element positions and altered the air flow. ...

I've been meaning to post some pics to get feedback on my roast but I won't hijack this thread with that.


----------



## ronsil

Look forward to hearing more about your roaster with some pics.

Just the thing needed for when we can get this Forum rolling:good:


----------



## DavecUK

DavidBondy said:


> I too like a very dark roast. Probably my bean of choice is Old Brown Java but I am working my way through a 20kg mixed batch that I bought from BB.
> 
> David


Probably the best way to really fine tune your roasting skills. lots of coffee, so you don't need to worry about getting it wrong and lots of variety, so you can experiment. Plus the whole batch will have plenty of post roast blending possibilities. The coffees in each batch are specifically chosen to support post roast blending (not blending before roasting).

There was also a comment that there must be a lot of home roasters out there...there are, because the BB batches all sell out in about 48hrs of them receiving the coffee....interestingly a lot of it goes to users in Holland or Denmark (can't remember which one).


----------



## soundklinik

I use the stovetop popcorn popper over gas stove with really good results.

Recently I got the drum-roaster I am using over gas...I wanted a tumbler type, instead of horizontal stirring I added an L bar inside of drum for better shuffle of beans...

I roast about 450 grams per week, in small batches: 150-200g max...

I attached photos so you can see my sophisticated gear.

I roast to Full City+...or lighter, slightly


----------



## ronsil

We've been running this thread a week now & we have 13 Roasters using 19 machines. The breakdown is as follows:

View attachment 3458


Over the next week I, or someone else, will start a NEW thread on a roasting subject & see how it goes.

I'd like to keep this thread alive seeking any more home roasters.


----------



## CoffeeJohnny

I have a Behmor that hasn't been used in a while, thinking of getting back to using it as it didn't sell


----------



## johnyenglish

A bit late replying but I use a Gene Cafe (unmodded)


----------



## oop north

I also use Gene Cafe unmodded. Bought in early May I think along with 20kg mixed bulk load of green beans. Got slightly out of habit over August but usually roast 2-3 lots of 250g green about every 7-10 days. Generally very pleased with the results and very slowly learning what's what!


----------



## pbuckley

I use a Hottop KN-8228-2K which is excellent.

Just acquired a Toper TKMSX-5 which I using to set up a new roasting business. Could really do with a manual for this to get some info on maintenance and repair. Toper web enquiry hasn't yielded any response - anyone have a PDF for this range?


----------



## pbuckley

Oops - yeah it's a B. Should have said KN-8228B-2K


----------



## soundklinik

Here's my latest lo-tek improvement to my roaster. It's shown opened, but it nicely closes over the drum with 1 cm clearance around. The spring on each side holds the roaster tight to burner grid.

0.6mm steel plate and metal snips and some rivets, hinges, did a highly amateur, but great result job.

The problem was, the gas heat would just rise around the drum and FC took 15 minutes on full flame...

This way the heat is kept inside the hood and the FC popping is loud and around~9-10 minutes with low flame. Second crack is also nicely heard and beans are more uniform in color.

cheers


----------



## coldplayer

I started recently with a slightly modified Prima popcorn popper. (I separated the heater from the fan, used a variable 24v dc supply to control the fan speed and a triac circuit to control the heat. I fitted a pt100 thermocouple and used a temperature controller to monitor the temperature) This setup would fail regularly (even after I had removed the temperature protection) so recently I bought a Dieckmann Rostmeister (Ebay). I don't use the recommended prepared beans, and the chaff is a borderline fire hazard........lol. I only use it under the cooker extract and with the kitchen windows open. It roasts 300g reasonably nicely. Hope to get a Café Gene or a Korean Imex next. And I will probably mod them in some way too.........


----------



## roibeard

Been using a Behmor 1600 for a few years, but it's been neglected of late. Will probably put it up on here for sale soon if anyone is interested? Great reliable roaster, would be good to see it go to a good home


----------



## roibeard

Oh and started out with a LIDL popcorn machine back in 2009. Great for trying out roasting, just limited to small batches


----------



## Moveable Feast

Where did this thread move to?


----------



## ronsil

Its still there but is now further down the thread list. Look under Home Roasters & you will see it on the list.


----------



## lakemirror

Hi. Just joined the forum a couple of days ago.

I started roasting with a hot air popcorn popper, it did well enough to get me hooked. I went through probably 4 of those (the plastic top eventually melted or the elements burned out) when my wife bought me an iRoast 2 for a Christmas present. I brought it with me when we moved from the US to the UK but it never worked well on converted power. Last Christmas she bought me a UK spec Gene Cafe and I've been happily using it ever since.

Tom


----------



## Moveable Feast

Many thanks that is the one I am looking at


----------



## Anthorn

I've done stove-top open pan roasting and achieved great success and considering a popcorn popper. But I think the problems encountered with open pan roasting might be the same with the popper which will just provide a better means of turning the beans. The first problem, that of fumes, is not really a problem for me because we have an extraction fan cooker hood. But the problem of chaff is significant as it tends to burn: In a shallow open pan some of it can be removed and the remainder by tossing the roasted beans between two metal colanders. But what if I used a popper?

I think probably that if I want to continue roasting which is debatable I would go for a proper roaster instead of cutting corners by substituting tools which are not made for the job.


----------



## ronsil

An adjustable speed hair dryer is also a useful tool for chaff removal from a colander. Have to be careful to keep on slow speed to avoid blowing the beans out.

Nothing wrong with a popcorn popper to start with. The downside being the smallish quantities that can be roasted at one time.


----------



## GaryatGala

I,m very surprised no one has posted these three that I have as displayed on my signature.

Coffee Tech FZRR700 Baby Roaster

Coretto (ie breadmaker and heatgun)

KKTO (ie a turbo oven on top of a unsulated pasta pot and strainer with a motor and agitator)

The coretto, baby roaster and the KKTO have their own avid followers and produce excellent roasts.


----------



## coffeechap

Perhaps it is to do with the safety regs here, would be interesting to get your take on them though


----------



## ronsil

coffeechap said:


> Perhaps it is to do with the safety regs here


I think its exactly that reason.

The Quest M3 & the Huky, both very popular in the USA do not currently have safety certificates for their use in the UK.


----------



## froggystyle

DavecUK said:


> The Big Gencafe is similar ish in temperature control as the smaller Gene, but that's where the similarity ends. It has a bean hopper, to load beans after a computer controlled preheat, automatically (or manually), dumps the beans into a chute and into a cooling tray below (fan cooled), you can then roast (and cool at the same time) your next batch. Plus 2 heater buttons allowing you to turn a heater off, bean mass/chamber temperature. Unlike the Gene you don't remove the chamber to add/eject beans, only for cleaning.
> 
> It does roast really well, but of course this is the product of bean mass, with small bean masses 200-300g, it's very hard to get a good roast, as the bean mass reaches 1kg or larger, you tend to get better roasts from roasters.


Is this actually available for sale in the uk, i cant seem to find any sites listing it?

Thanks


----------



## ronsil

Not at the moment.

I think there is a possibility that Bella Barista are involved with the Machine, assisting in obtaining certificates etc.

Don't know for sure , only rumours, rumours at the moment. As you mention DaveUK has posted a bit about it.


----------



## froggystyle

Yes, spotted that after i posted...

Will keep my eyes on that one.


----------



## Goblinsgrind

I've got the iroast I, find its really consistent and the roast is very evenly coloured, I use brazil cerrado as the base for my espresso blend. You can program a 3 stage roast, only drawbacks are it loses the program once switched off, the noise which is loud but I roast outdoors and the 150 g max.

That big genecafe looks the business, how much does it roast in one go?


----------



## froggystyle

Hi, It states it can roast 1kg, be intersting if thats true or you need to drop it down a little like its little brother!


----------



## ronsil

Goblinsgrind said:


> That big genecafe looks the business, how much does it roast in one go?


Up to 1 kilo I think but you can use it with less beans.

I had an iRoast many moons ago, it used to be called the 'iRoar'. Not much chance of hearing the cracks but its a good even roaster for small quantities.


----------



## Goblinsgrind

Your not wrong Ronsil, I take em upto city mediumity, just starting to tear and cut the roast and its jumbo jet time, my neighbour thought we'd been getting builders

1 kg would be brilliant, could roast for a few people, just need a spare £3 grand!


----------



## froggystyle

You will need another grand to on top of that, unless you know something we dont?


----------



## Slamswife

I have a 2kg Torrefattore. Bought when I lived in Australia and now in Ireland. Love it, love it.


----------



## Hoffmonkey

Why is there option of 230v and 240v GenCafe 101 at BellaBarista?


----------



## 4085

Because if your voltage is regularly well below 240, then it affects the operation dramatically. You can opt for a230 volt model abc then there is a further mid you can do to allow you to control the wattage on top


----------



## Hoffmonkey

Thanks dfk. OK - so I need to measure the voltage I get out of my supply at the times I'm likely to roast and base my purchase on that factor?


----------



## 4085

That's how I see it. If like me, you have a decent voltage at most times, if you pop a 230volt element in and then constantly roast when it is for example, 237 or thereabouts, your element is not going to last a long time. I might be wrong but I think Davec originally designed this on the assumption that. Lot suffered from low voltage, because it remember he used to use a Variac as well. Seems no point to me in choosing a 230 element if your voltage is stable at the times you want to roast, but, I may be wrong!


----------

