# Simple home roasting-next step



## andyspresso (Apr 6, 2021)

I've been home roasting for a good few years now. Initially with a popcorn popper then I was given an iroast machine which I liked as I could program it and leave it to run. Unfortunately the iroast broke a while back so I've reverted to popcorn machine. Thi#, for me, works ok but needs watched and can only do small quantities. I did get given as a gift a roaster that is like an electric frying pan but I found that it resulted in the surface of the beans often being burnt so I've ditched it and gone back to the popper. 
I'm not sure what the next, relatively inexpensive step could be? I have considered the halogen air fryers but read that they don't reach a sufficiently high temperature. What options should I consider?


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## CannonCoffeeRoasters (7 mo ago)

Hey Andyspresso, if you really want to get into specialty grade roasting sub £1000, I would go for a Sandbox coffee roaster. I've tried several roasts on these from a coffee importer who uses it for green bean samples to send to roasters, and i've had some phenomal light roasts out of it. https://www.bellabarista.co.uk/sand...SxqKkRvtD8BRceTZqqj6FiMwhZLjZ9uhoCvyEQAvD_BwE coffee roaster to really tap into specialty roasting quality.


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## philw (Jun 21, 2015)

I'm assuming you're talking small batches.
I'd probably try the sandbox too as I've not tried one yet.

I used a Behmor for a good few years until the element blew up. They're a bit agricultural. I switched to a Gene Cafe , which is a bit prettier, but which lasted a similar 4 or 5 years before the element on that one blew up too. Both have pretty crude control over "profiles" so it's not in my view easy to really muck about with them much. I found some green beans which delivered coffee I mostly liked and got on with drinking the stuff. I didn't prefer one over the other, to me they're equivalents. I used both in my kitchen with cooker hood extraction, which worked fine.

Oh yeah, IIRC error 14 on my Behmor means "do not open door as beans will catch fire", but if you don't know that, finding out the hard way is very sporting. The fix is to close the door fast, then work out how to cool the thing down.

The replacement cost of elements is... not far off the price of a new machine, which put me off either fixing or re-buying the things, it just didn't sit well with me. That was about when the sandbox came out, but it looks.. kind of fiddly to me, so I did nothing and have been drinking pre-roasted stuff. I will probably switch to a Aillio Bullet, but that's more expensive and comes with other issues.

There's also this, which the page here suggested:








Most satisfactory home roast on the cheap?


I have a small amount of green beans on the way - 250g so I can have a go at roasting and using 'fresh' coffee beans in my espresso. What is the most satisfactory home roast technique on the cheap? Pop corn maker - (which one works that can be bought in the UK?) Hot air gun Oven Frying pan...




www.coffeeforums.co.uk


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## Larryjb (11 mo ago)

I have a Behmor 2000+ and quite like it. You do have to get used to how it roasts coffee, but if you take some time and record all the temperatures/times etc you can begin to dial in a roast. (Record and learn how to interpret both A and B temperatures.) As far as I know, the only way to get finer control of a profile is to go up in price.

My wife claims I'm roasting $5 coffee now using basic Colombian beans. I'm sure a coffee connoisseur will beg to differ though. The point is, I'm roasting better coffee than what you can get from a supermarket.


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## andyspresso (Apr 6, 2021)

Thanks for the responses - I’ll take a look and see see what direction I go in when funds permit an upgrade.


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