# Help with roaster choices for 500g - 1kg



## akfreak

Hi Guys first proper post.

I've been searching for a roaster that has a bigger capacity and able to roast one after the other. All i Keep on coming across is the beautiful beasts for large shops.

Im only looking to fill a couple of orders per week but would like it to grow further into if needed, as knowing my luck i'll get loads of request.

The Hottop looks nice but i just don't think its going to able to cope with the batch after batch can anyone shed further light?

Thanks in advance guys and gals

Viva the UK Coffee revolution


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## froggystyle

Check out the gene roaster, there is a thread about it in the home roasters section.


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## iroko

As above the big gene roaster from bella barista.


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## akfreak

That new gene is just for looks and the price i might as well save up a bit more and get the topper or the cafemino.


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## iroko

Check out the review by Davecuk


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## DavecUK

akfreak said:


> Hi Guys first proper post.
> 
> I've been searching for a roaster that has a bigger capacity and able to roast one after the other. All i Keep on coming across is the beautiful beasts for large shops.
> 
> Im only looking to fill a couple of orders per week but would like it to grow further into if needed, as knowing my luck i'll get loads of request.
> 
> The Hottop looks nice but i just don't think its going to able to cope with the batch after batch can anyone shed further light?


If you get a small non commercial roaster like a hottop, gene, quest M3, they are simply not going to do it...end of. When you roast you lose nearly 20% weight, so a roaster with a 250g capacity is going to give you 200g of roasted product, not even enough to fill a small bag. 5 roasts will get you 1 kilo and take you around 1 hour 40 minutes in these roasters...it simply doesn't make any sense at all. They even get annoying as a home roaster when you have to roast 3 times a week or more for personal consumption. They will also die fairly quickly if you regularly roast for 2 or 3 hours each week, just to get 1-2 kg of coffee.

*Hence your back to the commercial roasters*

You have the large heavy industrial stuff, rough commercial finish Toper (20 minute warm up, 20 minute cool down before you can switch off)...been there done that. Or the hi tech sweetly made Korean Stuff AKA CBR-1200. Been there done that also. I finally bought the CBR-1200, because after reviewing it, I fell in love with it. It produced a roast slightly better than the Toper. it is also far more practical to use and is so well made/accurately made that if the screws on the end plates of the drum aren't properly tightened, you can't get the drum in. Also you got a UK authorised reseller who stocks spares and can support you.

These things are not cheap, but it's size and weight makes it a more suitable proposition for home use than the other 1kg roasters, being electric is also advisable as gas gives more problems than it solves in the 1kg market for home use. In the same 1 hour and 40m, instead of producing 1kg of coffee out of the home roasters you will have at least 4.2 kg of roasted product....of better quality. It currently costs 4.2K on pre order, but if you didn't like it, you would almost certainly always get a lot of your money back when you sell it. you do get what you pay for!

*If you live near enough to drop by (I'm in Byfleet, Surrey), come and have a look, see what you think*....perhaps we can even roast some coffee and i can chat to you a bit about commercial roasting. It's something I could have done, if I had wanted to come out of retirement, get premises, buy a 20kg probat and all that good stuff. I had 2 coffee house chains willing to take my stuff, I still even get asked now, the latest was a store in London that wanted to open a speciality coffee bar. you never know, perhaps I'll talk you out of the whole thing









P.S. Just saw your post....noo, do not get the Toper, it costs more and the Gene is better, not just roast quality, but on a number of more practical levels of it's operation. I sold my Toper a few years ago now.


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## akfreak

davecuk would you not recommend getting into this industry then?

Don't think im going to go that far unless i have alot of business (Dragons den moment "do you have a written agreement?")


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## DavecUK

akfreak said:


> davecuk would you not recommend getting into this industry then?
> 
> Don't think im going to go that far unless i have alot of business (Dragons den moment "do you have a written agreement?")


If I had been younger and not retired, yes, I probably would have gone into it, but it's not for everyone.


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## Hoffmonkey

Your knowledge is awesome Dave C!


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## oop north

DavecUK said:


> When you roast you lose nearly 20% weight, so a roaster with a 250g capacity is going to give you 200g of roasted product,


This rather ticks me off when roasters offer to sell you green beans at a 10% or 15% "discount" from the roast bean cost. They are actually charging more for not roasting the beans for you!


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## ronsil

I'm afraid that the situation nowadays. You will find very little saving by roasting your own.

A few years back you could buy greens from Europe (Holland) & USA and make very considerable savings. Now the increased cost of posting brings them to the same price as UK


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## oop north

I am saving money by buying in bulk from BB but had I known sooner about the great range if roasters I would not have bothered. Though I find it quite therapeutic to watch the beans tumbling round in the gene


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## The Systemic Kid

ronsil said:


> I'm afraid that the situation nowadays. You will find very little saving by roasting your own.
> 
> A few years back you could buy greens from Europe (Holland) & USA and make very considerable savings. Now the increased cost of posting brings them to the same price as UK


With the BB bulk buy of 14kg, taking into account the 20% weight reduction, it works out at £9.80 per kilo roasted. That's in the region of 50% cheaper than the roasted offerings.


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## ronsil

You're right the BB bulk buy is a great offer if you are happy with the variety.

Apart from those if you look for something different or the variety you want is not in the Bulk Buy you pay the price.


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## Scouting4Coffee

Hi there - we have just opened our coffee shop, FINCA, in Dorchester, and bought the new Genesis Gene Cafe CBR1200 in preparation for our opening. The idea is that we source, buy, and roast all the beans we sell. We were considering the Toper from Turkey, and the price including duty taxes was more that the CBR1200. Since we had been roasting on the 101, we were very interested in the 1kg, as we were getting great roasts from the smaller version. The main things you would need to consider, which made us choose the CBR is cost of replacing parts and the ease of roasting. In respect of the product and parts you seriously would not find a better partner than Bella Barista. The parts are cheap and easy to replace. In resopect of roasdting, you can SEE the roast every second. We roast by sight and smell, many say they roast by smell, and that simply is because on the drum roasters you have to keep "sampling" the beans near the end of the roast. With the CBR1200, you can literally see every second when you want to dump the roast. And now the CBR1200 comes with a chamber temperature probe not just the electronic measure. Yesterday I back to back roasted 3kg in less than an hour. These beans are now resting, and will be ready for copnumption next week. I think that I could pretty much change any part in the CBR1200 myself, and looking the the Bella Barista price list, the parts look very reasonable. Good luck with your choice.


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## Turnado

DavecUK said:


> If you get a small non commercial roaster like a hottop, gene, quest M3, they are simply not going to do it...end of. When you roast you lose nearly 20% weight, so a roaster with a 250g capacity is going to give you 200g of roasted product, not even enough to fill a small bag. 5 roasts will get you 1 kilo and take you around 1 hour 40 minutes in these roasters...it simply doesn't make any sense at all. They even get annoying as a home roaster when you have to roast 3 times a week or more for personal consumption. They will also die fairly quickly if you regularly roast for 2 or 3 hours each week, just to get 1-2 kg of coffee.
> 
> *Hence your back to the commercial roasters*
> 
> You have the large heavy industrial stuff, rough commercial finish Toper (20 minute warm up, 20 minute cool down before you can switch off)...been there done that. Or the hi tech sweetly made Korean Stuff AKA CBR-1200. Been there done that also. I finally bought the CBR-1200, because after reviewing it, I fell in love with it. It produced a roast slightly better than the Toper. it is also far more practical to use and is so well made/accurately made that if the screws on the end plates of the drum aren't properly tightened, you can't get the drum in. Also you got a UK authorised reseller who stocks spares and can support you.
> 
> These things are not cheap, but it's size and weight makes it a more suitable proposition for home use than the other 1kg roasters, being electric is also advisable as gas gives more problems than it solves in the 1kg market for home use. In the same 1 hour and 40m, instead of producing 1kg of coffee out of the home roasters you will have at least 4.2 kg of roasted product....of better quality. It currently costs 4.2K on pre order, but if you didn't like it, you would almost certainly always get a lot of your money back when you sell it. you do get what you pay for!
> 
> *If you live near enough to drop by (I'm in Byfleet, Surrey), come and have a look, see what you think*....perhaps we can even roast some coffee and i can chat to you a bit about commercial roasting. It's something I could have done, if I had wanted to come out of retirement, get premises, buy a 20kg probat and all that good stuff. I had 2 coffee house chains willing to take my stuff, I still even get asked now, the latest was a store in London that wanted to open a speciality coffee bar. you never know, perhaps I'll talk you out of the whole thing
> 
> P.S. Just saw your post....noo, do not get the Toper, it costs more and the Gene is better, not just roast quality, but on a number of more practical levels of it's operation. I sold my Toper a few years ago now.


 Hello DavecUK, would like to ask for your help: I'm new to roasting and would like your views on whether to start with a Gene Cafe 101 from Bella Barista as a introduction roaster or stretch to the Ailio Bullet? Any advice appreciated. Thanks


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## DavecUK

Turnado said:


> Hello DavecUK, would like to ask for your help: I'm new to roasting and would like your views on whether to start with a Gene Cafe 101 from Bella Barista as a introduction roaster or stretch to the Ailio Bullet? Any advice appreciated. Thanks


 I don't know very much about the Bullet, the Gene cafe will get you started and I am reviewing the sandbox smart roaster (review will be complete in a few days) which actually works very well. It might be worth waiting a bit, comparing the different roasters, prices and thinking about what you want.


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## Beeroclock

I would seriously consider the Bullet in the classifieds if it hasn't already gone. There's a really active group on Facebook.

This will give you a fair amount of flexibility, should you want to scale up and should be fairly easy to move on.

if you're buying new - I have a soft spot for the Cormorant CR600 - but it's a gas roaster and there's a long waiting list, UK made though..

cheers Phil


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