Texas Creasons

iRoast2 is running again

or as some say, iRoar

Woo hoo! I've got the IR2 running again. The problem was it was too constipated. It just wasn't moving enough air and that is why the beans roasted too fast, stopped moving, etc. I soaked the little lid in Greased Lightning for a couple of hours and that helped clean out the screen and the little holes around the lid but that wasn't enough.
The first solution was to turn and let the lid float on the air when it stop moving enough-- this worked and allowed a roast to finish. But, it roasted the beans too quickly because the heat built up too much early and chaff went everywhere since the chaff collector was not a tight seal any longer.
The second solution was to not load the lid on, but use a 14ga wire to hold the chaff collector down tight. This traps most of the chaff but some little bits do get through. The real problem was it let a little too much heat escape. The beans were still roasting but I was going over the 10 minute mark and I don't think that's good with air roasters, they tasted a little flat and boring to me.
So, the next idea was to redrill the holes around the lid a little bit bigger and add a couple more to the screen. I've got air moving very well, and the roasts are doing great around 8 to 9 minutes. Believe it or not, it does seem to make a difference, and it is easier to use than the wire hold-down. I'll get a picture....
Now I've just got to get my roast curves and setting dialed in. I can't wait for the Orange Bourbon coffee bean from El Salvador to come in, and the others that I ordered (a Chiapas, and some other that I've forgotten after the Orange! I like orange....

Roasters vs. Poppers

I'm not sure this was a smart hobby for me

Why did start this hobby? I'm addicted. I mean no-- I do not have a problem, so back off. I just like good coffee and didn't have anything near by but Charbucks and supermarket generics. At least now there is a Dunn Bros. less than 10 miles away, that is a good choice for fresh roasted coffee-- look them up and try one if you can. It's also a choice for green beans if you have a problem like me.
So now I have a problem. I admit it. I like good coffee made with my press pot, my Aeropress, or my little espresso maker.
That's not the probem. The problem is my roasters. The melitta is too wimpy and won't take much more work-- she's 25 years old and that's got to be like 85 in plastic years. The poppers work, but it's hard to do a roasting curve and slow down the roast to get a smoother flavor out. The poppers either roast it quick or they will stall out and never finish.
The IRoast2 (or I-Roar I heard it called) is nice-- but it hasn't worked worth a wooden nickel since March. I think it's either bad power here in the neighborhood (it sucks, but it's not that bad) or it is a on-board thermister that is cutting out the fan and possibly the heater. I've been through like 5 powerbases from the company, but my warranty will be out in a couple of months and I'll have to resort to taking it apart and finding the problem on my own, I guess.
In the meantime I think I will take apart an original Poppery (not the II like the others in the gallery) and do the mods where I separate the circuits and put a dimmer switch on either the fan or the heater.

More popper roasters

finding more deals at the resale shop

5/4/07: I took the day off originally to go camping with the fam, but that didn't pan out. So Angela and I did some yardwork and then went to lunch. We swung in to the ICM resale shop on a whim-- it was half off electronics day and they had two poppers. One was an all-black Poppery II (great roasters) and a Presto PopcornNow continuous popper, each $2, so $1 on sale or two for one it just depends on how you like to look at it.
Woo-hoo!

The all-black roaster worked good to a point and I could tell from the fan speed change that the bimetallic thermostat definitely needed to be disabled. It also moves A LOT more air, and has a nice design improvement of a steeper plastic shelf above the metal can on the inside.
Anyway... with it cutting out I would have to dump the roasting beans into the other Poppery to finish the roast as it just stalled out due to the extra airflow and the thermostat cutting out the heat source. So... I mod'ed the thermostat and it roasts a half-cup perfectly now!

Boosted by the success of the new roaster I also mod'ed the original popper/roaster's thermostat and extended the roasting can because beans would occasionally hop out. Behold, the Veggie Bean Mega Roaster. (that's a back handed reference to Commander Keen's homebuilt rocket, the "Beans with Bacon Mega Rocket"... ah, the days...).

The problem is the new extension was broader than the hole in the top of the popper. I tried to heat and reform the plastic to accept the new can, but it is not a malleable plastic. It got brittle and broke on me. I now have a b-ugly but working Veggie Bean Mega Roaster. But it roasts good and the beans don't hop out!
The Presto PopcornNow continuous Roaster will require some serious mod'ing. It blow so much air that it blew beans everywhere, and some would get stuck in the feeder chute, too. It's a strange design, very Engineer like. In fact, quite an air-horn feeder tube on the inside, not a simple Poppery II design at all. Nuts....

Check out all the coffee pics.

New Roaster

roasting, roasting, keep those beans roasting

In recent days I've picked up a Hearthware iRoast2 coffee roaster-- a real live honest coffee Roaster-- slightly used from eBay. It's great when it works! It will roast by stages and I can program time and temperatures by the stages and it does an automatic cooldown cycle. But in the two months I've had it the globe started to crack so I bought a new one and then the powerbase started to cut out midway. The fan just stopped dead, but the timer kept counting so I don't know about the heater. Usually the batch is pretty worthless as it is about half done. They replaced it for $10 s/h handling (partial warranty) and the new base worked twice before it also started acting up. I called them and they are sending me another base and s/h docs for no-charge! So, good customer service, and hopefully the end of problems with this unit for a while.

My Coffee Roasting

Mmmm... fresh coffee

First-- I do not have a problem. I like good coffee is all. I like it fresh, I like quality coffee beans and a good cup. I'm also a DIY'er, a Do It Your|Myselfer. So ok, I do have a problem there. I don't like paying too much for an inferior product or service. Like recently when the old Ford F150 was dieing I dropped the tranny pan to flush it myself and discovered that the shop I paid to do it two years hadn't dropped the pan and changed the filter, they probably only sucked the fluid out. How do I know? First, the pan has to be removed to change the filter, and if you remove the pan you discover this little floaty plastic piece that has been there since the tranny was built and shipped to Ford in like 1989! So, that's why I'm a DIY.

But back to coffee. I roast my own coffee, the ultimate in DIY addictions-- both caffiene and independence. I have three roasters now-- a Hearthware iRoast2, a WestBend PopperyII, and an old Melitta Aromaroast. The Melitta works, and was my introduction to roasting for $10, but it is a difficult roaster because you can't see the beans and it needs help getting hot enough. The PopperyII was $3 and an easy one to learn thanks to some great sites out there for home roasters. But my baby, the iRoast2 is fantastic. It is programmable, visible, and easy to repeat roasts unlike the others which take a lot of guesswork and stop watch timing to try and duplicate or not repeat what you did last time.

On coffee Roasting

Been playing with the coffee roaster this week. What fun! Finally got a really good roast out of it by putting a box over it to recirulate some of that hot air. Got a good city/vienna roast down from 20 minutes (and not really that dark) to 7. It was good too-- Angela even drank some black which is a shock. But what happened? Had friends over for breakfast and got greedy and showy-offy and was making them all a batch to take home and I over heated the little unit and now the heater core is dead. :-(
It's a little depressing. It was so much fun.
At least is was only $10 from a resale shop instead of $60 like they go for on ebay... thanks to my friend from work who saw it at the shop. Now... if I can just find a heater element. But, then, there are new ones that even let you see the beans so you know when to stop it instead of pulling the chaff lid off and getting chaff in the eyes.