What Green Coffee did you Buy or Roast Today?

[Mick]

A few weeks ago I purchased a "needs help" Hottop KN8828B roaster. I disassembled the entire roaster and cleaned up what the previous owner said was 250lbs of coffee out of the inside. I can say that it was LOADED with trash. Chaff everywhere and about an 1/8" coating of burned on and encrusted gunk everywhere.

Soaking everything that was not electronic in a bath of TSP overnight took care of the gunk and oils and left squeaky clean stainless for me to put back together.

Being the consummate "tinkerer" I did a couple of mods to the machine while I had it apart, like a SPDT main fan switch to run the fan after the pre-programed cool down ends, max temp restart override momentary contact button, and a manual bean cooler switch to keep the bean stirrer running longer than the pre-programed computer is set for.

Weather has not been too conducive for outside roasting until today when the rain broke for a few hours.

I shoved the cart outside and did two back to back roasts. One med dark the other dark Italian.

It smelled so good that I had to just share it with my B&B friends

 

[ojinsa]

Very nice! Did you post the pre and post cleanup pics and I just missed it? Either way, looks sweet!

 

[Rockminer]

Uh, looks like you have enough patio room to have a B&B get together?

 

[Mick]

Very nice! Did you post the pre and post cleanup pics and I just missed it? Either way, looks sweet!

No, I didn't but this is what it looked like as I started taking it apart. the inside looked like it had several flareups/fires as there was a very thick layer of burned oils everywhere inside the roasting compartment.

 

[MrBurns]

Great job turtle!

 

[StillShaving]

Nice cleanup and modifications. That looks plenty gunked up. What is the recommended cleaning cycle for this roaster?

 

[Toothpick]

You're threads never cease to amaze me Mick. Always a new toy to play with.

This one.... I think is my favorite.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Very nice! Sounds like a ton of work to scrape the insides out.

 

[BubblesTGB]

Looks awesome. I wish I were so mechanically able to pull off a project like this. I fixed my garage door and I was happy.

 

[gearchow]

Good work Mick. What is the difficulty level in taking the roaster apart - minimal level - to do a sufficient clean? I'm thinking that "gunk" could be safety issue or at the very least effect quality.


When I roast outside - which is every week - I roast under a tree. It leaks. You don't have a portion of your patio covered? If you don't, that's a mod you might want to make.

-jim

 

[Mick]

Nice cleanup and modifications. That looks plenty gunked up. What is the recommended cleaning cycle for this roaster?

The chaff tray needs to be dumped after each roast (or the roaster will not restart, beeps and tells you to empty it)

The manufacturer recommends cleaning out the drum area every 10 or so roasts. removing the drum is rather easy. The outside front trim piece comes off with a knurled thumb screw then the drum bearing plate is 4 Phillips screws and the drum slides out. Very easy. I pull the outside cover and blow out the roasting area but I want to fabricate a long tube to attach to a shop vac to do a better job so I don't need to remove the drum so often

They recommend replacing the filter every 20-30 roasts but since I am roasting outside I am considering a stainless steel mesh screen with a paper pre-filter. I may be able to get away with no filter since I roast outside but I will need to play around to see if the fan needs the filter back pressure to function and keep a consistent temp/pressure inside the roaster.

Good work Mick. What is the difficulty level in taking the roaster apart - minimal level - to do a sufficient clean? I'm thinking that "gunk" could be safety issue or at the very least effect quality.


When I roast outside - which is every week - I roast under a tree. It leaks. You don't have a portion of your patio covered? If you don't, that's a mod you might want to make.

-jim

taking it apart completely (down to the chassis) is rather simple and painless. the rear cover comes off after removing the fan and 8 screws. The top cover is held on by 2 screws and slide back out of the groove in the front. That is about as far as you need to take it apart for a thorough deep/intrnal cleaning and I would imagine that you could go 100 +/- roasts before having to do this.

the drum should be cleaned when it shows signs of oils building up. Not sure how many roasts this will be but TSP and hot water makes short work of the oils so it is rather simple to clean up once it is apart.

I roast under my deck so it is covered. After the roaster cools I push it inside where I will keep it stored. I have a dedicated 20 amp GFI circuit right next to where I plan on roasting. Right next to that is a water faucet should things get out of control Right next to the power and water, I have a bathroom at patio level so that "outside guests" do not need to go inside to use the "facilities" (this was all part of my "shave cathedral" addition). There is a door on the far side of the bathroom that leads into the basement so it is a straight shot in and out of the basement to where I will roast. Nice, simple, and easy. There is enough cover so that I could roast if it is raining as there is an overhang above that area which at deck level (above the concrete patio) is my kitchen.

this pic of my BBQ area is right above where the roaster photo was taken. In fact the roaster and BBQ are setting at the same location (roaster on the patio BBQ on the deck right above)

 

[StillShaving]

...The manufacturer recommends cleaning out the drum area every 10 or so roasts. removing the drum is rather easy. The outside front trim piece comes off with a knurled thumb screw then the drum bearing plate is 4 Phillips screws and the drum slides out. Very easy. I pull the outside cover and blow out the roasting area but I want to fabricate a long tube to attach to a shop vac to do a better job so I don't need to remove the drum so often

....the drum should be cleaned when it shows signs of oils building up. Not sure how many roasts this will be but TSP and hot water makes short work of the oils so it is rather simple to clean up once it is apart.

That sounds about right. As a comparison, the Behmor 1600 Roaster recommends a cleaning after every 5 roasts, but I think it could easily go 7-8 roasts. The exact frequency depends on how dark one roasts, I usually follow the every 5 roast rule to make the cleaning easy but I feel it would be okay to push it if necessary. The glass window on the Behmor will begin to fog after about 5 roasts anyway, which is another good visual indicator. Simple Green also works well to dissolve the coffee oils and keep every thing clean.

 

[Mick]

TThe glass window on the Behmor will begin to fog after about 5 roasts anyway, which is another good visual indicator. Simple Green also works well to dissolve the coffee oils and keep every thing clean.

I've heard that oxy clean is also good but I have TSP here so that got the cleanup call rather than going off to finding something else.

I've been doing 1/2 lb roasts (227 grams). This weight seems to do fine. I did get a very decent dark-dark roast before the machine dumped the beans when it hit the max safety temp of 428° tried to keep it below by shutting down the burner and turning the fan on max but the temp still went up to the safety temp and auto dumped. I doubt I would have taken the roast much further. Lots of oils. Today it is 2 days post roast so I may try some in the espresso machine later today

Got in a 12 lb assortment yesterday from sweet maria's. Should keep me busy for a while.

 

[Redzone]

Nice Job Mick !
This was my first roaster. Many roasters later I still think the "Hottop" is very hard to beat both on price and with a little bit of tinkering heat control. Really pleased you are roasting your own and Tom is a class act for beans and advice. Great looking roasts by the way

 

[jzuzphreek]

Man! Smells great! Can't wait to taste it!

 

[Mick]

Very nice. I don't usually get my mediums to oil up like that.

What bean is that if you don't mind me asking?

I picked up 2 lbs of Colombian Santa Barbara Estate (Home - Santa Bárbara Estate Coffee - Colombia) that I got from my local roasting house. Roasted three 1/2 lb batches (2 light 1 dark). Blended the last two (the 2 in the pic above) and started brewing it in the espresso machine today. shazam.. what a winner this is.... You can see the dark and medium beans in this photo but they are ALL covered in oil (mostly from the deep Italian roasted beans)

 

[Capt]

Great job on the clean up!

 

[Mick]

Today SWMBO brought back 6 lbs of green beans from our local roasting house while she was out shopping (good girl!!!)

2# Brazilian Sao Francisco peaberry
2# Tanzanian peaberry Burka Estate Home » Burka Coffee Estates
2# Colombian Santa Barbara Estate

So......

Today I roasted 1/2 lb of the Brazilian to just past first crack. Looks great. Can't wait to see what it taste like (the blur in the pic is the stirrer moving the beans around to cool)

 

[Rockminer]

I don't even drink coffee and that looks yummy

 

[ojinsa]

Mick those beans look awesome!! Very nice!