r/roasting

I cannot get heat into the roaster. I can get fan and drums to start up and down for both, but the heat fails.

How do I determine if the heater cord is plugged in? Or is there something else.

Connection is through BT, com4. Should I change it to comm 3?

Started Berk’s Beans in 2021 out of my garage. My kids dared me to do it, which is a dumb reason to start a business and also the only reason I did.

We had one small roaster. Plan was pretty simple, carry a lot of different coffees, always high quality and roast fresh, oh and amazing service that the customer remembers.  No ad budget, just word of mouth and social media posts.

It was the middle of the pandemic so I was roasting in the garage and driving orders to people’s doors myself. Started doing live roasting on social media because what else was there to do everyone was on their phones.  First year we shipped to every state in the US, plus Canada and Mexico. Still have customers buying from us who bought that first year.

Five years later, 30 plus wholesale accounts, good online business, and a retail spot in an industrial park that people actually drive out of their way to find.

Stuff I learned:

Having better coffee doesn’t mean anyone switches. This one hurt. I really thought if it was good enough people would come. They don’t. People stick with what they’ve got.  Consumers don’t like change…

On wholesale you’ve got two primary windows. They’re either just opening and you are there, or they’re pissed at their current supplier and you’re ready to take over, that’s it. Outside those two everything else is chance.  So the whole game is being findable, visible and ready when one of those happens.

Give away a lot of free coffee. More than feels comfortable. Cheapest marketing there is and I’ve never once regretted a bag.

Don’t compete on price. Somebody’s always cheaper. Quality and service are the only two things you actually control.  Build your business around that.

It’s only coffee. Customer’s always right. I want people walking out feeling like they got more than they paid for, and honestly almost nobody clears that bar so it’s not hard to stand out and we do that well.

You’re selling an experience, not a product. That’s what I tell my team. Nobody remembers the bag.  But they do remember the experience (good or bad).

Be humble, be thankful, and be ready.  The customer knows we will move mountains for the people who we supply coffee to.

Happy to answer anything.

I have a small business, selling roasted beans at Farmer's markets. I can make a pretty good living if I sell hot coffee and cold brew - it helps sell bags. If I just sell bags it's pretty weak. Problem is the health department doesn't like it if you brew on site.

Anyone else deal with this? Advice?

Hey guys!

I have never roasted coffee but want to get into the hobby, learn how everything works, and get good at it. Long-term, it’d be awesome to eventually open a small roastery and sell coffee, but right now I just want to focus on learning the basics and making great coffee at home.

I currently drink light to ultralight pour overs, so my goal is to be able to roast for that.

I had a few questions for anyone who’s been in my shoes:

What machine should I start on?

Best ways to learn? Are there specific YouTube channels, books, or online guides you’d recommend for learning from scratch?

Is renting/leasing roasters a thing? Are there any companies or programs that rent home roasters out to try before buying, or do people mostly just buy them outright?

Would love any tips or advice on where a total beginner should start. Thanks in advance!

Edit: how long does it take to get to the level of the best: september sey big sur etc.

What is the ideal drum speed for a 100g batch on the M1?
I get conflicting information from reddit or AI. What do you guys use?

I just picked up a used SR800 with extension tube and a Mastech MS6514 thermometer (with two probes) for $215. I've used a cheap hot plate type roaster before so I understand a little of the basics, but I never liked the consistency of that roaster. It's also been a while. What are some of the better resources to learn with so I don't find myself completely relying on ChatGPT? I plan on roasting by feel for now and not worry about the thermometer stuff. It was just in the bundle.

Edit: I drink pour over. I may add espresso later but it's not a concern for now. I usually drink medium to dark roasts also for reference.

I have been buying these beans off Amazon:

• Primos Unroasted Green Arabica Coffee Beans - 10 Lb - Nicaraguan Caturra
• Primos Unroasted Green Arabica Coffee Beans - 3 Lb - Nicaraguan Parainema

Don't want to link them because that just causes problems.

I've been getting them because they're $0.50/oz, the lowest price I have found anywhere with free Amazon shipping to boot. I have gone through about 25 lbs of the Caturra and just recently the 3-lb Parainema. I cannot get a good, full-bodied brew out of these no matter what I do. I have roasted in pans, woks, pots, and in the oven. These roasted beans smell amazing when I open the container and after grinding, but the actual brew is just weak. I was once able to get a good roast after re-roasting a pan roast in my air fryer, but haven't succeeded since.

I've gotten my pan-roasting technique down pretty good and have tried getting first crack between the 6- and 10-minute marks. Roast for about 15 minutes while whisking aggressively. I get good, even coloring, no inconsistent "rocky road" mix. Doesn't matter. Once I brew it, it's weak. I am wondering if it's just the beans themselves because I find it hard to believe I am this inept that I can't roast a decent batch after 25+ pounds. What am I doing wrong?

The SR800 fan motor failed noisily, so using the oven till it comes back from repair. We like a dark roast, both methods are working well for us.

Using the SR800: I offset the lid leaving a quarter inch air gap on one side for the chaff to escape, otherwise the chaff plugs the screen and there is no airflow. The chaff lands to one side within a couple feet, so put down an old towel first to make cleanup easy. The towel is first laid out on our stovetop burners (make sure no burner gets turned on accidentally!) and the hood fan turned on. Alternately take it outside and let the chaff blow where it may, but not if it's cold out. If ambient air is down around 60F the roaster may never get up to a temperature. Ambient air temps matter a lot, watch the beans and don't just try to time it. Beans double in size when cooking, keep that in mind when loading the roaster. I use max heat throughout the roast, start the roast with max fan speed. When the beans cook they get lighter and can fly up into the lid to escape, I reduce the air speed to where the beans are just getting stirred around sufficiently for an even roast, adjusting air speed 3 or 4 times during the roast. I bring the air speed back up during the cool down phase though that is probably not necessary.

Using the oven: I've only tried this a couple times now, this morning's roast went very well indeed. Preheat oven to 450F, lay the beans out in a large cookie sheet, enough to mostly cover the sheet but you don't want it more than one bean deep. Fitting two sheets in our oven can work, but know that different positions and sheet material can cause huge differences in how fast the beans roast, and multiple sheets can block the air flow. In our oven the heat was even enough that I only stirred the beans once, I also turned a pan 180 degrees when I noticed one side was cooking faster. My first attempt at oven roasting resulted in the majority of beans browned (not as dark as we like), other beans were black through and through, but with that mix the coffee tasted great. This moringing I was a little smarter about it and managed to have a very even roast. Have the fan in the stove hood running on high to exhaust the smoke to the outside, have doors and windows open when you open the oven as there will be a big boil of smoke rolling out. Take the cookie sheet outside quickly as smoke will be pouring off of it, use gloves and hot pads to protect your hands. Outside have a station set up with large metal salad serving bowls to quickly poor the beans into off of the hot cookie sheet so they don't continue cooking. Pour beans from bowl to bowl to cool them down, blowing to get rid of the chaff as you pour.

Conclusion: The SR800 is nice in that it is small and portable, efficient with power consumption, I can roast outside on a warm day, but temperature regulation is not ideal and with the cover on tight the airflow will be blocked by chaff. The oven seems to have better temperature control and can roast more,. Not having forced air flow inside the oven doesn't seem to be an issue, our propane oven has significant air flow for the flame, and I can see quite a bit of smoke rising up out of the back of the oven with the oven door closed, . Both systems take about the same amount of time, around 10 to 15 minutes for our very dark roast (not counting oven pre-heat time).

A countertop 4 slice toaster oven could be a good choice if the heat is even and well regulated. A cheap popcorn popper might well prove to do about as good a job as the SR800 for small batches. I haven't yet tried either of these devices. Like most, our stove hood fan expels the smoky air to the outdoors. If yours does not, expect a very smoky house.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been roasting on a Kaleido M1 Lite for a bit now and it finally sank in (though it should have been obvious from the start): Kaleido roasters are not full-throated traditional drum roasters. The stainless mesh/perforated drum is deliberately designed to let a lot of direct radiant + convective heat through the slots in addition to whatever conductive heat the thin drum itself is carrying. Result is lower thermal mass and a much more hybrid character than a solid, heavy drum. They just don’t behave the same way a classic drum does, especially in how heat transfers and how the bean mass responds once you’re past the drying phase.

Because of that, a lot of the classic drum-roaster intuition (charge temps, power curves, how you expect RoR to settle through Maillard, etc.) needs adjustment.

I’m still pretty new to roasting and I’m trying to get a cleaner grip on these 150 g batches this weekend. Right now, on average natural-process Brazil I’ve been charging around 155 °C / 310 °F with an initial burner setting of 50–55%. The RoR through Maillard has been a bit of a struggle to keep smooth, and I’m still getting the classic crash + flick right at or just after first crack.

Would love to hear from other Kaleido (especially M1/M1 Lite) users:

• What charge temperatures are you actually landing on for similar density/natural Brazils (or other origins)?
• What initial burner percentages are you starting with, and how aggressively do you step the heat once the beans are in?
• How are you managing power and airflow to keep the smoothest possible RoR through Maillard and into development without the crash/flick?

Any profiles, power curves, or “this is what finally worked for me on the mesh drum” notes would be hugely appreciated. Trying to dial these in before the weekend roasts.

Thanks in advance.

Looking for some recommendations of some tasty decaf green beans. I have been roasting decaf Sumatra to sip on in the afternoon which is pretty good but want to explore some new varieties. Looking for something with some nice fruit notes or anything else that has been exceptional. Any recommendations are appreciated!