Roaster Done!
 

My Nesco Pro Series took a crap on me this morning. It is only 2 years or so old.

Looks like I am in the market for a new one.. soon!

Ideas? Recommendations?

I liked the Nesco but my biggest complaint was I wish I could roast more at one time.

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I like my Gene Cafe, but I'm not convinced it's worth twice the cost of the Behmor. It's very simple to operate and it roasts well, but lacks in proper cooling. I've had to learn how to force it into emergency shut down so I can get the beans out and cooling right away. If mine dies, I'll probably get a Behmor next.

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I'm looking at those, the Behmor 1600 Plus. No where has them in stock till the end of the month though.

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Seattle Coffee Gear shows them back in stock on 12/12.

The hottop supposedly roasts really well, but I think using a mitt to dump the beans into a collander is worth the $500 in savings :)

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I'm hoping to find the Behmor 1600 Plus under the tree on Xmas morning. :D

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I think Im going to give the air popcorn a try....

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Love my Behmor. Recommend to everyone.

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I heard some things on the heat and smoke of these?

Heat is strong, machine lacks a good cooling unit.

Smoke seems to be said a lot? I like to roast inside at times.

What do you think?

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I've been enjoying my WestBend Poppery II for a while now, but I use it out on the patio or near the inside entrance of the garage. It throws chaff and smokes as well. Don't think I'd want to use it inside unless I really had too and weather pushed me inside. In that case, I would probably roast underneath the vent fan of the stove (if):D

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In addition, I've seen the Behmor 1600 Plus here:

http://www.amazon.com/Behmor-1600-Pl...coffee+roaster

Although, it may be a tad more at this store too...

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I use my Behmor inside all the time. No real problems with smoke if you don't go into second crack. You will have some, but it's not too bad. Your house will smell like roasted coffee for a few days though.

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That is fine with me Bob.

I believe I have a air popcorn popper. Going to find it this weekend and give that a shot.

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The Gene Cafe is what we have as well, so far we love the coffee we've roasted in it however it is our first roaster so we have nothing to compare it to. I would recommend it to a novice roaster like myself though since the coffee we've produced so far is great.

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Looks like I am going to try the Fresh Roast SR500

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Mark - what modifications have you done on your Poppery Ii ?

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I've made no modifications to the Westbend Poppery II Rob. I use it as is and it works just fine. I run it for about a minute prior to placing 4oz of green beans in to it to warm it up. When the beans are nearing the end of their roasting cycle, they are expanding in size and weigh less. Thus, they tend to get thrown easier from the roasting area. I have a small hand held strainer that fits easily over the mouth of the roaster, preventing any beans from escaping. That works just fine for me.

On You Tube, you can find a video regarding the Westbend Poppery II, wherein the host is using an "extention tube," which I believe is for a dryer unit. Its about 3" in diameter and fits in the mouth of the roaster. I believe it gives you about a 4" - 6" height which prevents the roasted beans from escaping. At the end of the roast, you have to be careful as the extension is very hot, and will need to be removed by a pair of pliers.

Nonetheless, I simply dump my roasted beans in to a large metal strainer and toss them around for a couple of minutes, to get rid of any remaining chaff and to cool the beans. I then place them on to a cookie sheet and spread them out. The cookie sheet is sitting on two cooling racks so cool air can travel underneath. They cool quickly.

I'm in the process of roasting a pound of green beans in 4oz batches. I wait about 15 minutes post roast for the Poppery II to cool down, prior to starting in on the next 4oz batch. I'm purposely pushing the Poppery II at this point to see how long it can take it. I'm roasting now about every other week. So, we'll see what takes place:cf1