Is this an ok roaster?

[Mister Moo]

I'd call the IRoast a great (maybe perfect) way to learn home coffee roasting; after gaining some good experience it will not likely be the way you'll want to roast 1-2 lbs week.

[floydpink]

I'm probably gonna get this to start.

I like the fact that you can hit preset roast cycles and apparantly get good results.

It should be fun figuring it out and hopefully not burn down the house in the process.

[germantown rob]

Originally Posted by floydpink

I'm probably gonna get this to start.

That's the attitude . Plan on spending money twice.

Figure on 10 double shots per roast roughly, thats one day of espresso for me and no moka pots, lol.

I really don't think air poppers are much good with out mods to give some control over the roast. If you are handy this is one way but since you have good out door roasting weather you could also build a BBQ roaster.

For the spend and go sort of person I can only say Hottop "B", it is the best especially with a bean mass probe added. The Gene Cafe is by far the easiest I think to get very good roasts out of almost immediately for newbs, plus there are some mods to gain full control over the heater instead of just on and off. Down side is neither of these roasters are what I would call wife or wallet friendly.

So after the new espresso machine and the new grinder I might suggest a stovetop popper to see if roasting is in your blood.

[Fumes]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

I'd call the IRoast a great (maybe perfect) way to learn home coffee roasting; after gaining some good experience it will not likely be the way you'll want to roast 1-2 lbs week.

An excellent first roaster. Small batch size and noisy, but still a great way to start out. After a while you learn how to judge the roast from the smell more than the sound. I still use mine for dry process beans and when I want more control than I can get with the Behmor.