I did go through the choices but somehow the slightly reputable ones like North Coffee and Bideli are still very expensive. Bideli quoted me 3300 usd for their 1 kg version and North even more expensive.
Then there are all the questionable options like the hotplate roaster.

This is a glorified popcorn popper at a fancy price.

ymeng85 sifu. Saw in the coffee lover thread that you took the path from coffee lover to roaster to opening your own cafe. Very inspired!

Wanna know how you improve your roasting skills? Through self learning or got take up SCA course as well?

I had roasted the El Savador Supersonic beans from Cloud Catcher.
Turned out quite well despite my severely lacking roasting skills.(and equipment).

The beans have a "sweet" smell unlike other green beans which normally has a "grassy" smell.

Is it because of the bean's varietal or the way it is processed?

ah, so the fermentation comes from the cherry itself which being left to dry.

I remembered trying a liberica beans which has overwhelming jack fruit notes few years ago, I guess that is probably using natural processing as well.
Too much nangka flavor, that I could not bring myself to like it. lol.

Interesting design.

Looks pretty messy since the chaffs are flying around.
I guess it is meant to be used outdoor.

Just managed a first roast with Artisan logging on a Raspberry Pi. What an experience!

Learning points:
- touch screen - tak boleh pakai lah... with gloves (duh!)
- remote screen on phone via VNC - tak boleh pakai lah ... screen size & the need to scroll around serious usability problem
- Mastech 6514 temperature meter - connects to the Raspberry Pi via Artisan natively - Win!

Best feature:
- Phases LCDs - ability to continuously calculate expected times to reach the end of each phase is super super convenient!

Next things to do:
- really need to relocate the ET probe - temperature went up to 600C!!
- dedicated keyboard, monitor & mouse

and of course.... tweak the roast profile!

Yes; the roaster comes with a tryer. However I can't seem to find a "definitive" characteristic or set of characteristics to identify when this happens. This is very different from the cracks, which can be heard.

I currently set my drying phase to end at 150c, since my FCs is around 200c on this thermocouple placement. This also corresponds with the Maillard reaction temperature, being between 140c to 165c.

Any suggestions?

thanks.

finding someone/ shop that is willing to do the fabrication and
testing would be the challenge. might end up with just buy a simple
one to try out first.

was looking at poppers; there are a few good ideas on youtube.
but the 1200w thingy, power guzzler, puts me off... 

zero knowledge on acad.
asked; but "too small" for fabshop.

guess i'll have to start with a drum/ cage sourced from ebay.
or just buy the cage type roaster with the ac gearmotor to start.

you are correct.
i guess its phycologically when one sees 1200w...

14cm diameter  X 15cm length.

built and ymeng85; would you consider an infrared halogen heat source? Honestly, I'm fascinated about this and would love to test it out.

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z09...._u=824n3bru7ac4

U may want to consider this roaster, i am currently using it... i guess its the best bang for buck roaster rated for up to 350G, but the sweetspot seems to be 200 to 250G for me, Coupled with a USB thermo probe and you can get some serious results. with total coast less den $1000 RM

Its a perforated drum, which means its very sensitive to heat control and air flow management is not needed. So far have been loving it, the build quality is really top notch.

Also take note that roasters usually operate below maxiumum capacity, for smaller home roasters the sweet spot is usually 50-70 percent of recommended capacity. Decreasing the beans increases the space surrounding the beans, resulting in better convection heat, ensuring better roasting eveness.

Seeing some videos of Rotate Fun 200, it seems the beans are being squeezed and pushed forward outside, with not much agitation like in a normal roasting drum and space between the beans, could cause problems with tricker natural process beans which need a lot of "breathing" space for even roasting.
Attached is a Guji natural process coffee i did over the weekend with my machine.

Thanks, gonna cup it tomorrow with some other roast i did that day, cannot wait to try.

Interestingly does natural process coffee tend to darken much quicker? Usually i aim for a development time of 20% as per Scott Roa books, however i realise this bean darken so much quicker, i had to drop it around 17% development time as it seems to be in the dark roast territory already..i am guessing it i wanted a medium to light roast i would have to drop it even much earlier, while 1st crack is still on going...

Yes to discharge the roast, wear oven gloves and remove the whole drum and pour the beans out... Takes less than ten seconds for the whole procedure.

Used to tilt the entire unit, but its slower and cumbersome/dangerous, especially when its hot, not a good idea.

It's green bean restocking time! Anyone want to join to do a group buy?

NAME PROCESS
Brazil Cerrado Dulce 17/18 FC Natural
Brazil Extra Fine 17/18 Natural
Brazil Pulped Nat. Fazenda Pedra Redonda Pulped Natural
Brazil Sul de Minas, ICATU Natural
Brazil Sul de Minas, OBATA Natural
Brazil Yellow Bourbon Pulped Natural
Brazil Yellow Catuai Pulped Natural
Costa Rica Tarrazu San Rafael SHB Washed
Cuba Altura Lavado Washed
El Salvador Finca Santa Adelaida Washed
Ethiopia Djimmah Jasmine Washed
Ethiopia Sidamo Guji G2 Washed
Ethiopia Washed Yirgacheffe Gr. 1 Kochere Washed
Ethiopia Washed Yirgacheffe Gr. 2 Washed
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gr. 1 Nat. Gedeb Natural
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gr. 1 Nat. Kochere Natural
Guatemala Antigua Los Volcanes Washed
Guatemala Atitlán Santiago Washed
Guatemala Coban Washed
Guatemala Fancy Agua Tibia Estate Washed
Guatemala Fancy Huehuetenango Washed
Guatemala Finca El Retiro Washed
Guatemala Finca Joya Grande Washed
Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca Victoria Champila Washed
Guatemala Huehuetenango Finca Victoria Champila (Maragogype) Washed
Honduras San Jose Washed
Indonesia Kintamani Honey Honey
Indonesia Robusta Fine Natural
Indonesia Toraja Kalosi Washed Washed
Kenya AA Top Washed
Mexico Chiapas High Land Washed
Mexico SHG ORGANIC/FAIRTRADE Washed
Nepal Mount Everest Washed
Nicaragua Finca Los Granadillos Washed
Nicaragua Finca Un Regalo de Dios (Yellow Catuai) Honey (Black)
Nicaragua Maragogype Nueva Segovias Washed
Nicaragua Pacamara - La Bendición Washed
Puerto Rico 360 Reserva Washed
Santo Domingo Barahona Washed
Uganda Arabica Bukonzo Cooperative (Fairtrade & Organic) Washed
Uganda washed Robusta Washed
CONDITIONS:
- 3Kg minimum (can get a deeper discount if 20Kg or more)
- need at least 2 pax (including myself) to make it worth it
- If you are in the Klang Valley area, I don't mind dropping it off. Outside Klang Valley, have to cater for delivery (either courier or you arrange for a pickup)
PM me for details.

I previously was surveying this roaster as well .

From what I can see, it is just a rotisserie oven with the grid drums installed inside it.

Thanks for the input guys lowkl rytopa

Still new to the roasting terminology. Baru tahu what ET / BT / charge temp / means.
Currently watching video to learn more about the roasting process.

I am most probably going to manually monitor the temp manually before moving to roasting monitoring software. (after trial and error lol)
Btw, do share us the outcome of your DIY "surgery" on the thermometer probe, lowkl.

Since the discussion is now on temperature monitoring, allow me to share the thermocouple mods I've done on my Kaldi Wide roaster, to plug into the Mastech MS6514, which in turn plugs into my notebook (I explored a dedicated Raspberry Pi roast monitoring system, but found it too cumbersome).

I replaced the standard mechanical thermometer used to measure BT that came with the roaster with a 10cm K-type thermocouple by wedging it with a piece of silicone (cut from a baking glove) and some Kapton tape, like so:

[attachmentid=9389315]

Looking from the inside of the hopper holder (I keep the alignment with a small screw wedged next to the thermocouple):

[attachmentid=9389374]

I'm still fine-tuning the placement of this probe as I'm still getting a higher-than-expected 1C temperatures (around 205c, instead of 199c previously using the mechanical thermometer).

The ET thermocouple is wedged in like this:

[attachmentid=9389446]

Had to use a drill to enlarge the vent hole to accommodate the probe. I tried placing the probe directly in line with the heat source, just before the drum....bad move. Rapidly reached the limits of the thermocouple and got insane readings.

I also mentioned some surgery to use mini plugs compatible with the temperature meter:

[attachmentid=9389493]