Advice on Roaster Essentials Items

[Jaycamp]

Simple Question to all the roasters out there.

What gear and accessories should one pick up when beginning to roast?
ie buckets, scoops, scales and so on ? ( what brands and where to get them)

 

[Jaycamp]

Adding a roaster to our shop. What items are a plus to prepare for roasting? I have a roaster ordered but I want to know if some of y'all who have been doing this for a while have some mission essential items around the shop that may not be obvious. I have a few 5 gal food grade buckets, a few large scoops, a 4 food dunk age shelf for bagged coffee, scales, and some cupping gear. What else? Anything should help here...

 

[JumpinJakJava]

Hi Jaycamp. It may seem obvious, but I constantly use the shop vac, broom and dustpan. I have a number of scoops,
both aluminum and plastic, I keep them labeled with a G and a R for use with green and roasted coffee beans.
I have been using lately for retrieving green coffee from their bags, plastic pitchers with handles, prevents spillage for me.
For me there is a tendency to spill beans, especially if I am in a hurry, overfilling the scoops. Also, your bench space is vital for filling
and sealing bags if your are using poly or kraft foil bags. I like my stainless steel table 30" x 7'. Being a one man operation it is suitable.
I also use all the time the coffee bag forming shoe(see pic), great tool. This one was given to me by a roaster that went out of business
when I purchased a number of bags from him. There are a number of sealers on the market, but I use the hand held sealer, if you purchase one
get the 15mm wide seal. It also may seem obvious but your lighting in the work area is top priority. Track lighting works great for me, but I have a 8ft
ceiling, and as I am getting older, I need the light.

 

[peterjschmidt]

I agree with JJ about the pitcher for scooping greens - a 1gal. pitcher will scoop ~5#. I also use some rubbermaid containers for weighing/staging my batches as the roaster is warming up, and have a stack of cards w/ coffee origins on them to keep straight which batch is what coffee. I sprung for an impulse sealer that has an electromagnet which holds the arm down while sealing so that I can go fill another bag instead of holding/waiting. You won't know for sure until you go to clean your roaster, but will want some stiff brushes to clean the fans/blowers/ductwork, and some hi-temp grease for the bearings.

 

[Jaycamp]

This is great info. Thank you both...

 

[topher]

You are required to have fire extinguishers...get a water one. Clean up after discharging a chemical one sucks. I would also suggest getting a hose with a spray head in case your extinguisher runs out. What roaster did you get and what size? Do you have experience roasting? If not I would suggest finding someone to train you on at least the basics. Good luck on your new adventure!