Does anyone have experience with a smokeless roaster?

[franco]

Hi all,

Looking into getting the US Roaster Corp Smokeless Roaster. Wanted to ask if anyone has any experience with a smokeless roaster? Does anyone know if it can influence the quality of the end product in some way?

Thank you!

 

[Musicphan]

Are you asking about their Revelation roaster? No roaster is smokeless... smoke is the buy-product of roasting.

 

[Seb]

Does the Revelation model incinerate the smoke like the Loring? I am also wondering if the roast is affected...

 

[Musicphan]

Does the Revelation model incinerate the smoke like the Loring? I am also wondering if the roast is affected...

I'm far from an expert... but yes, from my understanding the exhaust is run through an incinerator and redirected back into your roaster once 'scrubbed'. Since the exhaust is already hot, there is reduction in your energy costs. Dan showed me one of these roasters when I took the tour of USR... but it wasn't of interest to me so I didn't ask a lot of questions. I know it's significantly less expensive than the Loring, but what isn't? LOL...

 

[John P]

Yes.

My roaster sits directly under our smoke detector and I have no outside venting.
I've had 2 "smokeless" roasters, one was a small shop roaster from Korea, which had minimal smoke, but you still needed to vent it. I have that one home in case of emergency.
My current roaster is a proprietary drum roaster from FreshRoast in Palo Alto. It has zero smoke due to it's smoke elimination methodology and extremely hefty filtration. I only have warm air coming out the exhaust at maybe 120 F.
There is also a water filtration system available for smaller roasters, but this system or a version of it has been used for years in other countries.

Absolutely does not affect the roast.
The roaster is a tool, find one that works for your space. The magic is the person operating it.

 

[Seb]

John, what size roaster are you talking about? My guess is probably small roaster below 2kg but i'd like you to confirm. I actually use a Solar Roaster from CTE with their Avirnaki air filtration system, so it's a small 2kg roaster. But in the larger, true commercial size i've only found Loring and the Revelation from USRC. It is really nice IMHO but IF and only IF the roast quality is not affected. I will need a larger roaster sooner then latter and found theses interesting...except the price!

 

[Musicphan]

JohnP - what capacity is the roaster? I remember talking to those guys back in 2005/06 about the time you got your system (we may have even talked back then via Specialty Coffee Retailer forum). I remember being impressed with their color tracking function...

 

[John P]

Musicphan,

Roaster is likely too small for your needs... but you can add the ColorTrak system to your existing roaster. It will help you nail your profiles much more consistently.

The roaster does lbs finished per batch, so about a 3 kilo roaster +/-.

And the Loring is an amazing roaster, but a little pricey.

 

[Musicphan]

Musicphan,

Roaster is likely too small for your needs... but you can add the ColorTrak system to your existing roaster. It will help you nail your profiles much more consistently.

The roaster does lbs finished per batch, so about a 3 kilo roaster +/-.

And the Loring is an amazing roaster, but a little pricey.

No $$ for a new roaster... LOL.... I was just curios on the capacity. It clearly has an impressive scrubber to be ventless with that type of capacity.