Information please: Coffee tech's Solar and FZ-945 - 5-15kg roaster

[qwe7410]

Can run by electric or gas.

Has a smoke elimination system.

Can i ask,can such smoke elimination system really get rid of smoke in an enclosed area with smoke detectors?

 

[PinkRose]

Are you looking to buy a 5-15kg roaster?

 

[slurp]

Coffee roasters of that size need to be vented outside even with an afterburner.

 

[qwe7410]

Sorry i meant by per hour.

I'm looking at coffee tech's Solar and FZ-94 at the moment which somehow fits my criteria.

I read that electric heating gives a cleaner taste but both Solar and FZ-94 seems to have a little difference in how they work.
The FZ-94 did states that they can go at higher capacity per hour, it's not stated on the Solar.

 

[Hankua]

Get in touch with Seb'; he has a small electric Solar/smokeater combo. Try the search function.

 

[Seb]

I have a Solar roaster with an Avirnaki. You can get about 5kg/hr, not more then that because of the in drum cooling that takes 8min. You can abort the in-drum cooling and do it outside in the cooling pan but you will have smoke and a lot of particules that the blower will remove if you do the cooling in the drum. My average roast time are 14min plus the 8min so estimate about 22min for 2kg. At every 5 cycles (approximate) you do need a short stop to clean the chaff bucket. But you can roast continuously with this machine. At every 50 roasts (also an approximation) i clean the Avirnaki and the roaster. It then need many hours to dry out completely the filter units of the Avirnaki or you may get some sparks with the residual water that will damaged them. Easy to clean the units with Simple Green solution. The Roaster is solidly made, easy and fast to clean (hand knobs).

The Solar is a 2kg batch roaster, i have never been able to get any good result with less then 2kg. But with the FZ-94 you can roast 250g if you want and up to 2.4kg, you have much more control on your roast too. In my case i am quite happy with my setup but i will need to upgrade to a 15kg i guess.

Now for the smoke...the Avirnaki will remove about 98% of the smoke and smell (as long as you frequently clean the filter units and sometimes replace the charcoal filters. The 2% residual smoke is not a big number but it will probably be just enough to turn on the smoke detectors. Since i roast in my basement i just use a side window to vent outside the warm air coming out of the Avirnaki ( from a flexible aluminium 4" clothes dryer type conduct). But sometimes in the winter i did few roasts without venting outside and it was ok but you see some smoke. The Avirnaki works really well, expensive though!

 

[qwe7410]

I have a Solar roaster with an Avirnaki. You can get about 5kg/hr, not more then that because of the in drum cooling that takes 8min. You can abort the in-drum cooling and do it outside in the cooling pan but you will have smoke and a lot of particules that the blower will remove if you do the cooling in the drum. My average roast time are 14min plus the 8min so estimate about 22min for 2kg. At every 5 cycles (approximate) you do need a short stop to clean the chaff bucket. But you can roast continuously with this machine. At every 50 roasts (also an approximation) i clean the Avirnaki and the roaster. It then need many hours to dry out completely the filter units of the Avirnaki or you may get some sparks with the residual water that will damaged them. Easy to clean the units with Simple Green solution. The Roaster is solidly made, easy and fast to clean (hand knobs).

The Solar is a 2kg batch roaster, i have never been able to get any good result with less then 2kg. But with the FZ-94 you can roast 250g if you want and up to 2.4kg, you have much more control on your roast too. In my case i am quite happy with my setup but i will need to upgrade to a 15kg i guess.

Now for the smoke...the Avirnaki will remove about 98% of the smoke and smell (as long as you frequently clean the filter units and sometimes replace the charcoal filters. The 2% residual smoke is not a big number but it will probably be just enough to turn on the smoke detectors. Since i roast in my basement i just use a side window to vent outside the warm air coming out of the Avirnaki ( from a flexible aluminium 4" clothes dryer type conduct). But sometimes in the winter i did few roasts without venting outside and it was ok but you see some smoke. The Avirnaki works really well, expensive though!

I see that you just started roasting a year ago.

See that you mentioned that you are upgrading to a 15kg, given a choice, will you still consider a Solar Roaster?
I'm wondering how did you do your initial testing to formulate your blends.


I'm still considering between Solar and other roasters, others include Diedrich, Phobat, etc.
I need it sent to Asia, so i'm looking for a reliable one with good support.

The afterburner will be important.

 

[Seb]

I started roasting commercially exactly a year ago, i was roasting before on a small air roaster for home use only. But i got passionated about coffee roasting so much that i end up starting my little business. I am a commercial winemaker as my main job and certified wine judges and this help me a LOT to get started and learn. There are so many similarity and complex process in both, that is certainly why i like it so much. Now i am not yet ready for a 15kg, i think it will be only in 2016 and i want to go to the SCAA show before making a choice on my next roaster to see as many 15kg roasters as i can. This way i can feel better the quality of the craftmenship but also see how easy is the maintenance which is a very important aspect.

I decided to start with the Solar roaster mostly because it was electric instead of gas and also i read some nice review, chat with few owners and with few guys at CTE including the owner Ram and Dan also that was very helpful. In fact i wanted their FZ-94 but at that time it was just too expensive. The FZ-94 is a lab roaster that allow much more control on your roasts but as i said so far with the coffees that i use i am quite happy with my results. But maybe someday i will get a coffee that will create me many problems to get the results that i want! If you have the money and want maximum control, better to check the FZ-94 but it is expensive compare to other roasters. However the quality of their roasters is really nice, there is a lot of engineering behind their roasters, they do a lot of R&D and try to make slightly different roasters then other manufacturers. And if you can get a gas roaster then you have a lot of choice!

The Avirnaki is really nice but you may want to take a look at other electric air filtration device. I know Giesen make a similar unit, maybe compare their pricing as the Avirnaki is quite expensive at $10 000cnd!! It is much cheaper to run than an afterburner that run on gas. But you do require more frequent maintenance.

You asked how i manage to do my initial settings and blendings. Well, just like i do with my wines! That mean a lot of single origin roasts cycles, many many tasting session with various brewing techniques and blends to find out what is the best roasting parameters for each of my coffee. Also with all thoses tasting session i was able to see what components was missing from a coffee and see how it could be improved with X or Y coffee. This took me severals months to do my blends. Also, I have some good friends who have nice espresso home setup and we share our comments together so i can always improves my roasts with their help. The Solar roaster let you only "play" with the initial charge temp and the target end temp where the heating elements will turn off. The roast then complete for 3mins with the exothermic reaction and then the cooling begin. Just a small 1degree celcius change will affect the roast. When you change the charging temp setting it will of course affect the drying phase, the ramp speed to the 1C and the total duration of the roast. There are also a blower that start and run for few seconds after X minutes into your roast. This help to get a very homegenous roast between the beans.

If i had to do it again i "think" i would go for a FZ-94 mostly because of the total controls to your roasts but also because you can roast small amount which i can't in my Solar so i throw away a lot of beans in the first month. Now i know "my roaster" very well so i get very good and consistent roasts. But i certainly do NOT regret starting small with a 2kg! Much easier to learn and to financially start up. Once you have a running business it is easier to get a bigger loan to get the proper size tools. Also, i was able to install this small Solar/Avirnaki combo in my basement so it also help me save a lot. I am in a residential area so that is why the Avirnaki was absolutely needed.

*I am sorry if i do not use the correct terminology, i'm a native french speaker so not always easy.

 

[qwe7410]

Hi Seb,

Thanks so much for your input, it had gave me a lot of idea of what's going to happen.

I always thought that the Solar and the FZ-94 are similar.
I read from users of the Solar, that they have difficulties in roasting in smaller amount lesser than 2kg.

Are there differences in the FZ-94 to allow it to roast smaller quantity?
It says on their website that the FZ-94 can roast up to 10KG.

Do you think that's true?
Or that's not counting the resting time you mentioned.

The filtration is important, i will check out the Giesen's unit too, but not sure if it fits the Solar/FZ-94

I really appreciate your comments.

 

[Seb]

Here is a quote from the guys at CTE, they where explaining the main difference between the two roasters:

"
Solar is 2kg capacity at maximum and not recommended for less than 1kg. FZ-94 is 2.4kg capacity at maximum and allows easily roasting even 100 grams while achieving the same profile.

The drums are the same size but Solar employs restricted fluid-bed while FZ-94 employs normal convection and this is the reason for the difference in capacity; 400 grams still is not a big difference.

The main differences which should matter to you are Solar being automatic while FZ-94 being fully manual and Solar allowing roasts of 2kg and 1kg but not less while FZ-94 allows 100 grams and up to 2.4kg with total control over heating elements, airflow and drum speed.

Make no mistake – Solar might be an innocent looking automatic roaster but this little ‘magic box’ produces roasts that will take most people many years of experience to achieve while offering consistency to be envied. FZ-94 is for the passionate roaster that wants full control over the whole roast process, for laboratories, training centers and roasteries that use it as a sample/lab/small capacity roaster.
"

I just checked again the Giesen electrostatic filter system and it should work "BUT" i don't see any blower in their pictures so i am not sure if it would work as the Avirnaki have a speed variable blower to suck the smokes from the roaster and be able to exist the smoke off the Avirnaki. But you may want to ask Giesen. I like their unit but the Avirnaki works well too, just a tad expensive (no idea how much Giesen charge for their).
Electrostatic Filters - Giesen Coffee Roasters