Need help to buy a roaster

[Seb]

Need help to buy a small commercial electric roaster

Hi everyone,

First post here but I have been reading a lot, nice forum by the way. I am looking to buy a small roaster to do some small business in my area. My plan is not to do a main business out of it but rather to have fun with my passion and just help me buy new toys :smile: I actually roast on a home fluid bed roaster. I like the result honestly. I can't use gas as i don't have access to natural gas and since I would roast from the basement of our house using propane tank is a No No. There is not a lot of good electric roaster from what I read but I would like to get a list of available roasters that can do about 2kg per batch of green beans.

I was interested in the Solar Shop roaster from Coffeetech which is a 2kg and around $10Kcnd (I am located in Quebec/Canada). It is small so easely fit in my local even if I have enough room, is silent so easely to hear F and SC, also seem to make good roast and the company is easy to reach. I have few emails exchange with them and they where very nice to deal with. Then there is the CoffeeCrafters Artisan V-XL at $5K that is a 8lbs batch and made in USA. I have talked also to them and got fast reply to my questions and it is also very interesting but completely different to the Solar. I'd love to do a side by side blind tasting but I can't.

Is is there any other good electric roaster available in that range price and batch size? Any feedback on theses two roasters?

Thanks for any valuable feedback you may have.

 

[CoffeeJunky]

Welcome aboard. First why coffee tech product? They do not have cooling fan on their 2k system. They actually built the cooling time in the drum so you are not really getting 2kg system. And fluid bed roaster never really became big player in roasting business. I think maybe do little more research and also look around for used electric roasters as well. Good Luck

 

[Seb]

I have some interest in CoffeeTech because there is a dealer not too far from me, the service I had with CT was superb, I have talk to few guys who roast on one and they seem to like it a lot. The automation could be interesting for accurate repeatability. About the cooling, most of the cooling is programmed to be done inside the drum but one can simply exit the beans once ready and cool in the external tray with the two fans. I heard it is fast enough to cool the bean since it is not a big quantity. But it is certainly not perfect but I guess I will not be able to find the perfect roaster in an electric version and below $10K. So I know I have to make some compromise somewhere. If everything goes well, I could buy a higher end, bigger roaster later on but at least I want to be able to start sooner then later. The 2kg batch of the Solar is ok at least for the first year for sure. Even a 1kg (true capacity) could do it. So I was also thinking about the Toper Cafemino.

In regard to the fluid bed you are certainly right to say it didn't really pickup commercially but I am not sure if this is just a matter of quality or few other reasons. Some peoples who use them seem to really like the end results but there is for sure much more peoples roasting with drum. From what I understand the commercial FB roaster have not a long history like the drum type so it may be one factor to consider.

If you have a suggestion go ahead please. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[JumpinJakJava]

Hello Seb. Welcome to the forum. I have heard and read a little about both roasters, but by no means an expert on either.
Have not heard any feedback on either roaster,from present users, and that is where I would start before making a final purchase on any roaster. It is a sizable investment. The dealer that is in close proximity could be advantageous in your decision(parts, maintenance questions, trouble shooting etc.), but at $9000.00 US dollars, that is very steep for a 2k roaster. A great number of American made and even Turkish roasters have replacement parts available in the states. Motors, controllers(electric and gas), belts etc., big companies like Grainger.

What I am saying is you will have to learn everything about your roaster. Make a bunch of calls or email a number of roaster companies about their roasters.
They may give you some of their clients contacts for your feedback and further research. U.S Roasters, Diedrich, Ambex, Toper, Roaster Authority, to name a few.

Did you ask Coffeetech or Coffee Crafters for any contacts numbers of those using their roasters.
I have no personal bias against electric roasters, but I know that gas(LP or Natural), are more cost effective in the long run.

I do not believe in luck,
But "good researching to you."

 

[Seb]

Is there such a list here on the forum with all the electric small commercial roaster? Let say from 1-5kg batch. If not we could build one with link to their website, pricing, drum or FB, etc.. I am ready to start the list here in this thread. It would save me a lot of time if I already had this kind of list so I am sure it will help others. What are your tought?

 

[PinkRose]

You'd have better success if you do a Google search for what you're looking for. For example, the Sweet Maria's website has a lot of useful information about all sorts of roasters.

If you do a search in this Coffee Forum for electric roasters, you'll see some threads that discuss them. I don't recall seeing a list that's specific to small commercial roasters.

If you plan to start a list, please don't do it in this thread. Start a new thread and make the thread's title specific to what it's about.

One problem that I see with listing the roasters is that is opens the thread up to people looking for a free place to advertise their websites. We try to avoid that if we can, but if someone knows of a specific electric roaster and recommends it, that's a different story.

Rose

 

[kboom1]

There is a post over on the HB forums that has a list of roasters up to 2k . One thing to remember when roasting with an electric roaster is it all depends on your voltage and the fluctuations that comes with it.

 

[Seb]

Ok I understand about the problem related to the marketing opening for such a list, thanks. I have read all on Sweet Maria web site and many others. The problem I have is there are tons of roasters, some are electric but are not manufactured anymore like for example the Diedrich HR1. Since many weeks I read over the net, forum but I wanted to simplify my research. That is why I start this thread. At least if maybe few good small electric roaster I need to look at could be propose that will be a good starting point. And maybe some to pay attention because of poor quality or difficulty to get parts, etc...

In regard to my voltage yes it know that and it is actually very stable here and I will be using 220V outlet. I can also easely monitor and regulate it if I want but it is a new circuit that is completely dedicated so it will be stable and not affected by other appliances. Thanks.

 

[chast]

Check with Paul Ribich of Roaster Dynamics in Florida