Roasters from Turkey & China... are they garbage or worth considering?

[stolenchurch]

The price is attractive... a 15 kg roaster made in China sold by Mill City Roasters or a roaster made in Turkey, like Toper or Golden. Any opinions on quality of build, usefulness, service/support, life span?

I know the easy response is 'you get what you pay for', by posting this I guess I am asking is that true? Is the quality of construction and materials in the drum and roasters so poor (from Chinese/Turkish manufacturers) that the price of used roasters (almost new prices even for older machines) from the established famous brands is justified?

I am looking for a 10 to 15 kg roaster- does anyone have experience with this size from a Chinese or Turkish made roaster?

Thanks

 

[ensoluna]

i do not know much about made in Turkey roaster, but I am quite familiar with made in China roaster.
previously, I had visited few times, Shanghai coffee show where many china roasting companies show their products and looking for reps in other countries. I even considered being a sales rep for Guatemala where I have a coffee company and work with my co-workers.

But, I did not / could not do it because of few reasons.
one of our friends in Guatemala is the owner of Roaster manufacturing company in Antigua. Actually we bought our 25 # roaster from him few years back.
Secondly, due to very long distance (from China to Guatemala) and other import related BS by Gov't, it was not worth it.

anyway, this is my comment. Just my personal comment.

I believe that Made in China Roaster is BETTER THAN made in Antigua, Guatemala roaster in terms of build quality. (FYI, I paid $11,000 for made in Antigua, custom made it for me, for 25 lbs which is very very basic. As basic as it can get. which means no whole lot to fix nor not much to go wrong.... if you want, i can put up some photos of our roaster.)
However, China roaster uses better materials and calibration and controls are more accurate, so I rather buy China than Antigua. however, it all comes down to after service and spare parts and warranty by seller.

As I know Mill city Roaster is very reputable and reliable company and been doing this for a while.
so, I believe that it might be an excellent money saving investment for you.
again, I got no experience in Turkey made, but the roasting machine from Mill City should be decent with good services and warranty. please contact Steve at Mill City.
He should be able to give you complete info.

thanks

 

[expat]

I've got a roaster from Turkey, an 10kg Ozturk, that has served us very well for over 4 years. Not one serious issue to date.

I hear good things about Toper roasters. Has-Garanti roasters I don't know. In general all the roasters, regardless of origin, get the job done. Some cost more for the name (i.e. Probat) and then of course as you add bells and whistles the price goes up and up. I chose Ozturk because I found it to be the most full featured for my budget. It also has a cast iron drum which we wanted instead of a steel drum. No need to debate all the whys and wherefores of which is better and why, it is just what we wanted for our own set of reasons. I'm sure as Ensoluna said, the Chinese product is good.

I'd say you should make a matrix of all your must haves and then like to haves and figure out what your budget is. Then see which roaster(s) ticks most of the boxes and go from there. Remember to factor in overseas freight and customs duty. Once you do that it may level out the playing field a bit more for U.S. made roasters.

Oh, one other thing. If you're buying from Turkey or China and need parts or service who is going to help you out? And if you've got to talk to the factory how good is their English, unless you can speak Turkish or Chinese, and how responsive are they (consider the time zone differences too - it is tough trying to get info when you've got to call at 2am). If you're a seasoned roaster you can probably figure most everything out but if you are new you'll probably want some verbal support at least until you get some roasts under your belt.

I was fortunate in that even though I'm in Europe I met Duane Bast - Adirondak Roasters in NY - who imports Ozturks and always welcomes my call if I've got a question so to know more about Ozturks you should contact him.

Hope that helps.

 

[empeg9000]

I also have an Ozturk roaster. I have the 15K. It's been a great roaster with no serious issues.

 

[stolenchurch]

Thanks for the feed back! I know for sure if I go the import route, I will use an existing distributor who deals with the actual import and who can provide some level of support! I am open to opinions and debate on drum material, it makes sense to me that steel is a bad heat conductor and could lead to uneven roasting and that cast iron would be a lot better... but if anyone has other ideas? It's also interesting that all roaster manufactures claim that their roasters have more convection then conductive style of roasting... (whether that is with infrared burners or atmospheric burners), but who is telling the truth?