Big Boy 5 lb roaster

[weheritage]

The pics below are of my (5 lb) roaster "Big Boy" I built and have been working on for some time. It has a SS mesh drum with 3 vanes, belt driven. The problem that I have encountered with this one is finding a burner that doesn't smoke up the inside. I don't have much room to work with in there. I have a round 6" burner but I'm not sure how to mix the air. Any suggestions

 

[Mr.Peaberry]

It looks as though you've made the housing from a piece of air ducting...a T to be precise! Why not use a piece of ducting to build a pedestal and mount an exhaust motor to suck out the chaff as well which can collect at the bottom of the pedestal. The burning chaff is probably much of the smoke in your roaster...and imparts a taste component that a lot of coffee drinkers dislike.

 

[weheritage]

I have never used it due to not being able to get the proper flame. You can see all of the soot on the doors. I like the exhaust idea though. I have a 1 pound roaster that I use now. See my previous post. Thanks for the input though

 

[peterjschmidt]

Even though you have some agitation of the beans, I'd guess the heat will be too concentrated in the middle and you'd have hot spots and cold spots at the ends.