Chinese Roasters - Professional Opinion

BeanGrinder

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1. Do you know if these factories are not ISO certified for fact? I can name few factories that are ISO certified.

I have specifically inquired about certifications on equipment and each one of the companies I could find and contact said that, in fact, their roasters had not been submitted to any safety or food and agriculture standards inspections. In two cases they admitted that their certifications were obtained in manufacturing prior to roaster production. The others refused to share any information.

2. In US we do not make Iphones, We have not made TVs in like 10 years. So as you put it, are u saying we can't build the Phones here in US because we do not make them here?

Not sure what that question means because I never said anything like that...didn't imply anything like that. So...skipping on to your next point...

3. Yes there have been many incidents in China where they have used products that are not food quality but do you know for fact make this kind of statement that the roaster are used none food quality metals?

Indeed, many incidents. I know of three major roaster manufacturers here in the states and, yes, they certify their equipment. You mentioned Probat - they, too, submit their equipment to very rigorous inspections. I am sure you will enjoy the roaster you purchase from them - best of luck.

4. How many Chinese roaster have you seen work? One? Two? Maybe none?

No question they work - at least in the beginning. Big question about safety and quality. There have only been two sold in North America that I can find so far and one of those buyers has expressed deep regret.

5. So you know for fact there is any incident some of the customers have been poisoned by Chinese made roasters? NOT

NOT indeed...because thankfully only two roasters have made it to this country and one of those is out of commission (see previous answer). The concern about metal fabrication and food safety came out of a conference on US/China trade and is a very valid point...which was an issue at that conference because of the leaded porcelain products that DID poison people here.

6. have you ever checked american factories are all ISO Certified or used Food quality metals or not poisoning your customers?

Yep...see the response to #3.


Making all these unsubstantiated claims or points only confuse other members.

Note the title said it was a professional "opinion" and my opinion is based on research and evaluation - it is not an unsubstantiated or uneducated opinion. You are welcome to disagree with me but you won't change my opinion.

There have been many cases some of the Chinese manufactures used faulty paint, metals and other none safe product to threaten our health but if you consider how many things are made by Chinese we have on our table, office and on our backs their products truly have changed our lives in major ways.

Cheap labor has, indeed, change our lives and no doubt the lives of many laborers in China. Politics and human rights issues aside, I do buy Chinese made products and, as I have said over and over, you get what you pay for. So, let me make that clear - after all of my research and based on first-hand experience and professional exchange with manufacturers, owners and even potential customers....you get what you pay for and, yes, there are some safety concerns that are unaddressed.

I am not a huge fan of Chinese or Turkish made product. I am going to order Probat roaster next year(saving up for them now) but making the faulty statements like above only make us look ignorant and irresponsible.

So even YOU don't want a Chinese-built roaster. Ignorant? Whatever dude. You didn't exactly help your own argument with that comment. You seem to be very informed on Chinese manufacturing and YOU are buying a PROBAT! Why are we even having this exchange?

Bottom line, I hope you do not use any Chinese made home appliances or product... From coffee makers to plastic containers or packaging items for you coffee or shoes you are wearing....

Sadly there are times when I don't have a choice because Chinese products are all that are available. Never did I intend to imply that each and every Chinese-made product is faulty. This post is about my investigation into coffee roasters - not shoes or iPhones or TVs.

I don't have a lab to test things myself, so I can only rely on standards and certifications that are out there and if manufacturers don't participate or comply then that raises some serious questions. And when a customer takes receipt of a brand new roaster and in less than a week they take it off-line because of safety concerns, then what would YOU think?

Bottom line, you get what you pay for. I will not use Chinese-built coffee equipment due to safety and standards issues at this time. That is not to say that they won't improve with time and that would certainly warrant re-evaluation. But for now, I recommend against them - buyer beware - at best you get what you pay for - and that is my opinion.
 

CoffeeJunky

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To make sure, I have checked with 8 different Coffee roaster manufactures about ISO certification. They are all certified factory. They do not have certification process in China for health safety certification but they will do it if that is required to export to US.
There are over 35 roasters are in US who have purchased from China. I have requested the list of the local owners.

So I don't know which company you have been speaking to but why not list their names who have not been certified on here so we do not have to deal with them. I will post the name of company who is ISO certified here if someone is interested.

By the way, the Chinese roaster on ebay is manufactured by Amazon roasters and their factory is ISO certified. You should have checked with them first.

When you put Professional opinion on the top of the page, at least you should have done is to check with more then 2-3 manufactures in China to make statement as whole. Did you know there are over 20 roaster manufactures just on Alibaba.com?

Also, please post up the name of the manufactures you have contacted for any type of investigation other then reseller you talk about on Ebay. I also have spoken to him and his only goal is to sell these machine and make money. He does not represent the manufactures or their product. He also has no idea about coffee roasting. Pretty idiotic I would say.

When someone post up their findings, they make reference to their statement. Who they have spoken to and what they have said. When you post up your "professional Opinion" You have failed to say you only spoken to 3 manufactures and also fail to mention who they are. You made the statement they are not ISO certified or other certification process which also was faulty statement.

Please STOP making your opinion as some type of "Professional Opinion" without any reference based claim.
 

Hankua

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CJ, the Huky500 is available direct from Mr. Li the builder and he can sent it air freight; you can get it in 2 DAYS. Also there are many options available with the Huky; solid drum, perforated drum, two motors, variety of thermocouples or dial thermometer, custom exhaust vent. The Huky can be easily hooked to a computer using Artisan and Amprobe TMD-56 for your charting pleasure. There are quite a few hobbyists in the US with the Huky and it can roast 500 grams no problem. It does not come with a heat source although Mr. Li does have a custom stove available. If you live in an apartment or northern areas a butane stove is also available. Youtube video: Huky500?? - YouTube

Mini500/800n Yang Chia Machine Works LTD youtube video: Coffee Roaster-800N Connoisseur - YouTube

One more point; you can buy three Huky500 for what one Mini500/800n costs. They both roast the same amount of beans; one is a full out profession machine the other is a solid hobbyist roaster.
Both machines can roast continuously no problem; proudly made in the Republic of Taiwan. There is a big difference between Taiwanese and Chinese Business. IF you want to do business with China I highly recommend flying over there and establish personal relationship; this is not necessary with Taiwan. I have family in Taiwan and you can safely wire transfer money for coffee roaster to Mr. Yang or Mr. Li.
 
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BeanGrinder

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CJ, the Huky500 is available direct from Mr. Li the builder and he can sent it air freight; you can get it in 2 DAYS. Also there are many options available with the Huky; solid drum, perforated drum, two motors, variety of thermocouples or dial thermometer, custom exhaust vent. The Huky can be easily hooked to a computer using Artisan and Amprobe TMD-56 for your charting pleasure. There are quite a few hobbyists in the US with the Huky and it can roast 500 grams no problem. It does not come with a heat source although Mr. Li does have a custom stove available. If you live in an apartment or northern areas a butane stove is also available. Youtube video: Huky500?? - YouTube

Mini500/800n Yang Chia Machine Works LTD youtube video: Coffee Roaster-800N Connoisseur - YouTube

One more point; you can buy three Huky500 for what one Mini500/800n costs. They both roast the same amount of beans; one is a full out profession machine the other is a solid hobbyist roaster.
Both machines can roast continuously no problem; proudly made in the Republic of Taiwan. There is a big difference between Taiwanese and Chinese Business. IF you want to do business with China I highly recommend flying over there and establish personal relationship; this is not necessary with Taiwan. I have family in Taiwan and you can safely wire transfer money for coffee roaster to Mr. Yang or Mr. Li.

I totally agree with you - doing business in Taiwan is very different than China. The Huky500 is a pretty cool little machine - some home roasting aficionados here in the states would love that. The heat source might be an issue but there are some propane burners that could be adapted.

So - what is the cost of the Huky500 and Mini500 in US dollars?
 

Hankua

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The Huky has been around for awhile, started as the Huky300 then the fins in the drum were modified to increase capacity to 500g. Taiwan has many coffee hobbyists; Hottop, Quest M3, Huky500, RotateFun, are all made there. The Yang-Chia Machine Works factory is the most famous commercial roaster builder in Taiwan; the mini500/800n is the smallest machine. All transactions are in NT (Taiwan dollars) so prevailing exchange rates would apply. Both Mr. Yang and Mr Li answer email in English very quickly; Mr Li got a machine to NJ in two days. He can customize the machine with multiple options; the solid drum is favored in the US. Motors come in two different speeds, and thermocouples can be ordered as well. The vent extension is a good idea, it can be run to an existing window coupled with the butane stove would bypass code requirements for LPG.

You can get an idea of the Yang roaster machine prices by visiting Bellataiwan. A few hobbyists have brought the small machine back to the US on the return air flight. Yang roasters are very advanced and Taiwan roasters have scored extremely high on CoffeeReview using these machines. It's probably a good idea to be fluent in Chinese or know someone who is to communicate with Bella or Yang. Luckily there is a small community of roasters who own these machines, speak Chinese and can help solve any problems.

Price Wise the Quest and Huky are similar, the Quest gets the nod for being electric and the Huky for the 500g capacity. I can Figure out the final cost of the 800n Yang machine if you get the price and shipping to the nearest port. Personally I would skip the 1k Yang and go for the 4k version or the 500g like I have. They have an option for a perforated cast iron drum that's hand drilled; it's called "direct fire" over there and the solid drum is called "semi-hot air". The precision air control valve is standard on all the machines except the 500g model. Adjustable drum speed is standard on all the roasters.
 
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My wife is Chinese and she ever gone to Amazon Coffee Dalian city, Amazon is trading company, they have no factory, one of my friend said that Amazon buy from Guangzhou factory..
 

CoffeeJunky

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Welcome aboard tugma. I have done some research around the people who have purchased Chinese Roaster around the country. There are very few of them, and most of them were pretty happy with the roaster. The heating unit is weak, the drum seem little smaller to roast full 1kg. Other then that, they also had some issues with shipping and parts issues. The communication is big problem and they do not have tech support to ask any questions when you have problems or issues.
Most the problem people had was not really related to faulty machine issues but mostly their concerns, further knowledge on roasting and other not quality related issues.
If you do not have much knowledge on coffee roasters, do not buy them or you will have some serious learning time. The price of the machine is very attractive but I would purchase Ambex, Toper, Ozturk if you need some type of after service, advise, training and anything you might need.
 

tugma616

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Thanks for the welcome CJ. I have been on a HotTop for some time now and wanted to move to the next level. Not interested in selling just playing around with profiles and coffee origins. I have a full machine shop at home that would take care of repairs and tweaks. When you say that the heating unit is weak are you talking the electric or gas? Coffeemachines111 are you getting the electric or gas model? Would love to have you share your experiences with the machine. Did you order yours from the Ebay guy or from North Coffee?
 

CoffeeJunky

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The most of the 1kg models are electric. And I am talking about 1kg electric models.... I am sorry for not specifying it. As a leisure roaster, 1kg roasters will be great. It will be huge step up from the hottop.
The heating elements is weak if you are roasting 1.5-2 pounds for 4-5 hours strait. It will slow you down but if you are going to roast about 10-15 pounds or less a day, i wouldn't worry about it.....
 
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