drum material density

[hotdog]

anybody have the lowdown on how thick the steel is on particular brands of small batch (25lb or so) roaster drums? this seems like it would be of great importance in the outcome of a roast, no? as w/ cooking on thin or hefty stainless saute pans in the kitchen, heat conducts entirely differntly on the two.

 

[Alun_evans]

I like thick drums, but it really all is what the roaster is comfortable with. I think that is what is the beauty in roasting!

 

[hotdog]

do you know which roasters have the thickest drums and vice versa?

 

[Alun_evans]

I think Probat traditionally has heavier drums, but I use an older roster. Not sure about the newer models. They o/took over Jabez-Burns who also built heavy drum roasters

 

[Abidin Domba]

Hi, everybody…
I'm newbie and I'm building my own drum roaster now.
(The diameter is 20 inches)
I need information about the speed of the rotation...
Can somebody tell me the best r.p.m. to roast coffee please?
Please give me advice…
Thanks.

 

[jlyon10]

There is a website homeroasters.org, that forum has all kinds of information about building home roasters.

 

[scotchale]

Thanks for the note to the website for homeroasters. I'll try that sight next. As for drum density, this is an area of interest for me. I'm using a homebuilt rotisserie roaster my wife got from an ebay sight. Being mechanically inclined, I'm already looking at ideas for building a better version. My interest/concern would be how much open-area in the roaster to the heat source, and how well should the beans be stirred up?

The current roaster consists of a tubular sheet of aluminum with 1/16-1/8th holes about 1/8th of an inch apart. I'm not quite getting the consistent roast I desire with this arrangement. I'm wondering if more exposure to the heat source could be achieved utilizing a mesh screen of SS material? I feel that the design of the current roaster actually shields the beans in the process? In other words, the main roasting comes from the contact with the drum material, rather than the radiant heat through the perforated holes?

Then the stirring aspect of the roaster: The current design consists of three 90 degree angled aluminum pieces mounted across the drum. I'm thinking I'd like to see an angled designed about 30 degrees across the interior of the drum? Hard to explain without a visual though.

Last aspect I'll inquire later on is rotational speed. Currently my rotisserie is about 1 RPM. I think I'd like to see about 2 or 3 RPM ?

Idea's for now....

 

[Sage]

well, some home roasters have a 50-60rpm. i dont know if that's fast.

BTW, what's a better roasting drum, perforated or nonperforated?i'm planning to build a sample roaster too and this really is a big problem to me

Scotchale, do you have pix of your roaster?