Need Recommendations on coffee roasters

[mohnsen]

Hi Everyone

This is my first post here.

I am currently looking for a roaster with a batch size around 12-20 kg

I have been recommended Giesen, Probat, and diedrich. But after looking around I have found interest in Vittoria.

This machine roasts by hot air,which sounds like big advantage when it comes to even roasting of the coffee.

What are your thoughts?

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[poison]

The first three are top tier, some of the best roasters money can buy. You can't go wrong with any of those, and I would add San Franciscan to that list as well.

I would not buy an air roaster. Though it's possible to roast excellent coffee on an air roaster, it's also possible to roast excellent coffee in a skillet, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. Air roasters have very short roast times, convection provides less development than conduction, and development times will be very short. The flavor profile of a drum roaster is much better in my opinion (and most other people's).

Keep in mind drum roasters also use air to roast, in some cases as much as 50-60 percent of the roasting is convection/air. So the difference between the two types of roasters has nothing to do with even roasts,amd everything to do with flavor profiles.

Hope that helps.

 

[mohnsen]

Hi Poison

It certainly helps - although now I am less convinced about the Vittoria than before

But that was also the reason I wrote and asked in this forum in the first place.

I would very much like to hear from others if they share your oppinion.

Merry Christmas to everybody

 

[poison]

Well, go look at who the best roaster in the world are, and I can assure you not a single one is using an air roaster (the exception is Loring, but that's not the same thing). Coffee collective, wendleboe, Paradise, counter culture, whoever you want to mention.

 

[Amhas]

Hi Poison

It certainly helps - although now I am less convinced about the Vittoria than before

But that was also the reason I wrote and asked in this forum in the first place.

I would very much like to hear from others if they share your oppinion.

Merry Christmas to everybody

Hi Mohnsen,

What Poison has stated is the general consensus with the roasting industry.
My suggestion if you need to understand more about this is to take a roasting class. Asking here in the forum is good but actually seeing and understanding what goes into roasting coffee is much better and you will learn maybe what and how these different roasters work. Then you can decide what works best for you and your needs. Maybe that is a hot air roaster but for most of us here it isn't because of what we are looking for in a roast.

 

[John P]

mohnsen,

I agree with poison and Amhas. There is just not enough time for flavor development with an air roaster, it also lacks in body/mouthfeel as well.

As far as which roaster to choose, it depends on budget, ability to service, and what specifics you value in a roaster. Take your time. Once you do some research and narrow it down, talk to some roasters who roast on the equipment you are strongly considering and make an informed decision.

Happy roasting!

 

[seeingcoffee]

From having spent most of my roasting career using a Sivitz (air roaster; or fluid bed roaster, as it is often referred to in the industry), I can attest to everything stated by previous posters about the roast process and timeframe not allowing for full development. While an air roaster will produce a clean/crisp roast, it will do so at a high cost. The average roast time for a 60 lb light roast on my former employer's Sivitz was around eight to nine minutes. First crack typically occured within three minutes (often times much less if the roasting chamber was hot from previous roasts). Other than adjusting airflow, there was very little control over the process; and increased airflow would only extend the roast slightly.

Coffee from air roaster typically perform poorly on cupping tables. The same green coffee roasted on an air roaster versus drum roaster cupped side to side will show a noticeable difference. Any experienced cupper would be able to sense the underdevelopment and lack of flavor depth instantly in the coffee roasted on an air roaster.

While I agree with poison that the Loring isn't truly an air roaster (except for the Merlin model); on the cupping table, coffee roasting on the Loring cups only slightly better than an air roaster in my opinon.

Stick with drum roasters if you are looking for depth and control over your roasts.

 

[Musicphan]

I agree with pretty much everything said above.. I personally will be placing an order for a USRC drum roaster here in a few weeks. I do have to say The Roasterie out of KC works magic with their Sivitz. (No affiliation... but it does help I can get beans typically within a week of roast at my grocery store)

Super Tuscan Espresso by The Roasterie Review | CoffeeReview.com

 

[mohnsen]

How about Toper.
How do you think that performs compared to the brands mentioned earlier?

What are the disadvantages of this cheaper roaster?

 

[BoldJava]

Watched a 1K Toper roast. No thanks, too noisy. Couldn't hear 1st crack on sequential, different origin roasts.

 

[poison]

My sf is whisper quiet.

 

[jamestooill]

This is a lovely discussion of drum vs. air roasters. But I can't help but notice that the Vittoria roaster mentioned in the original post is not(as far I know) an air roaster, It's a perforated drum roaster with an external burner.

 

[peterjschmidt]

Good catch...

 

[mohnsen]

So perhaps it´s not as bad as people suggest to begin with?

 

[peterjschmidt]

So perhaps it´s not as bad as people suggest to begin with?

I don't have experience with Vittoria, sorry. I, like many others in this thread, was thrown off the track by your statement that it's an air roaster. Typically, when someone says air roaster, they're referring to a Fluid Air Bed roaster, or FAB roaster such as the Sivetz or Sonofresco, which use hot air to loft the beans. A drum roaster has air being pulled through the drum, and so some of the heat transfer to the beans is indeed convection, but a good deal is also by conduction, which is where the difference in flavor profiles enters in.