Question for All You Coffee Roasters

[prairiedog]

All you coffee roasters - how long does a home coffee roaster last (the machine, not the person)? I was reading an article on Sweet Maria's, where she said the average life of a roaster was 2 years. That seemed very short. What's been your experience?

 

[mrgnomer]

All you coffee roasters - how long does a home coffee roaster last (the machine, not the person)? I was reading an article on Sweet Maria's, where she said the average life of a roaster was 2 years. That seemed very short. What's been your experience?

I've had my iRoast 2 for just over a year and it's approaching it's 300th 5oz roast. Apart from having a quirky moment with the LCD controls and a fan shaft that needed cleaning and lubing after it seized it's working like new. I hope to have it for several more years to come.

Like anything you get what you pay for, I think. You want lasting quality, for a few thousand you can get a commercial sample roaster that will probably last you a life time. Commercial roaster manufacturers are starting to build in home use to their sample roaster machines. If you want to spend between $100-$600 your roasting capacity and machine longevity will reflect the investment. It would be nice if my iRoast lasted more than 5 years but after using it for a year I'm already looking at a better roaster with more capacity so whether it keeps running for a couple more years won't probably matter.

 

[prairiedog]

Thanks

Thanks for the input. I just ordered an i-Roast 2, so that's good to hear.

 

[mrgnomer]

Re: Thanks

Thanks for the input. I just ordered an i-Roast 2, so that's good to hear.

Good show

I like the iRoast but apart from reading up on other roasters it's the only roaster I've got direct experience with. For the money I think it offers more than other fluid bed roasters in it's range. The 5 stage control over roast temps with the iR2 is something I don't see even in more expensive drum roasters. It's got a bigger roasting capacity than it's competition but with a bigger fan to handle the larger capacity it's noisier. It also needs to be vented when used in doors especially if you roast on the dark side. The first time I roasted to dark the smoke alarms went off. Venting is as easy as roasting under a hood fan or connecting a duct to your kitchen fan's exhaust or roasting outside if the weather's o.k.

Good luck. Enjoy the good coffee :-D

 

[MichaelZ]

Coffee Roaster


I think you will be very happy with the iRoast 2. I have had mine for almost a year now, and it is a great little roaster. I first purchased a Swissmar Alpenroast drum roaster and was never able to get it to roast a bean to first crack. Sent the company an e-mail and never even received a reply. Poor design anyway as you cannot see the beans when roasting. If my iRoast 2 ever wears out, I'll probably upgrade to a Hottop drum roaster. But for the price you could buy 3 or 4 iRoasts. I place mine over the range to use the vent hood which works fine. The iRoast 2 comes with an attachment for the top to allow you to connect a dryer vent hose to vent smoke out a window or door, but it usually falls off it gets obscenely hot to the touch. The range vent hood works fine.

Good luck, everytime I give beans as a gift, they tell me it's the best coffee they have ever tasted.