roaster hunting

[T]

For a very small retail buisiness, how would the Toper 1-Kilo electric roaster fair? Good news, bad news about this roaster? Thanks

 

[Temuri]

Tomorrow I am calling them. I may buy it, but it is not desided yet. Depends on what they say. If I buy I shall tell you about the first experience in ten days.
Anyway should be good.

 

[BeanGrinder]

Toper makes excellent equipment and the Cafemino looks like a well thought out machine. Unlike some of the "set it and forget it" roaster conversions being sold for rediculous prices, this design has the traditional style of a roaster with all of the time-honored drum roaster features.

There is a whole separate debate about the flavor of electric "baked" coffee vs. gas "roasted" coffee. I won't get into that. I'd also ask your Toper dealer to send samples of coffee roasted on that machine for comparison. It's the only way you'll know that the quality is up to par for what you want to serve. I'd suggest that for any roaster - gas, electric or other. Roaster dealers are constantly roasting, so you should have no trouble getting samples.

Separate from the roaster and its features, you need to consider your roasting demand. You need to to take a hard look at your business. a 1K roaster is very small and if your business grows, you will quickly need to add another roaster or upgrade to a larger one. I'm not speaking ill of the Cafemino - it will work fine for the right situation. But like any roaster, you want to plan carefully so that you don't waste money.

Unless you are roasting at home for personal consumption, I would recommend you estimate how much you think you'll be roasting and double that number. Go from there.

The busier your business gets, the more time your customers will demand. You don't want to be slaving over a hot roaster cranking out one kilo at a time, while other aspects of your business suffer from a lack of attention.

You might need to think larger...the Toper TKM-5 will cost more, but pound for pound you will appreciate being able to crank out the 5 times the amount of roasted coffee per batch. That will open up more opportunities for your business as well.

Why don't you PM or e-mail me...I'll be glad to help you think it through.

-BG

 

[BeanGrinder]

See Lizzy's comments...she has outgrown her 1K!

http://www.coffeeforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5874

As I said above. 1K isn't a large capacity. It is great for a sample roaster and similar applications, but you need more to support a business.

-BG

 

[Davec]

See Lizzy's comments...she has outgrown her 1K!

http://www.coffeeforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5874

As I said above. 1K isn't a large capacity. It is great for a sample roaster and similar applications, but you need more to support a business.

-BG

I agree with the small size issue, and I have a 1kg electric cafemino. They do do a gas variant as well.

Oh the Toper doesn't "bake" the beans.....quite the opposite and 70% of it's heating method is actually infrared. So the temp indicator really just tells you how much themal energy your going to apply to the beans, of course it does give you an indication when to drop as well, you soon learn when it's too cool to drop.

It's a roaster that prefers to roast at it's maximum capacity....you have to really know what your doing to roast much less than 1kg

 

[Jim Mckenzie]

I will be in VT this coming week, if you would like some kind of proposal and general information on the Toper and refurbished roasters etcetera let me know. I love to see the beginnings of GREATNESS!

It is good to gain wisdom from several people that have been there done that.

Email -or phone works too,
Jim

 

[La Crema Coffee]

one word of advice: IR-3