I am very familiar with all cracking sounds. new i-roast gives no none: i've 
turned off vent motors; even made the .5 cups on the high side. They roast 
well into dense smoke, with oil visible; but quiet?  Any thoughts, advice, 
understanding? I miss the cracks for profile knowledge. I though the motor was 
louder than; but others mentioned it.
    Wade

<Snip>
I can't hear the cracks most of the time. Sometimes there is a first
crack that sounds a little like what I expect second crack to sound
like ("Rice Krispies"); sometimes I can hear a muted second crack but
not first crack. It's frustrating, especially when Tom roasted a
single origin to demo the unit for me at SM, I could hear first crack
just fine (I'm roasting espresso blends here at home).
Also the unit seems quite susceptible to outside temperature and
wind. I can't roast outside at 20 degrees C, using Tom's profile, and
expect to get to second crack at all. I should get off my butt and rig
the inside vent hose. 
Despite these complaints, and those about the user interface, I think
it roasts quite well, and is pretty simple to use. --PR

In a message dated 7/29/2004 6:56:35 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
plragde writes:
<Snip>
Are you roasting with the exhaust vent?  I can hear the cracks in my unit 
very well -- it helps to know when to expect them and I am using a profile (based 
on Tom's) that always produces the 1st crack about the same time.  2nd crack 
can be heard too -- along with a bit of smoke -- not nearly as loud as in the 
manual popper but clearly audible.  I use the cracks to decide when to dump an 
I-roast batch.  Profile: 2 at 320; 3 at 375; program 10 at 415.  I use this 
for everything now, going between 3:00 and 6 into the 3rd setting (3 usually 
for city) 4 to 5 for a Full; 5 to 6 for a Vienna -- some beans roast 
differently, but I always get that crack within between:30 and 1:30 of the 3rd.  Right 
now I'm not using the vent, doing this is the garage.  Love this roaster.
Dave Echelbarger  

In a message dated 7/29/2004 6:56:35 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
plragde writes:
<Snip>
I've been having the same problem recently hearing the cracks.  I've had 
my i-roast for two months and initially was roasting on my back deck.  I 
could almost always hear the cracks.  Recently I have been roasting in 
the garage using the exhaust vent and vent hose and have strained to 
hear a crack.  Occasionally I will hear a few cracks of first crack and 
never 2nd crack.  I didn't think about the possible association with the 
exhaust vent.  Next batch will be without the exhaust vent and I will 
report back.
Jerry Procopio

<Snip>
No, all roasts outside. But just to prove me a poor observer, I did a
roast of Moka Kadir yesterday, after doing the chaff collector
modification (my unit seems to be cool, not hot, but I didn't like the
idea of the inner ring rattling around and chaff clogging the top
mesh), and heard cracks. I increased Tom's profile slightly,
something like 340(2:00)-400(3:00)-470(10:00), heard first crack
about two minutes into the last stage, and cut the roast off with two
minutes remaining, which was a little darker than I should have gone,
perhaps. I wasn't sure about second crack, but it might have started
about ninety seconds before I cut the roast off. Next time I will keep
closer records.
There is a use for the presets: you can only add time once and you
can't add much (and if your finger slips off the button while you are
adding it, that's it), so if the unit goes into cool mode with the
roast not dark enough, you can unplug it, plug it in again quickly,
and hit the preset to finish it off, moving to cool
manually. Otherwise it is a bit too rapid for me. --PR