If anyone knows, at what temperature should a hot plate be set for the bottom heat on a dog bowl roast? I just fried my Hottop...:-(. A 2nd roast was being done to get through Ivan, should it hit here (Bradenton, FL). The chaff was vacuumed out of the machine, then the 2nd roast was started. It got through first crack. 2nd normally starts about 2 - 3 minutes after first, so I closed the sliding door and turned my back to watch the Marlins/Cubs game. About 2 minutes later, I turned around to see a STREAM of smoke flowing out the back. The eject button was pushed. 30 seconds later, the oil on the beans burst into flames. The plug was pulled, and the eject tray yanked out. The flames were blown out, but not all the beans had ejected. The view plate was taken off, and a fire extinguisher sprayed into it. The plastic melted. The only salvageable pieces are the stainless steel ones. It's now known why a fire extinguisher was kept out there, even though it was believed to be overkill before. Anyone planning on doing back to back roasts in a Hottop BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not having the cash to replace the Hottop, dog bowl roasts are my new endever. Our apartment management doesn't allow open flames on our porches, so a grill isn't an option. I'm REALLY PEEVED!!! John |
Sorry to hear about your roaster fire John, It is the first time I have heard about one using a Hot Top. Roaster fires are dangerous and get extremely hot. Glad you are ok, to bad about loosing your hot top. RK |
John,
I would simply experiment. If you have a 1500 watt heat gun, I
would start by adding about 800 watts from the bottom to roast half a
pound. Remember your heat gun gives you the adjustability during the
roast.
Jim Gundlach
On Sep 11, 2004, at 10:47 PM, John Cramer wrote:
<Snip> |
I prefer the heatgun plus grill for several reasons, but many people skip the under-heat altogether and still report fine roasts. IMO, the biggest benefit of the heat from below is to even out the roast and ambient temp environment somewhat, and not to add an appreciable amount of heat to the roast (a heatgun that produces around 12 cfm and 1,000 F will give you ample heat. Those who don't use the grill pay some extra attention to shielding the bowl from breezes. Given this understanding, if I were selecting a hot plate I'd worry less about how hot it got, and go for something as much larger than the bottom dimensions of the bowl as was practical. Good luck. Bet you don't miss the HT. #:o) Martin. --- John Cramer wrote: <Snip> ===== Martin Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out!http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail |
--- normand szcyrek wrote: <Snip> Here's the url to Michael Lloyd's "HeatGun Primer" on Ed Needham's homeroaster website. http://www.homeroaster.com/heatgun.htmlMichael has a nice discussion with pics of different bowls. I prefer the slant/double-sided bowl for its stability on any surface and comfort when using the bbq as a second heat source. I've seen these bowls in 32, 64, and 96 oz sizes and I use all three. The 64 handles my "usual" roast of 8-10 oz of green. I'll use the 32 for a 3 or 4 oz addition to a blend. I'll use the 96 for some 10 oz roasts, but I usually don't like to go much larger than that. For example, if I want to net a pound of roasted, 2 10 oz roasts take very little more time than a 16-20 oz roast, and are more satisfactory to me. BTW, there's a definite difference in bowl "quality" (thin, lighter steel v. heavier, more substantial). Can't say that it makes a difference in the roast, but as an aesthetic matter, more costly heavy ones are nice if you can find them. Martin ===== Martin Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!http://vote.yahoo.com |
I just bought the Milwaukee 750 at Home Depot today. The discussions seen say that it's 500 - 750F. However, the book and box say it's 750 - 1000F. Nowhere can the CFM output be found, not even on their website. Does it put out enough/too much? Does it really top out at 750F? Has a mistake been made buying this one? Any help would be appreciated. John |
On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 00:16:37 -0400, John Cramer wrote: <Snip> I don't know the actual temp/air flow numbers, but this model (purchased about a month ago) has worked well for me so far. It doesn't put out enough air to move the beans by itself so I stir with a metal spoon. My first few roasts were either too dark or too light, but attempt #4 tasted great -- I'm hooked! Karl |
3 disadvantages of having the HG "stir" the beans: Blows beans out of the bowl Temptation to submerge nozzle and superheat outer surface of beans. Can't count on as good a mix as stirring with another implement. 2 disadvantages of metal spoon (try stick end of big wooden spoon): Noisy, scraping sound. Requires concentration to avoid spilling beans and tends to move beans as a mass. Some people like metal wisks. I don't. Martin --- Karl Klug wrote: <Snip> ===== Martin Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail |
While practicing my thrift store junky habbits I have noticed a ton of old Sunbeam stand mixers that seem like they would be perfect for agitating beans while heat gun roasting. I really like to heat gun roast but am also kind of lazy. I imagine using a metal bread hook in a stainless bowl set on a relatively low speed. The going rate is about $12 which is just out of my buy it on a chance price range. Has any one who HGDB roasts every experimented with anything like this set up? Jared HeatGunRoast wrote: 3 disadvantages of having the HG "stir" the beans: Blows beans out of the bowl Temptation to submerge nozzle and superheat outer surface of beans. Can't count on as good a mix as stirring with another implement. 2 disadvantages of metal spoon (try stick end of big wooden spoon): Noisy, scraping sound. Requires concentration to avoid spilling beans and tends to move beans as a mass. Some people like metal wisks. I don't. Martin --- Karl Klug wrote: <Snip> ===== Martin Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mailDoYou Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com |
I've played with all sorts of combinations and contraptions, and I recognize your symptoms: The confluence of economics (cheapskate), energy conservation (laziness), and a pre-disposition to tinker (play)in pursuit of the perfect roast. Another hopeless case. #:o) Some thoughts: If you're wanding the HG over the beans with one hand, what will you do with the other hand while your Sunbeam is agitating? Rest it? Of course, you can "fix" your HG and have 2 free hands, go snooze for 11 minutes and return to a crappy roast. The delight of HG/DB is how it combines low-tech and high-quality. Seems to defeat the purpose if you embellish it too much. Martin --- Jared Andersson wrote: <Snip> ===== Martin Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!http://vote.yahoo.com |
Wagner was called today, to verify the 1000F on the box and in the docs. The person called the heat gun project manager, and he came back to say that the box and book are right. It's a 750 - 1000F gun. Right now, beans are not needed. When needed, my IR thermometer will be used to verify their claim. BTW, I'm going to try my Bourgeat 3 qt evaseé. It weighs 5 3/4 lbs, so it should be a solid, non moveable base. It's also 3" deep, which should be deep enough. It's one of those sloped sided sauté pans, shaped like a deep wok. It will also retain heat admirably. Again, thanks to all for their sharing of knowledge!! I'm praying for all who are in Ivan's path. John |
I know some of you HG-roast in a wok over some kind of heat. I was wondering if anyone has HG-Roasted in an electric wok? I think it would be easy to control the bottom temp w/o scorching the beans, as might happen with a flame. I think i have one somewhere in my Ali Baba cave, and was wondering if it would be worthwhile to look for it...:-) Ciao, Angelo |
A bunch of responses: I'm a big advocate of the dual source of heat, although I honestly can't say how much the non-HG source contributes to the quality of the roast. It's as much of a "makes-sense-to-me" issue as having an empirical grip on the benefits. It does seem that roasts are best when "most" of the heat/control comes from the HG. The under-source seems to contribute to keeping ramps smoother, evening out the inevitable variations from the moving HG. The bbq "scorching" of beans has never been a problem. Simply hasn't happened to me. I keep heat at a medium low. I think there's some benefit to the broader grill heat coming up and influencing the near-environment around the outside of the bowl as opposed to being confined just to the bowl itself. Just another hunch--close to saying "I like it because I like it." My issue is that I've tried 2 different (non-electric) woks and simply don't care for how the wok shape matches up with my variations in batch size and HG stirring technique. I seem to have to work harder at keeping a good even mix. Doesn't mean that it won't work for you. Also, IMO, each vessel I've ever used seems to have an optimal range of batch size (I think of it as the "sweet size.") Doesn't mean that a wider variation of sizes can't produce great roasts all around, just that I prefer matching bowl size to roast size. So how many woks ya got? Bottom line? Try it. Could depend on how deep and how dark is the cave. If you are not out in 3 weeks, we'll send someone to look. Martin --- Angelo wrote: <Snip> ===== Martin Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!http://vote.yahoo.com |
Sounds like a good idea. Electric woks are inadequate on their own but
they may be just right to supplement the HG.
Jim Gundlach
On Sep 16, 2004, at 4:53 PM, Angelo wrote:
<Snip> |
After sending my message, I thought about whether the heat gun would overheat the (usually) no-stick(Teflon?) surface on most of the cheaper electric woks, thereby releasing toxic fumes? I know there are some more expensive, much hotter ,ones that don't use a chemical coating, but you don't see many of those in the thrift shops :-) A. <Snip> |
I've never used one, but every electric wok I've ever seen had some kind = of non-stick surface. I would be leery of applying concentrated, direct = heat to a non-stick surface - the fumes of non-stick surfaces at high = (cooking) temps can be lethal to birds so probably aren't exactly = healthy to humans, either (probably wouldn't do anything for the flavor = of the coffee, either!). JMO, Jean |
That's what I was thinking, but I don't remember the temp at which this reaction occurs, and do our temps reach that level? I know someone on this list knows the figure.... A. <Snip> |
A little searching found the following about Teflon melting points: High melting points (327°C [621°F] for Teflon PTFE; 260°C = [500°F] for Teflon FEP, and 305°C [582°F] for Teflon PFA). The melting point of = Teflon PTFE is one of the highest in organic polymer chemistry. Other materials can attain higher temperatures, but they degrade rather than = melt. Compared to Teflon PTFE, the lower melting temperature of Teflon = FEP results from lower°of polymerization and crystallinity. In Teflon = PFA, a higher degree of polymerization, enhanced entanglement of the pendant structure, and lower comonomer content combine to provide a melting point closer to that of Teflon PTFE. A 750 and 1000 degree heat gun could melt the stuff. However, the Rival WS73 is a non-Teflon stainless steel wok that should = work. There ought to be others. Jim Gundlach • On Sep 18, 2004, at 2:39 PM, Angelo wrote: <Snip> <Snip> <Snip> <Snip> <Snip> was <Snip> <Snip> <Snip> |
As to woks, do a websearch on 'The Great Wok of China'. It's one of those TV hocked items that's made of pounded steel. It's relatively thick, and a metal ring can be purchased for stabilization. The wok itself is about $30 plus shipping. Goodwill or the Slvation Army may have one, if your timing is good. One's been used here for cooking during the past 6+ years. It's bugger to keep it from rusting down here, with the exceptional, year long humidity, but its cost has been recouped multiple times in it's usage. HTH, John |
I've seen those in Chinatown(NYC) grocery stores for way less than that.. As to the rust...have you seasoned it with oil? After six years that thing should be black and not really rustable, unless you leave water in it. People make the mistake of cleaning those high carbon steel items down to the metal, when what they should do is just rinse with some soap and water and dry immediately, over a flame if needs be..In some Chinese restaurants, where the kitchen is visible, you can see the cooks just wiping the woks with a cloth between meals. I once found a nice, heavy wok sitting on top of a garbage can. (ewwww....)It was black as night. I cleaned it up, and it's been my favorite pot for years...The owners probably thought it was ruined because it was covered with a carbonized coating. Their ignorance = my gain.. Ciao, Angelo <Snip> |
You're right about the inside. It's black as coal. The problem is the outside. BTW, drying on an electric stove is tricky. Should it get too hot, condensation will develop as it cools. This was learned first hand years ago when cleaning tinned steel implements. However, if it's left to cool on the coil, condensation isn't created. BOY, your find is very envied! I'd fall over, should a restaurant quality wok be stumbled over in the trash. I may have to start lurking near the trash of local Chinese restaurants...:-). Thanks for your thoughts, John (Bradenton, FL) Angelo wrote: <Snip> |
A reply from a lurker.... I roast with the turbo-crazy setup, the Stir Crazy being a non-stick finish. It hasn't affected the taste of the coffee, and looks the same as the day it came out of the box. I couldn't say 100% positive, but don't think the finish should be a concern on a wok either. peter/ milwaukee <Snip> but <Snip> if <Snip>http://sweetmarias.com/maillistinfo.html#personalsettings<Snip>">http://sweetmarias.com/maillistinfo.html#personalsettings<Snip>http://sweetmarias.com/maillistinfo.html#personalsettings<Snip> unsvbscribes) go tohttp://sweetmarias.com/maillistinfo.html#personalsettings |
anyone have any suggestions of what heatgun to get?/ I see them from 15$ at grizzly.com to 150.00 on other sites... and ebay too i see them.... what is the standard I need for dog bowlin it? Dennis Parham On Sep 12, 2004, at 12:25 PM, HeatGunRoast wrote: <Snip> |
On Fri, 24 Sep 2004 00:15:30 -0500, Dennis Parham wrote: <Snip> Hi Dennis.... I use a Wagner HT775, which seems to be a popular choice. I believe it is also the same as the Milwaukee 750. The gun at this link... http://makeashorterlink.com/?J1C112F59Looks like the same one, at a good price. I paid $55 for mine at Lowes... ...ron |
Home Depot has the Milwaukee version of this gun for about $36, which makes it almost the same price (adding shipping). BTW, the heat settings are 750F and 1000F, which were proved using my infrared thermometer. Also, thanks for your setup picture. Unfortunately, it would require me to buy a colander. I'm broke, so it's impossible. A rigging is going to be made, so my little wet/dry vac can be set to suck up the chaff as it lets loose of the beans. That way 5 minutes vacing my porch won't be required anymore. John Ron_L wrote: <Snip> |
On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 00:43:05 -0400, John Cramer wrote: <Snip> Good Morning, John! I've thought about rigging somethiing up with my shop vac, so I'm interested in whatever you come up with. BTW, the colandar is entirely optional. I found mine at a local Dollar General for a buck, so I decided to try it and I liked the way it worked, so I stuck with it! ...ron |