Last night, it was a Kenya Auction Lot - 10 Oz. Disconnected the heater element. Now - one question. When the roast first started, and for the first couple of minutes, the stir arm would reverse direction a couple of times. Is this normal and to be expected? I started the SUNPENTOWN at 390 degrees and kept it there until first crack - around 10 minutes or so. Curiously enough, I couldn't really tell when 1st crack was through - at around 12 min. or so, I could tell by the smell and sight that the beans were getting 'done'. Question #2 - is 1st crack more 'subtle'? Should I roast at a higher temp. to reach 1st earlier and more pronounced? Veterans of the SC/convection roasting wars, I welcome your comments. Thanks! Michael A. Roaster of Vienna, Va. |
--Apple-Mail-1--854064596 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset O-8859-1; format=flowed quick note... I always bump up the temp from 390 but not far.. maybe to = 450 but a min or 2 after first crack subsides...just to make sure I actually make it to temp for 2nd crack... Dennis Parham On Nov 7, 2004, at 1:30 PM, MMore wrote: <Snip> <Snip> <Snip> really <Snip> higher <Snip> --Apple-Mail-1--854064596 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/enriched; charset O-8859-1 quick note... I always bump up the temp from 390 but not far.. maybe to 450 but a min or 2 after first crack subsides...just to make sure I actually make it to temp for 2nd crack... Dennis Parham On Nov 7, 2004, at 1:30 PM, MMore wrote: 0000,8080,0000Last night, it was a Kenya Auction Lot - 10 Oz. Disconnected the heater element. 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000Now - one question. When the roast first started, and for the first couple of minutes, the stir arm would reverse direction a couple of times. Is this normal and to be expected? 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000I started the SUNPENTOWN at 390 degrees and kept it there until first crack - around 10 minutes or so. Curiously enough, I couldn't really tell when 1st crack was through - at around 12 min. or so, I could tell by the smell and sight that the beans were getting 'done'. 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000Question #2 - is 1st crack more 'subtle'? Should I roast at a higher temp. to reach 1st earlier and more pronounced? 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000Veterans of the SC/convection roasting wars, I welcome your comments. 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000Thanks! 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000 0000,8080,0000Michael A. Roaster of Vienna, Va. = --Apple-Mail-1--854064596-- |
That's interesting Dennis, since I have the same setup (SC heater disabled). Maybe the temperature settings on the Sunpentown are not uniform between units, or maybe we have some voltage differences. With a temperature setting of 390 for the whole time, I hit first crack around 6 minutes and virtually no time between first and second crack. I've now dropped it even a little lower - around 370-390 for the whole time. With this setup, my first crack starts at 7 minutes and ends at 9 minutes, with 2nd crack starting around 10 minutes. The reason I've lowered the temperature is because I've heard that it is good to have a clear distinction between 1st and 2nd crack. I have also found a way to remove more of the chaff during the roast. The first time I roasted with this setup, I had the Sunpendown exactly centered on the SC and wound up with tons of burnt chaff inside. But I've found that if I keep both units flush on one side and have a bigger overhang on the other, more of the chaff escapes. I also think my roasts taste better than with the Poppery, although I can't really explain why. -Gregg On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 14:35:03 -0600, Dennis Parham wrote: <Snip> -- - Gregg Reno |
heheh yup! i do the same thing! as far as offsetting my Sunpentown/SC Im sure there is some difference in Voltage as I always get about 3-4 minutes between first and second crack... both very distinct..also... what volume are you roasting? I do 2 heaping cups.... 34 oz. as standard... a do adjust and compensate as needed bean to bean.... Also, the beans that roast slower like in a drum roaster tend to be smoother with more body but loose a touch of the brightness a fast roast like the fluid bed roasters provide.. both have their benefits such as brightness maybe good for drip or MOKA pots and drum or espresso as it smoothes out the BITE and adds depth... its a preference and I agree I love my Supentown/SC setup...! Dennis Parham On Nov 7, 2004, at 3:30 PM, Gregg Reno wrote: <Snip> |
That's probably it. I've been roasting 1 to 1 1/2 cups at a time instead of 2 heaping cups. In the popper, more beans usually raised the temperature of the bean mass. I guess it's just the opposite with the SC/Turbo oven setup. BTW, we need a better name for this roaster combo. I never know if I should say SC/GG, SC/Turbo Oven, SC/Sunpentown! -Gregg On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 17:34:32 -0600, Dennis Parham wrote: <Snip> |
yea..I agree... problem is... each of the machines might have separate controls or idiosyncrasies and its nice to know which you are talking about in case of difference that is machine specific.... maybe just Turbo Crazy (Sunpen,GG,ect...) that way it will have an identity and be happy! hehehe Dennis Parham On Nov 7, 2004, at 5:47 PM, Gregg Reno wrote: <Snip> |
On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 16:30:52 -0500, Gregg Reno wrote: <Snip> My SC heater is still active (and I think I'll leave it active for winter roasting), so my GG starts out at 325 until first crack is through. First usually starts at 7:00 and ends at about 8:30. After first is done, I lower the heat to 300 for a couple of minutes and then I kick it up to 350 until I get to second crack (usually at about 12:00. ...ron |
So, what's with the stirring arm going one way for a while, then reversing direction for a while. It has done this a couple of times, early in the roast (usually within 1-3 minutes) and then stopped doing it for the rest of the roast. Anybody else experience this? Michael A. Roaster of Vienna, Va. |
The Stir Crazy is designed to reverse when it meets resistance, so the popcorn doesn't get stuck under the arm and burn! As the coffee lightens there isn't enough resistance to cause it to reverse. Sue On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 22:53:18 EST, mmore wrote: <Snip> |
Resistance is futile! On Sun, 7 Nov 2004 23:01:05 -0500, Sue wrote: <Snip> |
Wish I had saved the reply from West Bend... the tech said that the arms rotate at 12 RPM, and they reverse direction normally when they get stuck. This is normal because the motor is asynchronous (?), or synchronous, whichever term applies to a motor that can run either way. PeterZ Thunder and lightning here too, in LHC MMore wrote: <Snip> |