I ran into a problem with my I-Roast2 tonight. I ran it with the same profile I did last week (at least I thought I did...same amount of time, etc. although I keep it unplugged when not in use.) Well, instead of getting the nice roast as I did last week I got tons of smoke and very overdone beans. So much smoke it set off my fire alarm (yes, sending a signal to the monitoring company....can't have that.) Anyway, what happened???? Too full (I noticed after a while I wasn't getting good agitation)? Not clean enough?? Any advice would be appriciated! Thanks! Wendy |
hi wendy, and everyone this is my first post, and i'm not sure i can help you wendy, but this opens the door for me to discuss some things so here goes..... i have roasted for about a year with the freshroast+8 -- it was simple enuf....if you wanted a darker roast, let it go longer....the coffee tasted great ah for those halcyon days.....recently got the i roast 2.... I live in KY, and the electricity is cheap here, relatively speaking. I believe that may be connected to the fact that the voltage is very high. With my former roaster, I used the extension cord. The dark preset on the iroast created charcoal and smoke for me. And you know the info that tom provides? how the temp you set will not be the actual temperature that you read??? Well that is flat out wrong for me. What I set is what i get, and the air stream temp may actually pop up a few degrees higher than the setting from time to time. Tom sets 450, because what he actually wants is 420 or 430...so it works better for me if i set 420 or 430 to begin with wendy, one possibility to consider is varying household voltage. probably not it, but put it on your differential diagnosis. also, wendy, hover around your machine like a mother hen, and stop it when it needs to be stopped, actually before, because it gets darker even after you stop it. also, about the i roast, i'm sure the topic has been covered here, but can anyone refer me to some more general guidelines, other than those provided by tom? I have come to the tentative conclusion that the temp should always go up from stage to stage, never down, but one of the presets does go down, so i'm not sure. enuf rambling. Tom (no, not THAT one) |
--Apple-Mail-1-312254972 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset -ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Most likely, too large a load and a different (heavier) bean. I burned a roast using (non-SM) Jamaica Blue Mt. greens--they had not been well-processed and were heavier than the last batch I'd bought from that vendor, so they just sat there and failed to agitate; as a result the beans in the center core burned and shut the roaster off till it cooled down. I now weigh each load before roasting (despite measuring it too) and never roast more than 160 gm. Also, I let the machine cool completely between roasts. On May 21, 2006, at 9:41 PM, TomEllen wrote: <Snip> Sandy www.sandyandina.com --Apple-Mail-1-312254972 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset O-8859-1 Most likely, too large a load = and a different (heavier) bean. I burned a roast using (non-SM) = Jamaica Blue Mt. greens--they had not been well-processed and were = heavier than the last batch I'd bought from that vendor, so they just = sat there and failed to agitate; as a result the beans in the center = core burned and shut the roaster off till it cooled down. I now weigh = each load before roasting (despite measuring it too) and never roast = more than 160 gm. Also, I let the machine cool completely between = roasts. On May 21, 2006, at 9:41 PM, TomEllen wrote: |
As Sandy said, if only some of the beans were badly burned it was "stuck" beans. Once in a great while with heavy beans I have had to shake the iR2 to get the beans circulating, sometimes more than once. Once the beans lose a little weight everything is fine. On the other hand, if the beans were evenly over-roasted, your statement "(I noticed after a while I wasn't getting good agitation)" sounds like a high temperature setting which would cause a low fan speed, ergo, sluggish agitation. You don't mention what program you normally use. Is it one of the presets or something you've programmed? If the latter, enter it again and see what happens. Michael |
Hi Wendy, I'm guessing quantity of beans contributed to the problem. Some beans expand much more than the average, so that a 150 gram load (my usual max) can be way too much. That happened with the Brazil Brauna Peaberry, for example - my first 150 gram roast expanded well over the top of the center cylinder so that beans were not circulating out of the heat. I had to move the iRoast2 around to get the beans to keep agitating. Subsequent roasts were 120 grams per load, and that worked out fine. What profile were you using? The one that works best for me for most beans: 350F for 5 minutes, 400F for 4 minutes, and 450F for 6 minutes, but hit Cool to stop the roast when roast is where I want it - anywhere from 9 to 1= 4 total minutes usually, depending on the bean and the ambient temp (I'm roasting outdoors now that warmer days are here). The Brazilian Brauna was on the short end of that, even with smaller loads - a little over 9 minutes to get a Full City roast using that profile. Larry On 5/21/06, Wendy Sarrett wrote: <Snip> |
I'll second that the iRoast has trouble with denser beans, such as Peaberries, and I roast by mass. I would suggest reducing your batch size by about 30%. -- Steven Hay hay.steve -AT- gmail.com Barry Paradox: Consider k to be the greatest element of the set of natural numbers whose description require maximum of 50 words: "(k+1) is a natural number which requires more than 50 words to describe it." |
I have an I roast and I bet the same thing will apply. Just because the I roast has a capacity of 6 ounces doesn't mean you can cram it that full and it will work perfectly every time. some beans tend to not float around as easily and seem heavier?? rougher coating so they rub harder on each other?.... anyways they don't float as easily and tend to hang in the bottom more. Hopefully you are actually weighing the beans and not just throwing a cupfull in there and hitting the go button. Try doing batches of 5 or 5.5 ounces until you see how it behaves with that specific bean, then if they are really flying around in there, you can boost the full 6. Another trick I learned is that if you are having flow problems, try twisting the upper lid a bit to start unhinging it, that lets more air out and will make your beans move better. Aaron. |
Hi Wendy, I've had an I Roast 2 since last November. From what I've read, but not pe= rsonally experienced, fluxuations in voltage can have a big effect on the r= oaster. If you're plugged into an outlet that's on the same circuit as oth= er outlets and stuff is plugged into them all the voltage to the roaster mi= ght be unreliable and, while on your first go it was low your second go cou= ld have been high and that's what over roasted your beans. Do you brush out the chaff between roasts to keep the chaff collector clear= ? A clogged chaff collector could be choking air flow and upping the temp = inside the chamber. The higher capacity of the I Roast at about 6 oz compared to smaller capaci= ty roasters makes the I Roast more prone to producing smoke especially when= you go dark with your roast. It's a common problem and most owners roast = outdoors when the weather is above about 70F or they roast in the garage. My first roast set off all the smoke alarms in my house too. I think I use= d the preset 1 that came with the machine which is 450F for 15min. Since th= at roast I've fitted an aluminium duct I got at the hardware store from the= I Roast to my standard kitchen ceiling vent. The ceiling vent has a fan s= o when everything is all hooked up and the fan is on I can roast 'till I ge= t charcoal and the smoke alarms stay quiet. The neighbours smell the roast= ing venting out of the roof but no one complains. I hook the duct up every= roast and pull it off when it's not being used and store it in the corner. Not good agitation of the beans could be from high mass/volume. It also co= uld be that lingering oils on the inside of the roaster is slowing the bean= s down. I regularly wash the I Roast parts in soapy water to keep off the = oils. It could also be that your final stage is set for a high temp and to= maintain that high temp the fan motor of the I Roast gears down. The slow= er fan speed could be why the beans look like they're not circulating well.= <Snip> +I-Roast2 .... Help!> Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 20:58:23 -0400> > I ran into a= problem with my I-Roast2 tonight. I ran it with the same > profile I did = last week (at least I thought I did...same amount of time, > etc. although = I keep it unplugged when not in use.) Well, instead of > getting the nice = roast as I did last week I got tons of smoke and very > overdone beans. So= much smoke it set off my fire alarm (yes, sending a > signal to the monito= ring company....can't have that.) Anyway, what > happened???? Too full (I = noticed after a while I wasn't getting good > agitation)? Not clean enough= ?? > Any advice would be appriciated!> > Thanks!> Wendy> >=> homeroast mailing list>http://lists.sweet=marias.com/mailman/listinfo/homeroast> To change your personal list setting= s (digest options, vacations, unsvbscribes) go tohttp://sweetmarias.com/ma=illistinfo.html#personalsettings Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/= |
First, Thank all of you who responded. A couple of comments to answer the questions people asked me. First, I forget the exact profile but it went up I believe to 450 at the end. The beans were peabody so that probably has a lot to do with it. I tried a different profile tonight (same beans)...based on what Dorian emailed me off group 380-4min, 410-3minutes, 425 (I think) - 3 minutes. I actually stoped the roast 2 minutes early. I also cut the number of beans down as had been recommended by multiple people. I did buy a new digital scale that I will use strictly for this application but it was in grams so I didn't use it this time (didn't have the convesion with me so I simply cut the amount.) The result, a decent looking roast. Some smoke but no more than usual...what I would get with my old poppery. Also no problem with agitation. I do clean the chaff collector after every roast. I don't have a duct but I run the thing directly under my stove fan. Thanks again everyone for your help! Wendy |
1 oz = 28.35 gm (approx.) Mike (just plain) |
The I roast, and well... any coffee roaster will make smoke.. period... no matter what you do... that's the way the bean cracks... Aaron who unplugs his smoke detectors when roasting. |