This is a long post. So, I picked up three new customers last week and needed to roast for them, others and myself this weekend. My wife, Camille, woke up ill this morning so me missed church. She is fine. I set about to get to roasting in the Gene Cafe. Many coffees on the list for roasting today: Guatemala Huehuetenango, Ethiopia Sidamo, El Salvador Las Ranas Decaf, Mexico Oaxaca Decaf, French Roast Blend, Harar Decaf, Harar Lot 30, Zimbabwe Dandoni, El Injerto, etc., all Sweet Maria's coffees. Fired up the first batch of Guatemala in the Gene Cafe and proceeded through the profile ramp; last stage, then I notice the temperatures taking a nose dive and watching a 1/4 lb of Sweet Maria's Coffee going to that famed place of heat in a rocket sled. Tried several things then aborted, disassembled, tried again to no avail. I was losing time and had a lot to roast so I finally shoved the Gene Cafe into the corner in a heap; I hope I can remember how to put it back together. Backed the wife's Jeep out of the garage (it was quite cool today, ), wheeled out the brand new grill in place of the Jeep, installed grates, placed heat diffusers (received this week), drilled, bolted and used voltmeter with thermocouple; set up an RK Drum in about 30 minutes and had it heating to burn in. Ran some Nicaraguan coffee (donated by extended family returning from Nicaraguan mission trip) through the roaster to prime it / burn it in. The first pound reached 1st crack in five minutes flat and second crack in 6 1/2 minutes. The next one pound batch was a little more on target with respect to times and ended at Full City. The following two pound batch was a bit unique. After just a couple minutes I noticed quite a bit of smoke, but then I heard some cracking and saw a lot more smoke. Here's a tip for future RK Drum users: USE THE COTTER PIN TO LATCH THE DOOR SHUT! When I opened the grill there was coffee everywhere; there was also fire everywhere. Things ran the gamut today: 1. Killed a roaster and premium coffee beans (Sorry Tom) 2. Built an RK Drum in short order; about 30 minutes (Ron, is it a record?) 3. Set fire to coffee 4. Broke wood handle on rotisserie rod 5. Ran to auto parts store for parts to fix it 6. Fixed handle and roasted some more 7. Rearranged motor setup 8. Burned forearm really good (badge of honor, I wear it proudly!) 9. Wasted two pounds of Tom's Guatemala Huehuetenango learning (Sorry again Tom) 10. Somewhat dialed in on 1 & 2 pound roasts Finally, several batches of coffee got roasted decently, including decaf coffees, I think; bean munch says yes. Everyone is getting coffee this week! Not as originally planned, but I did get the Huehue, Sidamo, French Roast blend and all three decafs roasted. Sincerely, I am glad this happened this way for a few reasons including that fact that I learned and grew a lot today with respect to roasting and my volume / time improved dramatically. Also, I happen to be working very hard on writing a product review of the Gene Cafe and this is a perfect time to work something like this into the review. For those that can't wait to poopoo the Gene Cafe, I will state that I am quite impressed with the amount of abuse it took from me. In seven months I ran 422 batches through this roaster, which adds up to 221.5 pounds. I will be giving Tim Skaling a call this week to get it fixed. For those that love the RK Drum, I have to say that I am now one! The bearing setup that I used did quiet the operation and I can really hear first and second crack quite well, even at a distance, which is great as I do have a hearing deficit. However, the rhythmic swishing of the beans is a narcoleptic's nightmare; I should know, I am one. I even considered moving it to the bedroom to help me sleep at night! Batch size and flexibility is great! Again, batch size and flexibility is great! I roasted some two pound batches and didn't even begin to tax the grill at all. Just wanted to share. Have a great week everyone! Eddie -- Docendo Discimus Home Coffee Roasting Blog and Profiles for the Gene Cafehttp://southcoastcoffeeroaster.blogspot.com/Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ |
Arghhhh, Eddie. You had some day, my friend. I hope your Gene can be fixed. I know how much work you put into mastering it. I'm celebrating the return of weather that is outdoor roasting friendly and hoping that my days of roasting in a down jacket and gloves are over until next November. We got about six inches of snow earlier this week, but it was positively balmy this afternoon. I'll be interested in reading about your RK adventures as they develop. If I were to move on from my bread machine, that's what I would be looking at, even though it would not be usable here during most of the winter. Vicki Eddie Dove wrote: <Snip> |
Eddie, so sorry to hear about the GC. that was quite a run, though. hope it's back on its feet soon. in the meantime, best of luck w/ the RK (you drum roasters really make me wish my apartment had a balcony). southcoastcoffeeroaster wrote: <Snip> |
Eddie: Thanks for most interesting Easter post. What a day. Good lord... If anyonbe wants to read an exceptional review of the Gene Cafe please jump over to homeroasters.org, click forum and EWddies review is there and it is the best! ginny ---- Eddie Dove wrote: <Snip> |
Tell me more about the bearing setup! I am thinking of moving to a drum roast setup and have designed about 20 in my head, but I'm a great thinker and a cruddy doer. so I will likely go and buy a proven drum, the RK ;) So now it's all about figuring out how to get the parts and more importantly, how to master it and hook enough people to recoup my cost and get free coffee for the rest of my life, muahahaha. I really considered getting the GC based on your workhose use of this machine but I just can't see how you find the time to roast all that coffee! What's your lb/hour? Hope your buddy Gene gets well soon. -Floyd On 4/9/07, pchforever wrote: <Snip> |
Good job Eddie. I am sorry it took the Genie going belly up for you to fire up the RK. You will be spoiled! I roasted 8 pounds on Saturday. I screwed one roast up because I forgot to put the cotter pin on all the way! Coffee burns pretty hot! I heard the tinkle of the beans and got it stopped with only the loss of about 20 beans and no fire this time. I am enjoying a TV of Moka Kadir as I type. I don't often have Tom's blends I think that is going to have to change. Les On 4/9/07, Floyd Lozano wrote: <Snip> |
Eddie, Can you remind me of the kind of grill you got? Thanks, Brian On 4/8/07, Eddie Dove wrote: <Snip> |
Update: Talked to Tim Skaling for a few minutes this morning about the symptoms and let him know that tools were not unfamiliar to me. Tim is sending the part (heater box) that he believes is the problem and I will send him the old one. He told me that he regularly meets with the folks from Korea to go over failed parts and stated that they actually have a good quality control and review method. If this part doesn't fix the problem, then I will have to ship the roaster to him. Tim is a really nice guy. I empathized with him being similar to a therapist where people call him first thing Monday morning with their problems ... like me! Floyd, My bearing setup is an ad-hoc implementation (read as needs improvement) of what is mentioned in the following thread:http://www.coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/homeroast/271029#271029Read it to the end and the part numbers are given. It is a good thread and Ron Kyle participated in it as well. The rollers aren't essential, but I have a hearing impediment and wanted to work as much noise out of the roaster as possible to ensure being able to hear the cracks, which is not a problem. One could also use Brett's Method of just stopping the rotisserie momentarily with the on/off switch. Pounds per hour is limited on the Gene Cafe, which is why I am somewhat glad that things went the way they did this weekend. I used 250g batches as my upper limit (it is rated for 300g) and could easily get three batches roasted per hour. That can get really time consuming, but I did learn a lot going through that many roast cycles. Brian, The grill I bought from Homer's Despot (as per a tip from Jeremy) is a CharBroil, 4 stainless steel burner, 48,000 BTU with side burner. I got a really good deal on the grill because I was kind and patient, and it was just before Christmas when I bought it. If you need more specific information, let me know and I will check when I get home. I wanted to be able to do 4 pound roasts and I think this should be able to do it. With all of the dials set to the lowest setting, it can maintain 500F while roasting a pound of coffee. Respectfully, Eddie -- Docendo Discimus Home Coffee Roasting Blog and Profiles for the Gene Cafehttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/On 4/8/07, Eddie Dove wrote:">http://southcoastcoffeeroaster.blogspot.com/Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/On 4/8/07, Eddie Dove wrote: <Snip> |
Hey Vicki, All is well with you, I hope! Eddie On 4/8/07, Vicki Smith wrote: <Snip> -- Docendo Discimus Home Coffee Roasting Blog and Profiles for the Gene Cafehttp://southcoastcoffeeroaster.blogspot.com/Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ |
Knock out a wall and build your own ... its well worth it! Eddie On 4/9/07, stereoplegic wrote: <Snip> -- Docendo Discimus Home Coffee Roasting Blog and Profiles for the Gene Cafehttp://southcoastcoffeeroaster.blogspot.com/Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ |
What a weekend Eddie, sorry to hear of the demise of the Gene, but later I read that a replacement heater box is being shipped to you, so that should get it back and running. Yes you must insert the clip before roasting, the preverbial 3rd crack can be exiciting. Sorry to hear about the burn, I have several badges of honor myself, only to remind be to be more careful handling 450 to 500 degrees pieces of metal. Good to hear that you got a decent 1 to 2 lb profile in such a short time frame, going from poppers, and other roating methods makes the learing curve to the RK Drum simpler, its all about the heat. good luck in your future roast in the RK and if I can be of any help just ask. BTW 30 min. is fast and may be a new record. RK |
I've also learned you must pull the pin while it's still in the grill before pulling out the drum to cool the beans. ! Once I forgot, and for some stupid reason I held the drum against my windbreaker jacket to pull the pin on the way to the cooling fan. I still have windbreaker material stuck on my drum. Kind of funny. Good thing I didn't get burned or ruin an expensive winter coat. I have strict rules and procedures now and always have to have my head in the game. I don't want my skin stuck to the grill with permanent perforation marks on my body. JeffO RK wrote: <Snip> |
Don't try roasting shirtless this summer...word on the street. ********************* Ed Needham® "to absurdity and beyond!"http://www.homeroaster.com(include [FRIEND] in subject line to get through my SPAM filters) ********************* |
Okay ... notes to self: 1. Pull pin while still in roaster (great idea and thanks!) 2. Order an asbestos jacket On 4/9/07, Jeff Oien wrote: <Snip> |
how many ove gloves would it take to make a vest, i wonder... -F On 4/9/07, Eddie Dove wrote: <Snip> |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Floyd, only one but the diet required to wear it is the killer. Mark B. Midland, NC |
The total time delay from, "Ya, it's done," to extracting the hot drum, pulling the pin, opening the door and shaking out all the hot beans into my cooler, is bothersome. I'd have to keep my big bottle of Aloe Vera gel at the roasting site to muffle expressions of colorful metaphors. As I've said, I need to avoid the waffle imprint on the palms and forearms! The Aloe Vera gel works great for the purpose- I know! You can get it by th= e quart or Gallon at Vitamin Cottage and other health food stores. Next time, I'll get the Gallon size. It really doesn't expire- I've kept the qt in the fridge for years. Your notes to Self need revising: 1. A leather motorcycle jacket would work OK. Avoid Asbestos Anything- 2. Then pull the pin, or incorporate a lunchbox or toolbox buckle. Most assuredly, I do not possess the coordination to pull this off without the beans going thermonuclear on me. I don't want >any< delay between my thinking the roast should Stop, and actually having every bean cooled below roasting temperature. Currently, 450g in the Bread machine is a Stroll in the Park, and I can painlessly transfer them all to the Grand Slam cooler. The roast is stopped about five seconds after it occurred to me to hit the Air Brakes. They're plenty cool enough to stir them around with my bare hands at that point, an= d dead cold by at least 20 to 30 seconds. By 5 minutes, they're in the jar and I'm getting ready to grind the excess to sample to Captain Morgan mug of, hopefully, a PCE Monster. This simple guy could be quite happy with the Panamas. No variety? Bet me. The way I do things, variety wouldn't be the problem. It could be The Problem. Cheers -RayO, aka Opa! *Disclaimer:* *Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the SCAA.* This free advice is worth every penny and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or ameliorate any SNAFU. Always consult your professional cupper to see if it's right for you… Discontinue use and tel= l your Cupper if the coffee develops off-flavors. Side effects are usually mild and result in Dissing some coffee shops… 09-Apr-07 20:56 |
Sorry to hear your Gene Café decided to die. But then it actually = sounds like it may have been a blessing in disguise. Great you had the RK Drum setup "as a back up" just waiting to be set up! Pacific Northwest Gathering Vhttp://home.comcast.net/~mckona/PNWGV.htmKona Konnaisseur miKe mcKoffee URL to Rosto mods, FrankenFormer, some recipes etc:http://mdmint.home.comcast.net/coffee/Rosto_mod.htmUltimately the quest for Koffee Nirvana is a solitary path. To know I = must first not know. And in knowing know I know not. Each Personal = enlightenment found exploring the many divergent foot steps of Those who have gone = before. Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ <Snip> |
Thanks miKe. It was definitely a "blessing in disguise." Everyone has really liked the 2lb roast of the Guatemala Huehuetenango that was roasted in the RK Drum. The warming spice has a bit more presence ... rested a day and a half. This coming weekend, I will be roasting as much as I can to learn. Eddie On 4/10/07, miKe mcKoffee wrote: <Snip> s <Snip> t <Snip> nt <Snip> re. <Snip> ribes) go tohttp://sweetmarias.com/maillistinfo.html#personalsettings<Snip> -- Docendo Discimus Home Coffee Roasting Blog and Profiles for the Gene Cafehttp://southcoastcoffeeroaster.blogspot.com/Sweet Maria's List - Searchable Archiveshttp://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/ |