I've had very good luck with my unmodified Poppery II (close to a year now), but I lucked out last night upon finding "The Poppery" for $1.99 at a thrift store. It appears much more sturdy and bigger/deeper than my Poppery II, although the proof will be in the roasting. Now that I have one, I feel like I should almost put it up on a shrine or something. Does this machine need to be modified before use? I don't want to burn it out immediately after finding one. If there's a modification web page, could someone point the way? If it looks too hard (I'm not mechanically inclined), maybe I'll have to give it away to someone who won't wreck it. Also, while I roast 1/3 cup of green beans in my poppery II, the poppery looks like it will handle more. What do people use for batch sizes? Thanks in advance, JKG Poppery II with "The Poppery" on stand-by |
Good, I'm not the only one excited about finding a "new" Mark I Poppery. I picked up the one from New Orleans that was mentioned on the list by "animal". My sister-in-law is picking it up today! Spunky Paul |
JKG, I am green with envy, you lucky dog! I have been obsessed with obtaining an original Poppery for over a year, but to no avail. The best documentation on the Poppery modifications I know of is at "Mr. Poppery's", dick Heggs' web site at:http://www.members.home.net/espressomio/COFFEEMENU.HTML. He's also got a mod to add a continuously variable temperature control, but you'll have to contact Dick personally to get that, as it's not on his web site. If you feel a little uncomfortable with doing the mods, I would suggest you hire someone to assist you with the them. I think it would be worth it, and you won't wreck that wonderful piece of equipment. Good Luck! --Hugh |
I never weighed mine - I just used a level 1/2 cup of green beans. But then that probably approximated to about 3oz. Much less and you'll have more of a problem keeping the beans inside, much more and you may have a problem getting adaquate circulation and agitation which could result in burned and underroasted beans. If you have a stash of cheap coffee - run some tests - 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup and so forth on both your Popperies. Pick a target level of roast and take notes. Remember - no two Popperies were created equal and it all very much depends on environment too - is it hot, room temperature or chilly, etc. And KEEP NOTES. Beans, crop year, ambient temperature, etc... those notes will go a long way in helping you achieve consistent roasts with less hassle and greater control... Cheers, Mike JKG wrote: <Snip> |
JKG, Oh yeah, I forgot to add that, should you decide you don't want to hassle with the mod on your Poppery, I would be glad to pay you several times what you paid for it. As I said, I've been looking for one for over a year. But, truthfully, I think you should keep it. As for your Poppery II, as Michael Vanecek pointed out, the QC on these machines is pretty loose, and you find a lot of variation between them. I own 11 of them, and can testify to that! Having said that, I would also suggest that you should be able to roast about 1/2 cup or more in most of them. After a thousand roasts, I have found that ambient temperature is the most important variable in achieving consistent results with the Poppery II. Stick close to room temperature (68-70 degrees) for the best results. If you are roasting outside in a colder climate, this can be a big problem if the ambient temp gets below about 63 degrees. If it gets down closer to 50, you'll never get to the second crack, and even if you do, you'll wind up with "baked" beans. Jealously Yours, Hugh |
<Snip> Heggs' <Snip>http://www.members.home.net/espressomio/COFFEEMENU.HTML. (snip) <Snip> That was the site I was looking for....thanks to all for information/experiences. JKG Poppery II with "The Poppery" on stand-by |
Congragulations on your find! I found one last December at a thrift store near my parents' home, but I paid twice what you did (a whopping $3.99). I've been using it ever since, and the only modification I've done is to insert an empty vegetable can with the ends cut off into the top. The fan is a lot more powerful than the Poppery II, and beans will try to jump out the top, so the can helps to keep them in. I'd consider trying other modifications if I were more mechanically inclined and had another Poppery as a backup in case I screwed it up, but I'm happy with mine as-is. I used to roast 5 oz. (weight) at a time, and it had no problem handling this amount, although with some beans I did have to stir quite a bit. Lately I've been using a different method I saw posted here. Just put in a couple of handfuls of beans, turn it on, then add more until the beans are just barely moving. I like the latter method better, as the results are more consistant with different beans. Play around with it a bit and see what works best for you. Mark |
One Poppery tip, it can move quite a lot of coffee around. I roasted a full
cup. But it was inconvenient because coffee was stranded in the collar area
and wouldnt fall back down into the chamber. More importantly, the cracks
were right on top of eachother --first went right into second and my ear
heard both first "pops" and second "snaps" at the same time. That makes
judging roast degree difficult! But 1/2 cup, a normal popper batch, allows
more heat to pass by the coffee and out of the roaster, slowing it down a
bit. So the cracks were nicely separated by a good 45 seconds of silence
between the cracks --much easier to judge.
MAS- where's that hilarious post about popcorn popper roasting? It was
bounced due to the word unsvbscribe in the text. Please resend it to the
list!
Tom
"Great coffee comes from tiny roasters"
Sweet Maria's Home Coffee Roasting - Tom & Maria
http://www.sweetmarias.com |
I always recommend using these unmodified first. Just to get the feel for it. I still have those modification drawings I did if you do decide to modify. -Casey <Snip> |
I roast outside, my BBQ with side selfs is my roasting station one side for roasting and the other for cooling. I am using a Poppery I modified with the veggie can and "probe type" Weber BBQ thermometer. I cool using a clip-on fan and small cookie sheet. I usually roast either 4oz or 5oz of beans per batch. I also "tilt" the machine using a 1/2" square piece of wood this stirs the beans and slightly extends the roasting time. On a 4oz batch: 1st crack at (5-6min) 390'-420' and 2nd crack 9-10min at 440' (I have noticed the temperature will max at 440' which is perfect for the bean I am currently roasting. Costa Rica Tarrazu.) On a 5oz batch: 1st crack 4-5min 390'-420' (there seems to be a faster roast and a higher thmperature max) 2nd crack 8-9min 450'-460'. NOTE the more beans the higher the temperature. You are going to love it. Happy Roasting. Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail athttp://www.hotmail.com |
The Poppery I can be easily modified so that the fan is always on and the switch turns the heater on and off. It's great for cooling your roasts. Randy animals wrote: <Snip> |