This past week while visiting my brother-in-law we had the chance to roast for the first time. He had ordered an i-Roaster 2 with 8-1 pound sample bags from Sweet Maria's that week. It was tasty great fun. When I departed Saturday he gifted me the roaster and the remaining 7 pounds of green beans. This morning I roasted a pound of Costa Rican that I am pleased with. So I guess that means I am in the Fraternity now :-)
[Reply]

:-):-)
[Reply]

you have arrived-you lucky sonofagun...nice brother!
[Reply]

I-Roast two, since January '07.
[Reply]

i have been using a westbend poppery for 6 years roasting 1lb of coffee every week with what i consider to be a phenomenal roast profile... i bought it for 2.49 at a goodwill store, and hotwired it to do a cooling profile
[Reply]

Nice to have you join us in the Fraternity of CA Homeroasters, Alex. I too used a WB and WBII Poppery for years with nothing but excellent results. They are sporty little machines for practically any bean.

Any plans to scale up?
[Reply]

thanks!:-)
i have the roast profile nailed on my little poppery so well that i really couldnt tell you the time i roast for, or the amount of beans with too much accuracy..... the blend that i am basically religious about is

60% brazil
25% sumatra
15% sidamo

this blend is killer with a cigar!!!!

i do have a monstrous commercial machine plumbed into my kitchen (due to an awesome and very tolerant wife:-)).... a nuova simonelli mac digit that is on 24/7...i graduated over the years from

a delonghi(plastic POS)
saeco proteo barista
saeco barista (starbucks)
nuova simonelli beach (workhorse)
2nd nuova simonelli beach(still have it)
nuova simonelli mac digit

i have a number of friends who i have shared beans with who use iroast/hottop/alpenrost/poppery....and i prefer the ease, simplicity, and believe it or not, the quality of the roast from my $2 machine....i am always open to trying new things and i welcome any advice tips, experiences....as far as upgrades go, i was toying with the galloping gourmet/stir crazy for awhile, but really didnt want to spring for the convection oven part of it only to find out that the roast profile is subpar....i would want to actually see one in use, or taste the coffee from one before jumping in

i think that a sonofresco front of house style roaster might contribute torwards my next step into the abyss,should i find a bargain on one, as i havent found any difference so far from my poppery to the higher end consumer/prosumer machines

well, thats my long winded answer to your question (just finished a double espresso:-))

im very glad to meet up with some more like minded people here @ CA
[Reply]

Been roasting for a very short time with a popcorn pumper. It has been fun trying new things and drinking some excellent coffee along the way. :-)
[Reply]

iroast2 since Jan.08
[Reply]

Good of you to join us us, Th'onger. Homeroasting is great hobby with the fringe benefit of having the worlds best coffee in your kitchen day in and day out. I hope you get a lot of pleasure from your efforts.
[Reply]

'bout time. Where you been? :-) What's up for coffee this weekend?
[Reply]

Jeez-o. I forgot the question. :-)

Oh yeah! Have you considered an homemade SCCO as a pooper alternative? I agree it's hard to beat a pooper - particularly a WB(1) Poppery pooper - but sometimes volume and speed trumps that special fluid bed precision. After a couple of years I finally got all popped out with my poopers and assembled an SCCO with nary a look back. It make a pound in 14-minutes, pretty precise repeatable profiles.
[Reply]

after a few month hiatus dusted off the sc/co last night and made some wonderful brazilian. mmmmmmmmm!
[Reply]

I gotta say I've been putting off roasting some Daterra for a long time but finally threw some on the barbie last weekend. It is drinking OH-SO sweet today. It is so damn balanced it almost seems like fake coffee - or maybe a blend. Phew. It's nice. REEEEEEL nice. Been in the press. Been in the turkish pot. Maybe try some espresso tomorrow.
[Reply]

Good luck!

I think you will be okay though :-)
[Reply]

I really gotta look into this, it sounds really cool. anyone have any good online resources for how to make or buy a roaster, and where can you get fresh beans?
[Reply]

Started with a WB popper about a year ago, then got a killer deal on a FR8.
I still use them both for finding rough starting points, or when the weather does not permit me to use the MooBBQ. Thought about the SCCO, but the MooBBQ was much simpler to build.
[Reply]

Go hither, young man!

http://www.sweetmarias.com/
[Reply]

I was gifted a long while back (maybe 4 yrs ago) a FR8, which i never used until last summer. found out mine was faulty, then someone else gave me theirs that they weren't using.
I have now been roasting very infrequently, but am picking it up quickly, since late October. I'm the only one in the house (other than my son) that drinks coffee, but at work is where i drink the most, with a couple co-workers.
I need to upgrade from a drip pot to a press-pot (still).
[Reply]

nice....i used old techspeak in my post for scco, they were originally referred to as stir crazy/galloping gourmet or scgg...i see they have become more popular since the original which was named after a co called a galloping gourmet readily available @ value village for 20 bucks.....i guess the combo has stood the test of time:-)

i found an sc about 2 years ago...any recommendations on the co?
[Reply]