I can justify paying over $100 for a box of cigars but can't justify paying that for a roaster so here I sit wanting to get into the roast your own hobby and stand at this crossroad http://www.amazon.com/West-Bend-8238...090785&sr=8-11 is more my price range or http://www.amazon.com/Back-to-Basics...090785&sr=8-13
but will it do what I want or do I need to pull the plug on this http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmari...ast/sr300.html or http://www.alwayslowest.com/AL/index...s&part=4577424
Call me cheap or old fashioned but if I can save a buck I will.
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Well, it's all about value. With a box of cigars, you smoke them and they're gone. With a $100 roaster, it'll provide benefits for presumably a few years down the road.

That said, I don't have a roaster yet, but the thought has crossed my mind. I've been content buying Starbucks beans, although I've always wondered if I could do an even better job. I haven't ventured into this area, but I'm also guessing that roasting your own would lower the price you pay for roasted beans, so your price would go down. :-)
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would this work for a coffee bean roaster? Now I'm serious and after shipping would only cost $11 http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem.asp?itemid=7627143 its a movie theater size popcorn popper
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You can always trying using an oven. Here is a site to look at.

http://www.breworganic.com/coffee/howtoroast.htm
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So, you're cheap. Roast outdoors with a stainless steel dog bowl and a heat gun. Works perfectly even if you're not cheap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDP94H3lJpg
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And then, once you've got the hang of that, some people will kindly push you down the SCCO route... I'm still looking for the SC part of my setup, Moo.
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the first two won't work very well.
You need something like this,
http://www.amazon.com/West-Bend-8241...1268718&sr=1-1
the higher the wattage the better. It will work as a stand alone device.
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LOL Not even minutes before a dear friend that I look up to and respect sends me a pm I was just about to post this ,, Well after running all around town looking for poppers or coffee roasters I decided to make this purchase from a wisconsin based internet site http://www.burmancoffee.com/equipmen...roasterSR.html $152 I have a a FR300 coming and 1lb of Indonesian Sulawesi and 1/2 pound of jamaican mountain for free then bought 3 lbs of mixed peaberry and 1 lb of Rwanda Rukira Station A and 1 lb of Hawaiian mauii Kaanpali Blend and 2 lbs of Honduran Marcala San Marcos so , my so called cheap speech went out the window, Hope i didn't throw myself under the bus financially but i justify it as an investment.
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I started with a Freshroast and got so hooked, I upgraded to the Behmor, which I bought from Burman Traders.

First class operation and a great roaster with a good sampling to get started with.

Mine is older, and doesn't have all the roasting curves and stuff the new ones have but still did a great job.

The Freshroast is easy to learn on and produces a very nice roast.

Warm it up for a minute before roasting for best results and be super careful with the glass roaster as I broke two fairly easily. (order a backup and thank me later)

If you like a darker roast, fill to glass roaster to just below the metal band on the bottom, otherwise the roaster is too small to bring larger batches to second crack.

Also, keep a collander close by to dump the beans as they finish hot and there's no cool down on the FR. (oven mitts will come in handy as the glass roaster is super hot and a surprising burn will cause the glass roaster to go flying and smashing into pieces, much to your dismay. Happened on my very first roast and the wait for a replacement was excruciating after just taking it out of the box.)

I am positive you will enjoy this roaster.
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TY for the replies and tips, I may have to ask revsmoke if I can come for a roasting lesson since he has a familiar machine....And now I need to find a metal colliander . all I have at home is plastic.
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I thought mine had a cool down. I also started with a Fresh Roast 8 and bought it from the same company. You will not be disapointed.
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Congratulations Corey! Still like the dawg bowl/hair dryer combo though:-)
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I'm really looking forward to roasting the free half pound of Jamaican Blue Mountain Mavis Banks Gr. 1 Peaberry! but may wait to roast that till after a few roasts of something else to get a feel of it.
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FR DOES have a cool down and I run mine twice, before doing another batch. Works fine, no need to dump or burn yourself :-)
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Congrats on your purchase. For anyone else just starting out, here's my suggestion: Image

The Whirley pop runs about $20. We used one of these for nearly a year before we upgraded to the Behmor 1600. using this stove top method really helps you understand the roasting process. You can really hear first & second crack, you have ultimate control over the roast intensity too. It's really fun to peek inside and say...maybe just a little bit darker..... Keep a log of your roasting times/bean handy to replicate roasts or improve on them one way or the other.

I can hardly wait to get back into roasting again, especially since we found a friend's grandmother has a coffee plantation in Honduras and will ship us the green beans!
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Lumpy! You want me to send you a 110VAC one? I will, you know. :-)

I've gone semi-commercial, you know... :-)
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<bats eyes> My Heeeeeeeeeeeeroooooooooooooooooo.
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Wooooot I got what you can call literally Speedee delivery. Let me clarify so sunday night I purchased online with no shipping confirmation yet thinking they have yet to process it. Today Tuesday, I got woken up by postal worker knocking on door with a box full of pipe baccy and pipes I got from a BOTL. Smoked a bowl and saw a White delivery truck drive into my parking lot with the words SPEE-DEE Delivery on the side and he walked up to my door and sure enough it was from Burman Coffee.
Opened up the box just so happy at the customer service and just so excited to try out my new toy and started looking at my haul. Grabbed the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe PB from the box and beans poured all over my bed and floor,looked at bag and it had a split on the seam. Looked in box and more beans.
Now its all there so whats a man to do, I can't complain to them because I got my lb of that bean just not neatly in the package and it probably happened during shipment so to me its not there fault. Well still satisfied of my box of goodies, time to go read and roast some coffee. I am just so amazed on how quick it got here without a shipping confirmation #.
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Also the 3 lb PB bundle I thought would be mixed for 14.95 but it wasn't it was seperate bagged , had I know that I would of ordered the 3 lb dark for 11.40 and the 3 lb popular for 13.48
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Man this is hard first batch of Rwanda looked to dark and 2nd batch i used honuran and looked to light but both had 1 crack but when I grinded the honduran it was brown. Man this is gonna take some practice. Man this is sight deceiving, the Honduran brewed a nice dark coffee but yet the grounds were brown.
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