Scales, Scoops, and other Roasting 'stuff'

beanflying

Just having a think about some new accessories and general 'stuff' to go with roasting larger batches. I have always made do easily with kitchen gear in the past with the 250g batches from the hottop but now I am finding Jugs, scoops and even scales from the kitchen won't do it.

So a place to discuss or throw a photo of your bean handling gear.

Below is a few of the sorts of things I want/need.

Square edges on this will suit my cooling tray but slightly smaller if anyone has any clues?

A few different ones of these maybe? But the rounded edges don't really suit, might be nicer for bag filing?

I have been using the kitchen scales but they are really not as rugged as I would like so apart from trawling evilbay, anyone out there with a recommendation? I only 'need' 2kg max but up to 10kg would be nice.

mycuppa

Timbo, For scales, you need to spend some bigger $$ if you intend to get a food permit and sell products commercially. The issue is you are obligated to use retail grade scales that are regularly calibrated by an approved 3rd party. Retail grade scales are typically a good 30 - 60% more expensive compared to non-retail. Also, there are plenty of cheap commercial scales out there that give the appearance of looking just like they are retail scales, but they are not. Unfortunately, the scale market has been consolidated by a large player buying up many of the smaller guys so the competition is not really happening. Yes, there are always the cheaper imports, but alas they don't last long. Even the big player have their cheap & cheerful imports available with fat margins. Buy bigger scales than you think you need so you can also use them for other purposes. It is not a requirement to use retail scales for measuring green beans prior to roasting - just thought I would clear up that one - it's only on finished products.

RichardM

How to massive manufacturers do measurement testing? If they have fully automated equipment, and the product is packaged in batches (like say, yoghurt containers) then broken up after packaging, how do they ensure accuracy? I'm assuming they just have to randomly sample if no humans are involved and overcompensate for margin of error?

shape_shifter

The scoops - look in stockfeed places, petbarn, etc. it is what we all use for horse and dog feeds, they come in different sizes.

Jonty

BF, have a look here at high quality sampling gear! I paid $400 plus for a 1 ltr 318 SS jug for work! Good ideas anyway: http://www.sampletech.com.au/content/samplers-dispensary-products Jonty

mycuppa

RichardM wrote:

How to massive manufacturers do measurement testing? If they have fully automated equipment, and the product is packaged in batches (like say, yoghurt containers) then broken up after packaging, how do they ensure accuracy? I'm assuming they just have to randomly sample if no humans are involved and overcompensate for margin of error?

RM, you will find large packaging lines employ very sensitive and accurate weigh cells at various points - these also need to be regularly calibrated. Our packaging machine deploys sensitive weigh cell components that all need to be calibrated. The reason you don't need to be so accurate with green bean input weights is due to the variable nature of roasting batches, etc. as you would have already discovered the losses are rarely a constant. It is vitally important to measure the finished products - you would be surprised how many people do that themselves with their $25 kitchen scales. A challenge with roasted coffee is a degree of shrinkage occurs. Generally, the larger the plant, the more checks and balances applied. Human engagement introduces error factors.

beanflying

Fairly fruitless afternoon in the place that is Warrnambool. Target, Kmart, Petstock, Bunnings and even Harris Scarfe for a nil return on scoops and even on larger handled jugs in plastic or metal. Plenty of kitchen sub cup scoops and glass so off to trawl the net. Scales I hear you Jeff on weights and measures and compliance so I will have a good look at that path for longevity of commercial use. I did find this set however which might become the temporary set or even suit others o a budget? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/330742363187?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 with the removable display I could see it being set into a bench with a flushmount trapdoor when it is not being used.

Koffee_Kosmo

Make a scoop by cutting a thick fruit juice bottle And the DIY method can also give you many different sizes KK

Bottom_Line

Found @weigh useful for trade approved scales, not too bad on price. http://www.weigh.com.au/digital-weighing-scales/po2300.html Have been using a cheap one, for roasting like BF has found on eBay. Still going strong but I don't output no where what Jeff does. Not perfect, half a 5 kilo and you get 2 x 2.49kg but good enough for roasting. While moisture loss might be interesting I don't find it one of those things that I aim for "in a result in the cup". For filling 250g - 500g bags (you can fit 1Kg in them) this thing is indispensable: http://clean-machine.com.au/Coffee-Bean-Scale-Scoop-Black-Rattleware.html

beanflying

Bottom Line wrote:

For filling 250g - 500g bags (you can fit 1Kg in them) this thing is indispensable: http://clean-machine.com.au/Coffee-Bean-Scale-Scoop-Black-Rattleware.html

🙂 I had seen Seven Seeds using one of these with the reverse funnel and I thought Coffee Parts used to stock them but I couldn't find it on their site. Just need to find a stockist to grab one? I did also find some good square mouth Aluminum scoops and some very cheap plastic ones on evilbay. Sorting through the several thousand to find what I wanted was the hard bit. The Aluminum ones will be handy in my cooling tray and with the smaller volumes I am doing about 300g at a scoop, most likely with the handles removed. My initial thoughts on scales are that providing you are consistently above the stated quantity your in the clear. Repeatability and self calibration are key then. My little set of jewelers scales (evilbay 0-100g) repeat with the calibration weights really well and are correct against other known weights.

beanflying

Scales sorted I finished up getting a set of these 27kg rated http://www.myweigh.com/ultrashipu2.html There is some additional software available (for a small price) that will enable the data from these to be loaded into a spreadsheet or to have the data inserted into say your roasting program at the click of the send button 🙂 A touch under $50 delivered makes them excellent value. The curved stand simply comes on or off but I have found it very handy for weighing my current smaller bags of beans. They can be calibrated against a known 20kg weight if needed but on my smaller calibrated weights they are already accurate. Removable display will be handy for larger items or on a bench install. Currently have it running off USB power but they can be battery or plug pack powered if needed. Time to finish weighing the stash 🙂