Roasters and Afterburners

Steve_01

Hello all.
Would like to ask a question if i may, and look forward to some feedback.
Been busy looking at some 5kg coffee roasters.
I am living in a double storey house in Greenacre with a double garage,
converted to a workshop.
It is in a residential area.
I can't help but feel if i start roasting from home using a 5kg commercial roaster,
i may end up with the local council, and / or the EPA on my front door step, unless
i purchase an afterburner with the roaster.
I never thought afterburners would be so expensive.
Assuming i went ahead with purchasing the roaster, would roasting in the middle of the
night be a suitable alternative to not having an afterburner, or will people wake up to
find black soot and ash on top of their cars?
It's hard to picture exactly how much sooty ash one of these things will give off. And
what exactly is acceptable, and what isn't acceptable.

If i said you had a beautiful body, would you hold your crema against me.

Brett_H

G'day mate. Don't know! I roast 300-700g in the back yard/shed because with the Behmor (inbuilt afterburner) and KKTO (chaff contained under pot) there is still enough smoke created to upset the wife and neighbours. We all have big back yards in my area and my shed is in the corner with no adjoining neighbour dwellings. If there were I reckon I'd have complaints. Now multiply my situation by the size if your roaster and you're looking at an afterburner at the very least. You can certainly try sneaky roast times and dispersion methods (I would) and this may work but I'd have a back-up plan just in case.

askthecoffeeguy

Just curious to know why you need a 5kg roaster ? Unless you're planning on roasting commercial quantities and have a ready made market for your product ? I too am looking at the roaster question, but I'm thinking about a 2kg roaster to get me off the ground Cheers ACg

mycuppa

The best advice is to engage the experts - the people who sell the stuff ! Relying on answers in forums for this particular topic is in my mind a very risky approach - despite all the best intents and helpful attitudes. Each individual situation is different - it could be someone many streets away that becomes very offended - don't even think you can understand how it will work and whether people will tolerate it - assume the absolute worst case scenario (there's a bit of free advice). And yes, despite surprises, it actually costs real money to setup a viable commercial operation.

Ol_Grumpy

Even big public mining companies that have the deepest of pockets do not just go round and set up a new mine... Sure, they 'prospect' for new resources... But even then they try and forward sell contracts before they break new ground... Despite your obvious enthusiasm and determination ( which are quite admirable btw)... Surely even you can see that it is very wise to 'test' your market before you go jumping in the deep end, so to speak.... There is so much you can learn and achieve by building a working relationship with a good local 'Roaster' who will supply your beans in your own brand packaging... Don't be surprised by how much this option may in fact cost... But it will (should) be much less than the cost of what you are trying to cobble together. You can build your brand and develop your market and then after well and truly dipping your toe and leg into the industry... Then you can make a very informed decision on which way you want to go... Don't be put off by these recommendations from the guys in the industry who have recommended this to you... It is very sound and prudent advice... I'm afraid the road you seem insistent on taking will lead to some very unwelcome and unpleasant 'life experiences' you way well wish you never receive....

Steve_01

First thing i would like to say is this, thank you to everyone for their input on this subject. Second thing i would like to say is this, if i knew almost nothing about coffee, or if i had never worked in the industry, i think i would be a fool to spend $20,000 buying a roaster and hoping i can make my fortune. My situation is this, i am a technician with years of experience fixing domestic and commercial coffee machines. I have a house with a double sized garage, suitable for use as a workshop or roasting room. I am not paying rent on a commercial property. I have thousands of dollars worth of spare parts for Saeco, Carimali, Iberital coffee machines, and Boema and Compak coffee grinders. I have 5 coffee grinders and 6 coffee machines at home (5 coffee machines and 1 vending machine). I also have the name, address and telephone numbers of more than 400 people who have previously bought a domestic coffee machine in the past few years. In other words, hot leads. In short, i am not trying to start out with nothing. I do have some sort of background, even if i am trying to learn about roasting. It is not my area of expertise, i will admit.

mycuppa

I'm not sure you have completely understood the comments (and advice). Saying your double garage is suitable for a roasting room - best of luck with that one, particularly if your are in the burbs. If you are asking for advice and assistance from commercial roasters whilst sitting on 400 "hot" leads that may be have been acquired through past activities, do you really think those in the industry are going to help someone come in and "cut their lunch". Don't be surprised by a wall of silence - we all had to learn and do it ourselves - mistakes and all.

Jonty

Agree the key to this regardless of contacts, roaster make/model/size or even the ability market a product is your location. 5kg in a residential surrounds is destined to be an epic failure. I witnessed what a 1kg unit does and five fold that multiple times a day and my friend you will have the local council and EPA on your door step. To me your key focus should be firstly on the location of the bussiness and ensure you can achieve it within the planning requirements of council. If not your business is a failure from day one and you've got a 20k kit sitting in your double garage gather dust and making no dollars! I'm not in the coffee business but trust me people will complain, that is the Australian way and if it was my neighbourhood I certainly would! Jonty

Ol_Grumpy

@Steve I was aware of most of what you have just said... I said what I said knowing (most of) this and because of this... The problem here does not sit with the advice you have been given.... By all parties...

askthecoffeeguy

i serve 2000 customers a week through my cafe but i still only sell around 8kg retail - hardly enough to retire on 😉

shape_shifter

Mate seriously you just seem to be after people telling you what you want to hear, seriously that's just not going to happen, you have people that are IN the industry and are SUCCESSFUL already, you stand no threat to them with an attitude like you have and all I can see is them wasting their time answering questions when you don't want to listen to what they have to say. Shit I'm only considering going as high as a 1kg roaster and I'm already thinking and discussing having it installed at my OHs workplace (huge warehouse in an industrial area) so I don't have any of what they are saying happen to me in a residental area. I happen to love the smell of coffee roasting but most people don't!!! Listening is the key to learning...

askthecoffeeguy

I'm pretty sure that both single origin in Sydney and action rooms in melbourne had to remove their roasters from their Cafes coz of complaints from neighbours ...

UNM

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

i serve 2000 customers a week through my cafe but i still only sell around 8kg retail - hardly enough to retire on 😉

For some people, roasting 8kg a/week IS retirement.

mycuppa

Yes Pat - and another company has moved their small roaster twice in the last 3 years. It's only cost them about $60K and lots of headaches including restricted production operations whilst everything is re-established. There is also a small Probat sample roaster running in a commercial zoned area in Melbourne (it's one street behind the main road shops of a busy suburb, etc. but still zone commercial) and they are constantly battling with complaints. It roasts massive 200g batches !

FreshCoffee2

Steve_01 wrote:

First thing i would like to say is this, thank you to everyone for their input on this subject. Second thing i would like to say is this, if i knew almost nothing about coffee, or if i had never worked in the industry, i think i would be a fool to spend $20,000 buying a roaster and hoping i can make my fortune. My situation is this, i am a technician with years of experience fixing domestic and commercial coffee machines. I have a house with a double sized garage, suitable for use as a workshop or roasting room. I am not paying rent on a commercial property. I have thousands of dollars worth of spare parts for Saeco, Carimali, Iberital coffee machines, and Boema and Compak coffee grinders. I have 5 coffee grinders and 6 coffee machines at home (5 coffee machines and 1 vending machine). I also have the name, address and telephone numbers of more than 400 people who have previously bought a domestic coffee machine in the past few years. In other words, hot leads. In short, i am not trying to start out with nothing. I do have some sort of background, even if i am trying to learn about roasting. It is not my area of expertise, i will admit.

Steve, there is no real connection between coffee machine service and repair, and coffee roasting. They are two entirely unrelated trades, even if they are cooperative trades. In my business I run coffee roasting, workshop, and cafe to name just three aspects of my biz. My workshop and cafe sections rely on my coffee roasting section, but have absolutely nothing in common with it in terms of expertise. The people in the roasting section are independent of the peopl in our other sections. They just happen to share a common roof. Also (and I have said this a million times before in various places), the act or profession of coffee roasting has nothing to do with ability to run a (successsful) business around a coffee roasting plant. Its wonderful to think about the personal pleasure one can derive from the act of coffee roasting. Its another thing to earn a living from it. Hope that helps.