CCR-1kg Coffee Roaster

Brett_H

Wonderful videos. Thank you so much for taking the time to post these! If I hadn't already had several "mid-life crises" this year your vids would have tipped me over the edge.

UNM

several short vids rather than one monster :thumb:

sholayer

Congratulations Saoye It looks very nice, I know you will have a great deal of fun with this, I stepped up from a coretto to Quest M3 then this and love the thermostability, the nice smooth curves you can get and nicely repeatable profiles. Are you running both the CS meter and the temp controller off the built in tc in the last video? Chris

Jonty

+1 Saoye, I enjoyed each individual video. I will be interested over the coming period your impressions and the overall experience in the purchase of the unit. Jonty

saoye

sholayer wrote:

Congratulations Saoye It looks very nice, I know you will have a great deal of fun with this, I stepped up from a coretto to Quest M3 then this and love the thermostability, the nice smooth curves you can get and nicely repeatable profiles. Are you running both the CS meter and the temp controller off the built in tc in the last video? Chris

Thanks Chris, yes I am running a Thermocouple extension lead off the built in tc of the roaster and back into my multimeter which is bought from the CSs site into my laptop running the CS software. I have had to make quite a large calibration as per Graham's instructions on the CS software to make it more or less aligned. There is certainly some form of electronic interference of sort that disrupts the reading when the power is turned on, I noticed a significant dip in my reading when the 180deg Celcius alarm went off on the roaster and after the alarm the reading stayed approximately 5 degrees below the roaster reading. I will turn off the alarm and see how the curve looks like on my next roast.

Kevohere

Great vids saoye and congrats on the unveiling process. It is almost identical with mine, purchased from John via the evilbay. The only obvious differences I can see are that yours has no drum speed control knob and no sliding lock bar to hold the bean drop door open. I am still roasting without any data logging as I continue to attune myself to the process, but still want to go with DL roasts. I sold my CS Temp DL when I sold the Behmor and will probably go back down that path and buy another unless you and/or others here can suggest a better/easier plan. Piggy backing the CS of the roaster's thermocouple as I currently understand it, helps with the roasting profile logging, without monitoring actual BT. I was intending to go down the road of installing a BT just above the viewing glass as suggested here earlier, but now wonder if that is really necessary if results are good through just the piggyback method. I am by no means an electronic techie, so would appreciate any advice. I am enjoying the resulting roasts to date, but like others here, know there is always room for and the passion to get the best from this rewarding hobby investment. :coffee2: Cheers, Kevin

saoye

Kevohere wrote:

Great vids saoye and congrats on the unveiling process. It is almost identical with mine, purchased from John via the evilbay. The only obvious differences I can see are that yours has no drum speed control knob and no sliding lock bar to hold the bean drop door open. I am still roasting without any data logging as I continue to attune myself to the process, but still want to go with DL roasts. I sold my CS Temp DL when I sold the Behmor and will probably go back down that path and buy another unless you and/or others here can suggest a better/easier plan. Piggy backing the CS of the roaster's thermocouple as I currently understand it, helps with the roasting profile logging, without monitoring actual BT. I was intending to go down the road of installing a BT just above the viewing glass as suggested here earlier, but now wonder if that is really necessary if results are good through just the piggyback method. I am by no means an electronic techie, so would appreciate any advice. I am enjoying the resulting roasts to date, but like others here, know there is always room for and the passion to get the best from this rewarding hobby investment. :coffee2: Cheers, Kevin

Hi Kevin. I am too used to using a data logger not to have one and piggybacking is better than nothing. The tc in the roaster is just below the tryer so it is at least touching beans but yes not in the main bean mass where the viewer is. I am thinking using the hole of one of the bolt holding the viewer in place for bean temp. For now I'm ok with the piggy back method. I got mine from north coffee direct. Mine does have the sliding bolt bar. I think the latest version has the tryer and door hand and bolt on the same side. I will do a full YouTube review next week.

UNM

Kevohere wrote:

I sold my CS Temp DL when I sold the Behmor and will probably go back down that path and buy another unless you and/or others here can suggest a better/easier plan.

My Datalogging meter looks like the same thing as the CS one, but was half the price. Thing is, there are unconfirmed rumours that the CS one has some changes, but it is unclear what those may be. It is possible to use the generic Victor 86 meter with roastlogger software which is open source and community supported. I have heard of it used with CS roastmonitor software, but not done so myself. I use an Arduino microcontroller to log data of my roasts, rather than a meter and just got the victor 86 because I needed a meter. I find using non proprietary software a better solution for me and there is a heap of support for Arduino roast monitor/control software out there on the web. I like the flexibility and it sits well with me ethically to go the open source route. Cost is roughly comparable to a generic Victor 86 and roastlogger, but it is a much more powerful tool - it can run in standalone mode with programmed profiles for example. No need for a laptop or external computer when set up (although you do need one to store roast logs and initially set up). It DOES require a bit of effort at first to get it working correctly for you, so is not the easier path - roastlogger is probably easiest. If you have decided on the CS software and don't plan to change in future, the extra cost of buying the meter from CS may be worth it for you to avoid potential problems down the path. You also get local warranty on the meter, FWIW.

saoye

I have done my 5th roast to date and it was my best roast by far. dropped 820g at charge temp of 225 degs and pulled at the end of rolling 1st crack and waited 10 seconds at the verge of 2nd crack. for a total time of just under 13 minutes (including the 2 minutes it takes to cool down). Very even roast and sweeter than the previous roast at 16 minutes. I have found the PID keeps the increase at 10 deg C. Kevin, what have you got the SV temperature set at? I have put mine at 300 degrees to keep the rate of increase up there, and I was wondering if yours is lower. I think default was set at 210 degrees C. As it gets closer to the SV temperature the rate will slow and then maintain. This is the PID working. I have been trying to get into the Menu to set the "Proportional" value to try to increase the rate but have not been successful in finding it in the Fotek M21 (this is the PID that comes with the machine) menu. With the PID rate rise set at 10 degrees, charge temp becomes critical since there is no way to increase this rate on the elements alone. You will need to use strategic air flow changes to give the temperature a jump during stages if you are aiming for a specific end roast time.

Kevohere

Great to see you are getting nice results at just 5 roasts in, saoye. I tried to reply to your post earlier today with a fairly detailed post and then attempted to attach 2 Fotek pdf files that John sent me, to help you "get into the menu", left the computer to make a coffee and returned to find a message saying it was too big a file to post on the forum. Needless to say the body of my message was GONE! 😢 So, a couple of clients later and some tiling duties, I'm trying again. :🙂 The PID and the Fuzzy Temperature controller PDF is 2570KB and the Digital counter file 2227KB, so we may have to email it direct if you want it. Suffice to say; I think you are on the mark with the SV temp setting role. I think my roaster was set at 300 deg when I got it and thinking that to be too high, I reduced it to 230 deg. Yeah, maybe I think too much. :pan I will reset it to 300 when I next take the cover of to roast again to see what difference it makes. On Tuesday I dropped in 1135g of Nepal Plantec Estate (finished the bag) at 190 deg, achieved 1C@ 13:10 at 168 deg. Couldn't detect 2C and pulled them at 17:50 at 194 deg with end weight at 928g. Not tried yet but looks good. Immediately after, I dropped 1Kg of Nicaragua Mombacho SHG @192 deg. 1C @ 11:00min at 174 deg. 2C 15:40 at 191 deg. Pulled @ 16:00 at 193 deg with an end weight of 812g. Note; these temps are read from the PID and are not actual BT. Cheers, Kevin If you send me an email to kejari at big pond dot com I can send the files to you. I appreciate your input and experience

saoye

Hi All, This is a repeat of what I wrote on another forum. I am sharing my experience on both because I find I am getting good tips and ideas from both and both forums are giving me different valuable insite to this roaster. As well this thread is the one that has given me the most in terms of real practical roasting guidelines so I want to keep contributing here. TJ067 review Part 1 First installment of my review (video)...they are a little longer than the unboxing videos but I have a bit more to say. It is still a review made by a non-commercial roaster who has only 2 years of roast experience using popper and heatgun/breadmaker combination so I do not pretend to be an expert in any way or form. Just what I understand as the basics of coffee roasting and my experience so far with this roaster. Here is the basic summary in a big nutshell: 1. From order to delivery to your door approximately 6-7 weeks 2. Additional costs will be incurred past the Port of arrival (not from North Coffee) allow approximately 20 to 30% on top of your purchased price. 3. This thing is seriously heavy! you will need at least 2 strong guys or 4 computer nerds to lift this thing plus make sure the truck that delivers to your house will have some way to offload and bring it to your driveway. 4. The seller Tim is more than 1 person. He/she/they will respond to your emails within minutes almost 24 hours a day and the written English and mannerisms changes throughout the day (I guess shift to shift). There is one "Tim" who loves his/her "!!!" and "CAPITAL LETTERS" 😉 5. Your money does get somewhere, it is a real business and you will get your roaster (I guess this is important as you are dealing with quite a lot of money and you want to know it's legit) 6. They have limited understanding of coffee roasting and even the actual functions of the roaster...you are mostly dealing with a sales person 7. electrical/electronic components used can be sourced outside with known brand names (or they will provide you with spare parts pricing) 8. You can roast 1kg coffee within 15 to 18 minutes (but the charge temperature is very important as well as the control of the air flow at strategic stages of the roast) Ok, that's pretty much it. Check out the videos and hopefully somebody else can help on the PID questions. It could possibly be that this model (FOTEK MT21) does not have settable "P" and "I"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEQRfqGzp_4

saoye

TJ067 review Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZSrYxbClM

saoye

TJ067 review Part 3 - Summary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wOkdtfUms0

askthecoffeeguy

hey saoye thanks for youre comprehensive summary and your video logs - its a great insight for someone like me who is considering purchasing a roaster like this cheers, Pat

saoye

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

hey saoye thanks for youre comprehensive summary and your video logs - its a great insight for someone like me who is considering purchasing a roaster like this cheers, Pat

No worries Pat and I hope it was helpful.

askthecoffeeguy

saoye wrote:

No worries Pat and I hope it was helpful.

Im pretty keen on a 3kg version for my next incarnation now the question becomes electric or gas? I hear that compliance is much less of an issue with electric? P

saoye

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

Im pretty keen on a 3kg version for my next incarnation now the question becomes electric or gas? I hear that compliance is much less of an issue with electric? P

I am not sure what kind of compliance is required...it would not be AGA would it? Then the question becomes is it still that much cheaper with all the extra work and compliance you need compared to getting a branded local roaster? You'll have to do your own homework there as I have no idea. For me the whole project was worthwhile as I got the electric and it seems capable enough for now.

askthecoffeeguy

true that I'm still a wee ways off from taking that next step but I'm doing my research now!

saoye

Hi Kevin, Hope you're still reading this thread, I wonder if your issue of low ROR reading is due to your thermocouple probe is not in the body of the bean? I just purchased an M5 1cm thermocouple probe that fits perfectly into the nut hole at the viewer and depending on which side I put the probe on gives me very different readings. First I put it right of the viewer and reading was very low...at 670g of beans it was only just catching some beans and the ROR was unstable and very low. Then I put it left of center and it was very stable and gave a reading of between around 14 deg/min and then gradually at the end closer to 5 deg/min nearing 2nd crack...but I was also lowering the temperature and playing with fan. Incidentally I still found I had to alter the CS datalogger preference and put in a factor of about 50 deg...as it read 1st crack happening at 135 deg... I attach some photos. You can see how left of center the probe is right in the beans while at the right of center it is missing it.

sholayer

Hi Saoye, I have the same issue, I was wondering if a thermocouple I use that I am unsure of the type was causing the offset but I have been told there will be a difference in temp between the inbuilt thermocouple and the position you have the BT in (left side in bean mass). I have an offset of about 50C at FC which seems incredible. I will be ordering 2 type K this week so at least I will have a known start point, with both being the same and then will move the BT probe around if reqd.

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