Choosing a Coffee Roaster
This all started as a hobby. You bought a small fluid-air home roaster a year or two ago from Sweet Marias. You enjoyed roasting coffee so much you started to give your roasted coffee to friends. Then, their friends wanted some of your roasted coffee so you started to sell some of what you were roasting. Things sort of snowballed and you bought another coffee roaster. Instead of doing a 1/2 pound a batch, you moved up to a one-pound capacity electric drum roaster. Things started going so well that you started to spend a lot of time roasting coffee so and got a second one-pound capacity roaster so you could sell some coffee at the local farmers market.
Now….it is time to take the next step. You understand how coffee roasting works. You have a good idea of what type of flavor profile your customers like so now you want to invest more time on the coffee buisness but you need to ramp up production. Hunched over a tiny roaster trying to produce 20-30 pounds of coffee to sell on-line or at farmers’ market is simply not an effective use of your time. You need to buy a commercial-grade coffee roaster.
By “commercial” I am saying you need a coffee roaster that will roast at least a kilo (2.2 pounds) per batch and one that is built to withstand long daily roasting sessions. The bigger the roaster the less time you have to spend coffee roasting and the more time you have to sell and to promote your business. For many who are expanding a new coffee business, a one kilo or two kilo roaster is a good place to start given you can dramatically increase your production over the typical home roaster while limiting your investment. As you probably know by now, commercial roasters are expensive and the bigger they are, the more expensive, which is why a smaller commercial roaster is usually the way to go. And, many of these smaller coffee roasters will fall below air quality thresholds for most major cities so you wont be forced to also buy an afterburner and pay for additional permits.
Before you go down this road, here are a few things to consider prior to making a purchase:
PRICE
With roasters you get what you pay for. Most of the cheap roasters on the market are cheap for a reason; shoddy construction, cheap parts, faulty design, all of which will lead you down a path of pain and suffering. What you may save on initial investment today, will cost you in the long run in repairs and down-time. This does not mean you need to brake the bank buying your next roaster. Once you narrow in on a brand and size, start to investigate is the used market which is usually fruitful for many starting out because the price of a used roaster can be half of the cost of a new model. And, like a well-made a car, two or three years of use on a well-made, well cared-for roaster is nothing; a good coffee roaster that is well maintained and regularly cleaned can easily last 10-15 plus years. Our first production roaster was an 8 year old Probat L12 that we used for an additional 3-4 years and then we sold it to another coffee roaster who went on to use it for a number of years. Beware, though: it is alwasy best to inspect a used roaster first hand. Often, damage does not show up photographs and even if you are new to roasting, a physical inspection of the unit can give you a lot of information.
EASE OF USE
Simplicity is best, especially if you are still getting used to the nuances of coffee roasting. There are a few attractively priced one-kilo roasters on the market that offer too much in my opinion. You don't need all the bells and whistles. Drum speed adjustments, air speed adjustment, infrared this or that etc. are all wonderful and can certainly help one produce excellent coffee but these added features can also lead you down a rabbit hole and can certainly adversely impact cup quality.
I have seen people new to coffee roasting buy complex coffee machines and they end up spending too much time toying with every available feature and not really focusing on the crucial essence of roasting: charge temp, roast curve/rate of rise, development time. What you want is a tank. Something simple but solidly built that will get job done.
KEY FEATURES
If I had to pick just three things you absolutely need from a roaster: burner power, good airflow, good cooling speed. Burner power and control is crucial for a couple reasons. You want to apply power in order to finish a roast in an appropriate roasting time. An underpowered roaster will force you to roast batches that are less than the advertised capacity of a roaster in order to get to, for example, a city roast in 9-11 minutes. Our 1990s Probat L12 was a perfect example of a roaster that was underpowered. The “12” denoted the roasters capacity at 12 kilos per batch but in order to achieve a City Roast in under 13-14 minutes we could only roast about 10 kilos per batch. Sure, we could roast 12 kilos in the roaster but it was difficult to do so while producing a bright, dynamic coffee. One of the reasons we moved from the Probat to a Giesen W15 was for the burner power — the Giesen offered more than enough power to easily roast 15 kilos in 9-11 minutes. The adequate power not only helped us to produced better tasting coffee but made the roasting operation more efficient as we could cut down the number of batches we had to roast per day.
Air Flow through the drum when roasting has a major impact on heat transfer and coffee development. Like poor burner power, poor air flow can have an adverse effect roasting times and cup quality. Poor airflow can also limit how much chaff is pushed into the chaff collector. Adjusting this air flow is not a priority at this point. If the roaster is well-designed and the fan strength is adequate, you will still be able to produce great coffee without adjusting the airflow during the roast.
When it comes to cooling the beans down at the end of a roast, you want to do so as quickly as possible. A slow cool down that does not quickly halt carry-over, can ruin a perfect roast. Cheaper roasters and many smaller ones often only have one fan; this fan directs air through the drum during the roast and then, when the roast is done, you redirect the fan to the cooling tray. This design can work but is often not ideal. A roaster with a dedicated cooling fan is usually a much better solution. Look for a coffee roaster that will cool a capacity roasted batch from finish down to about room temperature in five minutes or less.
IS THE ROASTER EASY TO MAINTAIN AND FIX?
As with most appliances, the more complex features it has, the harder it will be to repair. Ask: can you repair this coffee roaster yourself or do you need to hire outside help? One major piece of the repair side of things has to do with parts. Are replacement parts readily available? Regardless of how well-built the roaster is, some component will eventually break or wear out. When that happens, how long will it take to get a replacement part?
If you are operating in the USA, make sure sure the roaster brand has USA support and a stockpile of parts in the US for the exact model you are thinking about buying. While we loved our Giesen W15 ( Chuck’s Roast is now using a Giesen W1) because we bought the first Giesen shipped to the USA, at the time the company did not yet have a robust support system in place here in the US. Replacement parts had to come from the Netherlands which led to prolonged, very stressful down-times on occasion. (UPDATE: Giesen now sells “Emergency Kits” complete with a variety of parts one might need to replace at some point and they are in the process of rebuilding their US support network.) Probat USA was terrific as they had all of the parts in stock that we ever needed for the L12 — we could even find replacement parts for that roaster at Grainger. Other US brands like Diedrich, Loring, San Franciscan, and Mill City all do a terrific job at stocking and shipping parts to their customers when they need them. If you are operating in the USA, it makes sense on a lot of levels to buy a brand that is manufactured in the USA.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
This might be easier said that done but certainly not impossible. Most coffee roasters manufacturers have “show rooms” or at least a sample unit at the factory one could “try out”. When we bought the Giesen, I planned a layover in Amsterdam during a Kenya sourcing trip to visit the company. If you are about to spend thousands of dollars on a new roaster, the price of a plane ticket and overnight stay in order to try it out first might be well-worth it.
But if trying a roaster at the manufacturer is not possible The Roasters’ Guild annual retreat could be a trip worth taking. In addition to learning about all things coffee roasting at these retreats, roasting professionals have the opportunity to roast on numerous coffee roasters at the retreat, a golden opportunity for those thinking about taking the next step. Another option for some, is making the trip to the annual SCA show — where every major roasting brand in the world will have a booth to display their latest models. While you may not be able to actually try a roaster out at the SCA show but you will be able to get an up-close look at models to inspect build quality and you can ask a representative any questions you might have about the roaster.
Another option could be closer than you think. With a little research you may find a roasting company nearby operating with the brand of roaster you are considering. Chances are, one might be in your city or perhaps the state you live in. Buy their coffee and taste it. Is it the sort of flavor profile you are going for? Sure, much has to do with the bean and style of roast, but trying roasters’ coffee who is using the brand you are considering can give you a good idea of what is possible with that coffee roaster.
In general, coffee roasting professionals are a sharing bunch. Most are open to helping others in the business. If you find a roasting company that you like who is using the brand or model of roaster that you are considering, reach out to a company and explain what you are doing. Chances are they may accommodate you and allow you a closer look at their production. Before we bought our Loring 35, our lead roaster and I traveled to LA to watch a Loring in operation at a small roasterie. This was an invaluable experience as we could see first-hand how the roaster handled capacity batches and talk to the lead roaster about his experience using the Loring in a real-world situation.
These are just a few tips that may be helpful in your coffee business journey. The more you know about the roaster you are thinking about buying, the better off you will be.