ditching iroast for IMEX???

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ditching iroast for IMEX???

Postby postsoup » Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:16 pm

I am thinking of ditching my iroast for and IMEX - does anyone have any info about the reliability and ease of use of the IMEX? Would love to get a Hottop, but sadly, living in london, this machine would be too smokey for neighbours etc...so a new smaller machine is what I am requiring...any other model suggestions welcome.
cheers
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Postby HughF » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:04 pm

If you don't roast much into second crack, you may be worrying too much about HotTop smoke. I roast with the HotTop with the kitchen door open and a smoke detector on the landing above. I only close the kitchen door for a few minutes when I dump the beans. I get much more problem with the smoke detector when grilling a steak.
What problems are you having with the I-Roast? Many people have come up with fixes for I-Roast niggles, try alt.coffee or the SweetMarias.com homeroast list archives ( http://themeyers.org/HomeRoast/index.htm ) to see if anyone has solved your specific troubles with the I-Roast.

On the face of it the IMEX seems a step backwards from the I-Roast but I haven't owned either roaster.

Cheers,

Hugh
Grinders : Macap MXK conical for espresso, Mahlkoenig Vario for Chemex, Macap MC6 (spare when our office was closed) for cafetiere, Zassenhaus Knee Mill for cafetiere when working away from home.
La Spaziale Vivaldi S1 espresso machine. HotTop KN8828P roaster. Chemex manual drip for most brewed coffee plus cafetieres and eSantos.
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Postby Gouezeri » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:00 am

It's hard to recommend an IMEX when we don't really know what you dislike about the I-Roast.
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Postby Guest » Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:22 am

thanks very much for the replies.

Re the hottop - i really favour a deep french roast, and as my partner gets asthma, my house interior is white, and I have a kitchen extractor which seems pretty ineffective, (so many issues!!! ) I have had no choice but to roast outside in my shed. Neighbours here are very fussy, so I have been worried that the Hottop and it's large capacity might cause a bigger smoke nuisance than the precision or iroast etc...I have never seen a hottop in operation, so have little idea of the sort of smoke I would be dealing with.

Problems i have had with the iroast were...this is where i look a bit silly...managing to actually programme a french roast consistenly in to the darn machine! I found the user interface and software very clunky...I confess, I gave up after a few bungled attempts!
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Postby HughF » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:38 am

If you're outside I'd be amazed if the neighbours minded. The HotTop does have an output filter which reduces the smoke. Using it indoors we have a lovely smell of roasting coffee in the house but it's not that strong. Try to see a HotTop in operation if you possibly can; I think you will be pleasantly surprised. It's VERY quiet which may help with the neighbours compared to the I-Roast. For another thing it's very simple to use. I remember thinking how dumb it was that the I-Roast forgets user programming every time it is turned off - what a shame. With the HotTop the profile is constant, you just choose when to stop and I do that by looking and listening rather than setting a fixed endpoint.

Cheers,

Hugh
Grinders : Macap MXK conical for espresso, Mahlkoenig Vario for Chemex, Macap MC6 (spare when our office was closed) for cafetiere, Zassenhaus Knee Mill for cafetiere when working away from home.
La Spaziale Vivaldi S1 espresso machine. HotTop KN8828P roaster. Chemex manual drip for most brewed coffee plus cafetieres and eSantos.
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Postby Gouezeri » Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:47 am

Hugh makes some valid points. But to cover the other side of the coin.
I Roast (sorry, no pun intended) indoors, using a smoke vent that I put out of the window, and whilst the I-Roast is noisy, with the vent attached I have no smoke in the room, at worst some nice roasting smells that only last an hour or so. If I roast during the day, when the wife gets home she doesn't even notice it (she has dust allergies etc. as well)
The fact that the I-Roast forgets user profiles is indeed a nuisance, but come on Hugh, you can't even program the Hottop, it's as programmable as an Imex. Most people here just seem to use profile number 7 and end by hand. Whereas I can set whatever ramp up speed I want (and yes I do do this) an ideal final temperature, and an overal time quite easily, depending on what I'm roasting. Yes it means using the clunky interface, but it's not that hard once you get used to it and I'd rather have this than not (one very good reason why I'm not willing to upgrade to an HT).

I am surprised that you had problems getting a french roast though. Contrary to recent problems that have been posted here about the HT taking too long to reach 2nd Crack, the I-Roast, as shipped, has the exact reverse problem (with no chaff ring mod or change of resistor) reaching a French roast happens all too quickly.
If you can't be bothered to program it, then at least try to use setting number 2 and just end it where you think best (same as with an HT).

There are quite a few I-Roasters here who I'm sure would be willing to help you as best they can, if you are still willing to learn.
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Postby Guest » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:42 am

HotTop - sounds interesting. I think I should check it out in action anyway...I am tempted to get one just so that I can roast large batches when I visit my mothers house (in the middle of nowhere!). So, the roast profiles are pre-programmed in to the machine on this model are they? Does it have a successful dark roast program? What sort of time does that take for a full load?

I-Roast - I am certainly willing to give the I-roast another go. If any fellow I-roasters can give me some instructions on how to programme in a dark roast, I would be most grateful. I have so far had to stick to the inbuilt programme 2 - which delivers a pretty medium affair on my model. Incidentally, what difference does it make it if you don't use the chaff ring at all? or would I be tempting fate, and set the machien alight on dark roast if I don't use it.

Thanks everyone
Joe
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Postby Gouezeri » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:54 am

Joe, I'm sure people here will help you with programming a good profile for a dark roast.
May I suggest we start a new thread for this (who knows, it may help others in the future) rather than using this thread which discusses the relative merits and flaws of each appliance.

Tell us what you're after and what you have tried.
What beans are you trying to roast (and what weight - though I presume you're sticking to the standard 150g). What profile have you used, did it work? How long did it take?
Have you made any modifications to the I-R etc.
With this kind of information we should be able to give you a firm pointer as to how to proceed.
Dom
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Postby Guest » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:59 am

OK, thanks Dom.
Will start new thread for that question as suggested. Hopefully, I am not the only goof out here struggling! :-)

Joe
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Postby Gouezeri » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:59 pm

Just for anyone reading this thread at a later date, the followup to this can be found here

Thankfully it looks as though we've managed to get Joe going and he now stands a good chance of getting his I-Roast to work as intended. However, it does go to show how moving from one machine to the next is not always as simple a process as one might hope and many disappointments with the I-Roast seem to come from people with previous experience and expectations.
Sadly, nobody seems to have made the ideal home roaster yet and those under development seem to be stalling at the moment :?
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Postby Guest » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:47 pm

So, now that I have a roasting method with the IRoast well on the way :-) thanks to Dom...I am trying to think what the merits of the HotTop machine are, over the IRoast - besides the large volume? What does the electric drum method bring to the table? Just curious...
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