Hottop "profile" and coffee varieties

[harryDE]

After having read the thread "Hottop moans" I'm asking me seriously if the Hottop is really the roaster to spend my money on...

After some years of roasting experience with my gas oven I've learned that it's impossible to roast in it ANY beans I'd like to. It works excellent with lower-grown or somewhat smaller or "softer" beans like Ethopians or Mexican Maragogype and my results for pour-over-brewed coffee are (sometimes more than) satisfying.

With other varieties (Kenya peaberry, Guatemala, Mexico) just don't get the results I'd wish to have. The (well-preheated) oven seems not to be able keep the slightly higher temperatures required by these beans and they often taste just flat.

So I'm dreaming about buying the Hottop. Generally, its roast profile seems to be a fine solution for the lighter roasts I prefer.

But, Hottop users, what do you do to satisfy the needs of your different beans to get the best out of 'em?? Are there ANY possibilities to vary the profile/temperature, maybe by using different amounts of green coffee? Is the hottop really suitable for any kind of coffee?

Thanks
Harry

[simonp]

But, Hottop users, what do you do to satisfy the needs of your different beans to get the best out of 'em?? Are there ANY possibilities to vary the profile/temperature, maybe by using different amounts of green coffee? Is the hottop really suitable for any kind of coffee?

It seems to work well with almost all beans, there have been a few that perhaps benfit from a slower run trough 1st crack, some have used a variac on the inpu to achieve this.
I believe that slow drum roasting allows beans to progress at their natural rate, and is more forgiving than some other roast methods. Others can probably comment better than me as I have only had mine for a week.

[ivdp]

Suitable? This depends on what you want in your cup.
A lover of acidity and subtle notes in high acidty coffees (Kenya, Papua New Guinea and many others) might not want a long roast (toast) of the coffee. ROasting below 10 minutes might be wanted and therefore the Hottop is not suitable.

A cup test will give the ultimate answer of course.

Ivo

[simonp]

ROasting below 10 minutes might be wanted and therefore the Hottop is not suitable.

Nor any drum roast then surely, you would need air roasting to roast this quickly, I would think?

[Beanie]

When I wanted a faster roast, I've played around with the settings 1-7 but that is rather unpredictable for me. So, instead, I vary the batch size and choose setting 7 and manually eject when ready. Most of my roasts are dumped around 2nd crack or at most 25 seconds after 2C. With 250g, that occurs around 17-18 minutes depending on bean types with 1C around 14-15m. With 200g, that occurs btwn 14.30-16.30 minutes with 1C around 12m-13m. What I'd like though, is to lengthen the time btwn 1st & 2nd but haven't quite figured that out yet. I've just started lifting the top off the bean chute towards the end of 1st but that doesn't seem to do much for me. I'll try it earlier on and hope that will help.

Also, unlike most, I've only ever had to use the "plus" button once in my over 40 roasts. The rest, I've pressed the "eject" button. Never have I actually let the machine stop automatically.

I did learn one tip at the roasting workshop, but can't verify/quantify. Once the beans have cooled, split the bean and check the colour of the outer wall and the layers within. If it's all the same colour, your coffee will most likely taste flat(ter) than if the inside layer is darker. If the reverse is true, then you just may taste some "green" in your coffee. I haven't been able to test this as I haven't been able to roast it "flat".

I also agree with Ivo... faster 1st crack = higher acidity. My next test will be to slow down 1C for my Kenyan beans to see if it tones down the acidity for espresso purposes

Hope this helps. Of course, I'm looking forward to the responses from the FAR more experienced members So much to learn still

I am happy with my Hottop... and so are my neighbours I do wish I could actually set the profile... but playing with variables can be fun too... just like with espresso.

M