iRoast2 - Profiles :-(... edit - :-)

[Dan]

Hi All,

I'm a reasonably experienced popper roaster....

I've recently been lucky enough to receive an iRoast2 and have had some good initial results with it - The plan is to allow me to try more interesting and expensive coffees by allowing me to roast in small batches without needing to finish a full bag of something nice before it goes stale.

However, the machine does seem to have two issues that are combining to make life tricky... The first is that the preset profiles are definitely on the enthusiastic side and will result in a very quick, very dark roast if followed. The second is that the machine is so loud that I find it impossible to hear the cracks and judge the roast progress.

Obviously the beauty of the iRoast is the ability to set a profiled roast (the temperature is not always spot-on but it's a start!) but I get the impression that this is really the only way to roast with the machine, and that some of the 'art' is removed.

I've got some really nice COE coffees that i've been hoarding and don't fancy cremating them! Does anyone have a couple of nice, gentle roast profiles that they could share with me.

Obviously every coffee is different but I'd appreciate any baseline to start from that would be an improvement on the factory offerings!

Thanks
Dan

[RobC]

For all things I Roast you need to speak to Dom (Gouranga somthing or other) see the post

http://www.toomuchcoffee.com/index.php? ... ght=iroast

He'll tell you how to make them green beans into solid gold

[Gouezeri]

Me? I know nothing... nothing I tell you
But for some unknown reason, people do tend to ask me quite a few questions... the odd thing is, I try to give them detailed replies, and then I never hear from them again... as if I've beaten them into some kind of silence, or they are just dumbfounded... I've tried doing this with Mark, but it never works, he just keeps coming back for more. That's probably just the drugs though.

Anyway... sharing profiles... forget it... rough times... forget it... (too many variables to make this worthwhile, despite all the marketing blurb)

Final temps, yeah and general shapes of profiles definitely.

Forget listening for cracks and learn to read colour, smell, smoke and temperature. In order to get a proper reading of temperature, I would seriously consider fitting some kind of thermocouple. Unless they've made some radical changes to the onboard thermostat on the I-R2, I would take any information it provides with a pinch of salt. What you want is bean temps more than anything else (to the extent that this is possible).

Please don't be disheartened, I've seen profiling equipment worth thousands of pounds have difficulty following a profile. Roasting is all about learning how to read the signs in order to produce the results you want.

If you want any more info, yell and I'll see if I can bore you to death... just like all the others

[Gouezeri]

Bl**dy hell Rob... that's an old thread!
Hadn't realised that it's been nearly 3 years though! My hearing is about as good as George's now, though he may still be using that funny stethoscope thingy!

Dan, there's a fair bit of I-R info already on the site, but I must admit that I've not played with the I-R2 to know whether they resolved some of the issues with the first version (loose chaff rings, lids etc). So there's plenty of advice to be given, but it is/was all aimed at the I-R1

Still haven't patented my silver foil mod... there goes my chances of appearing on Dragon's Den in the future!

[RobC]

being a bit simple I just did an I Roast search on the forum and cut and paste the first thread that looked useful into the post - I know you are a master of all things I Roast so thought it might help!

[Dan]

Oh, I'd dearly love to chuck a thermocouple into the roasting chamber to monitor the actual temperature but the scene that would be played out in the Kitchen when the Mrs sees it is best avoided (Think it's a male/female thing, there's a genetic difference in the perception of 'improving' versus 'not being good enough in the first place.)

Will crack on between the 180-230 mark (maybe practice on a kilo of Espresso Blend before letting loose on the good stuff (not that your P.E.B. isn't good Steve!)

Dan

[Gouezeri]

Thing is Dan, the temperature you are reading is not that of the beans, but the heater itself. Take into account fluctuations in electricity, ambient temp, humidity etc, aiming for reaching 230 after however many minutes, just doesn't work. That said there is no current "off the shelf" homeroaster that can do this anyway. The whole idea of the thermocouple is to get as good an idea as possible as to the temperature of the bean mass and it is that which gives you your real profile.
Fitting a thermocouple is a 5 minute job, and it doesn't have to be permanent.

[fred25]

I think what is needed is a bean 'dummy' that you would drop in with the rest of the beans, and that is fitted with a minute thermocouple inside and a radio transmitter that can beam the reading to a recipient outside the chamber. Provided that the encasing of the couple is close in terms of heat absorption to actual beans, you'd get a pretty close idea of beans temperature, no?

[GeorgeW]

Let me tell you I have discarded my home-made stethoscope in favour of two digital hearing aids supplied by the NHS. These work a treat and I can hear the cracks without any problem whatsoever. I recommend them to you.

[Dan]

I do have a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, maybe they'd help cancel out the low-frequency noise... (Maybe I'm getting too far into this, time for the red pill)

Fred25 - I think I met a lady on the way to market with a couple of those just the other day.

[fred25]

Yes, I've heard they're widely available - there's a brisk trade for them at the back of lidls


Seriously though, is my idea so dumb? Everybody is complaining that you can't monitor the heat of beans (as opposed to that of the chamber) properly - this seems to me to be as close as one could get, and not completely unfeasible?

[Dan]

Just a quick update.

I've roasted four batches so far and filled the memory with a selection of different profiles with a slow 5 min initial roast in common and then slight differences in ramp-rate and finishing temperature.

I'm using a watch-and-stop-when-ready technique but the first couple of S.O. roasts were a little on the dark side but will be drunk anyway and the first attempt at H.B. Espresso blend ended up in the bin (french roasted in the end, I got greedy!).

That said, I've got a batch of Espresso Blend sitting in the MC2 at the moment that looks perfect and smells great after a 7:40 roast. Very excited about getting to taste it tomorrow!

D.