Home roasting to save money

Roasters and roasting

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Postby Skippy » Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:02 pm

Unfortunately i have health problems that would prevent me from cranking for 20 mins straight. Otherwise id be happy to give it a go
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Postby espressomattic » Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:26 pm

Hey Lukas

Yes I do admit it! :P

I reckon your home roasts are as good as anybodys. In fact I would say you are more knowledgable than most, maybe even some in the 'Industry'. You make a good point, Home roasting and COmmercial are not the same at all.

It would be like making wine at home, you may never acheive a vintage, but the results are pretty damn good.

Squall I would not personally reccommend a Gene as I have previously stated I have found them a tad unreliable. You should eother go for the HT or wait and see what the Behnor turns out like. If I were you, I would wait for the latter as it looks promising and the early reports are good.
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Postby Skippy » Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:59 pm

Anyone have a link to some info about the Behnor? Ive heard it mentioned a couple of times but google throws up nothing.

*edit* ah found it under behmor on home barista
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Postby JulieJayne » Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:56 pm

Home roasting is great but it will not save you money. Green beans are cheaper than roasted, but not that much. And you have to allow for the fact that 300gr green will only give you 250gr roasted, add to that "loss" any failed roasts, and yes you will have some, and the cost of electric etc.

Home roasted will cost about the same as bought roasted. But it gives much greater pleasure, and you will be certain how fresh your coffee is.
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Grinders: Eureka Mignon (2), Mahlkonig Guatemala,
Roaster: Gene Cafe.
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Postby espressomattic » Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:51 am

Hmmm, beg to differ Julie ;)

1 KG of greens cost me $20

18 mins in the oven (Plus a pre heat) say $1.50

So that $6.50 roughly for 250g of Roasted. (About 25 Grams loss so that is 100g over 1Kg, so a $2 loss on each KG). Bought roasted will cost you about $10-$12.50 here for 200g. So instead of $50 I pay the above.

Thankfully I do not break as many roasts as I do cups and glasses, so the latter is a rareity. So for me, in my situation it is cheaper for sure.
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Postby justdoit » Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:47 pm

Hi folks,
first post here.

I basically have the same query as squallleonh in the original post.

The roasted stuff I'm getting from Steve is great which I'm sure I'm not doing justice to while on a learning curve with my Silvia and Rocky combo.

As well as the cost issue (minor I know), the wife and I both work shifts and it's difficult to catch the mail when the beans arrive.

I do fancy the asthetic value of roasting your own also.

So....

My birthday is coming up and I was thinking of a hottop, or something similar, certainly no more than £300- ish.

Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks
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Postby bruceb » Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:06 pm

Image

I just did my 300th roast with the HotTop. It's a Monsooned Malabar that I took well into second crack. The HT is as close to perfect as a home roaster can get imo. I have the non-programmable model with digital display and I do all my roasts "by the seat of my pants." I started with 230g greens and have 198g roasted coffee. I got the greens from a fellow in Berlin for €6/kg.

Whether you save money by roasting will certainly depend upon how much you roast, where you get your greens, etc. It will also depend largely on luck, because if, like me, you roast about 69kg of green coffee without having to pay a penny for repairs you may well wind up saving money, but far more important, you will always be drinking fresh coffee roasted the way you like it.

There's just something that makes me itch about the thought of roasting to save money. Our passion here is a luxury, no question. I can think of many reasons to roast my own coffee, but saving money wouldn't be one of them.

Oh, and about the Behmor...read the complete review on Sweet Maria's before you even consider going any deeper into it.
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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Postby justdoit » Sun Dec 30, 2007 4:12 pm

Thanks for the welcome Bruceb, and for the info.
Yeah as I said the cost is a very minor issue for me, its really more about the satisfaction element and never having an excuse for no fresh beans in the house.

A few weeks to my birthday yet, and from the little research I've done so far it's looking like a hottop.

Thanks
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