After a fun couple of days in Amsterdam with my wife Karin and our 15 year-old grandson Lars we headed down to the south eastern corner of the Netherlands and were greeted cordially by Patrick (Zapty) and his wife Karin. We had lovely cappuccinos, visited for a few moments and then packed the Maggiolino (1-pound, electrically heated commercial sample roaster) into the car, along with a bunch of wonderful greens from Patrick and said farewells. We couldn't stay any longer as it was already nearly 7 pm and we still had a 3 hour drive ahead of us.
Lars and I set up the roaster this morning, "remanufactured" the corrugated exhaust duct to fit out the window in my new roasting room and turned on the machine. After it was up to temperature I dumped in 350g of an older Guatemala tres Marias that I had around and that I had trouble roasting in the HotTop. About 13 minutes later first crack became clearly audible, stopping after about 1 minute. A minute or so later second crack began, timid at first and then into rolling approximately 16 minutes after putting the beans in. We ejected them and let them cool for about 10 minutes in the cooling tray. They were just as I had envisioned, a rather dark, chocolaty brown and roughly "Full city." (They are much lighter in the picture than they are to the naked eye) After only two hours they smelled so fantastic I was tempted to cup them. I didn't, but we both wanted a coffee so bad that we had a couple of doubles of a Sidamo I roasted in the Hottop on Tuesday.
The Maggiolino is a very sturdy machine, well designed and easy to use. Patrick had installed the digital controller and it makes control a simple matter. So far I am delighted with my new roaster. I am also most indebted to Patrick for his patience and helpfulness.