This Imex is a tricky beast

[tisri]

. There are ways of extending the filter life, and unless you roast to destruction the cost is just not significant at all. It's just something people like to mention when they're looking for reasons not to like the Hottop.

Even if you roast to destruction the cost isn't exactly huge. My first filter lasted about 20 roasts and it costs £10 for a new one. If you can't afford 50p per roast towards the filter you probably can't afford £500 for the roaster. If you managed to eke out 40 roasts you're down to 25p per roast. Personally I'm happy to pay the extra 25p per roast to make sure it's done properly

I hear very mixed stories about the Imex too. You obviously love it Stephane, but Raf & Eward both had significant issues and problems with theirs when they each bought one in the first half of last year.

I had one and it was useless. I sent it back as a faulty unit and got another one which was equally useless. I sent that back for a refund and bought a Hottop instead. At first I really didn't want to spend that much on a roaster but in the end decided that I'd rather spend the money and do it right than save some money and buy a lesser unit only to hate it and wish I'd done it properly.

Job done.

Not quite Phil, the job isn't done until second crack is popping furiously and your kitchen is full of smoke. If you're roasting outside... well that's no excuse

[phil]

Roast outside? Why ever should I want to do that? I've got a Hottop with a replaceable smoke filter!

And you can get replaceable filter elements for the Hottop rather than just buying the whole assembly. Or at least you could - Shelly sent me a batch once. Of course if she didn't send any to Steve then I guess you won't be able to buy them!

[simonp]

DO you think that the filter impedes airflow much? I'm wondering if cutting up a Hottop filter and sticking it in the exhaust of an Imex would work.

[phil]

The filter definitely throttles the airflow. You should never use a Hottop without one, for example, as the altered airflow messes with the profile. The heat buildup is reduced. The opposite happens when the filter gets too dirty, and the machine overheats.

[tisri]

Roast outside? Why ever should I want to do that? I've got a Hottop with a replaceable smoke filter!

If you're roasting properly you still get lots of smoke. When your beans are popping furiously well into second crack it's quite impressive how much smoke you get when they drop out into the tray.

[simonp]

I tried the thechnique I saw somewhere of using silver foil on the inside of the exhaust vents to cover about 1/3 to 1/2 of it, the idea being that you cause more of the warm air to re-cycle, and allow a higher chamber temp more quickly.

Ah, result I needed much lower settings on my heat controller, and I was able to do the 290F to 380F in 3 minutes easily, and a 380F to 450F temp in 6 minutes (rather than 10+). I used some oldish Malabar Gold in case things went wrong, so first crack was easy to hear. The beans look on the light side for a finish temp of 450F, but I thought I heard 2nd crack start, mind with the MG all the cracks merge anyway!

MG does give off little chaff, so this might have helped with the re-cycling of the hot air, so I need to try some Cachoeira (chaff city!) based blends to fully test, but thus looks more promising