by zix » Sat May 05, 2012 8:39 pm
Yes, absolutely - if you want to have total control it is better to stir manually, and also to hold the heat gun in the other hand so you can move it closer and further away instantly. Or, if the heat gun is mounted, to have a stepless effect control.
It is like you say, you need to be able to give the roast your full attention when doing hot air gun / bowl roasts. For me, it usually means I have to devote my full attention to one thing only for around 30 minutes, including preparations. I find it fascinating how extremely hard this is, at home or at work. Roasting in the oven is a piece of cake (not literally though) in comparison, and this is why I mainly do that instead. Only takes the occasional glance, and being in the kitchen after first crack.
On the subject of consumer roasters like the HotTop, Behmor and others, I wouldn't expect too much. They demand slightly less attention than the heat gun/bowl method, but you can't leave them unattended. Instead of stirring and standing in the hot air stream, you will be nervously looking through the window of the Behmor, and wondering if you really programmed it right (I should perhaps add that I have a Behmor at work, have only done 10 or so roasts, mainly because it wasn't quite the automatic wonder roaster I had hoped for). For the HotTop et al you will be using the tryer instead of peeking through (usually dirty) oven glass, it will be less work, but you can't just go away and forget the machine.
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