heatgunroast Senior Member Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 360 Location: NYC Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Dalla Corte Grinder: Mazzer Mini; Zass, Baratza... Vac Pot: Royal Balance Brewer (wanna... Drip: Various press and pour-overs Roaster: Heatgun, Dogbowl
Posted Sat Jan 24, 2004, 12:03pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
Texture seems to matter. Didn't like my cast iron wok because stirring wasn't pleasant. Slick surface is important to me. Maybe I'll come across a promising glazed ceramic, but until then I'll stay with the heat trapping properties of db. Martin
Posted Sat Jan 24, 2004, 2:35pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
I've been thinking about this. I want to find some insulating material that I could pack under a /\__/\ type dogbowl or a ceramic vessel of appropriate size and heat resistance. I have some pyrex mixing bowls but I don't want to risk cracking one. Maybe I'll spot one at a thrift store.
The bowl I'm using now is really not ideal. When temps are above freezing it's not as much of an issue. For January roasting, it becomes one. If I see a flowerpot that might contain my roasting bowl, I could pack it with perlite around the bowl for insulation. That would be a less portable solution but relatively cheap.
I had thought about using a Corningware casserole, but was unsure about how it would handle localized thermal stress, as opposed to the all enveloping heat of an oven. The fact that a casserole of appropriate size would cost $ 15 and up, and I would have to worry about breakage as well more or less killed the deal for me.
Posted Sat Jan 24, 2004, 2:55pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
The air temperature question is interesting. I'm coming from the other direction on the thermometer here in Michigan, I've done 5 heatgun batches now, 3 in the 20's and 2 in the teens. It took 20 minutes this morning to do 2 cups of Indian Mysore to a full city roast. It'll be interesting for me when it gets warmer in the spring to see if the low temps just make roasting take longer, or if it affects the taste or other things about the roast.
Elankat Senior Member Joined: 8 Jan 2004 Posts: 35 Location: Midwest Expertise: Just starting
Espresso: Miss Sylvia Grinder: Cunill Tranquilo Drip: Bodum press pot & 1 cup pour... Roaster: Heat gun/dog bowl
Posted Sat Jan 24, 2004, 4:53pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
Having no experience at all with this, I had two thoughts about the heat loss.
First thought was to set the bowl in the base of a slow cooker. Just remove the ceramic crock pot out of a large crock pot and set the dog bowl inside it, then plug it in.
For air temperature from the top, I thought a heat lamp, a couple of shop lights with high watt bulbs hung low, or even a couple of suspended hair dryers could be used to warm the air temperatures around the bowl.
I don't know if any of these are solutions, but I thought I'd mention them.
heatgunroast Senior Member Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 360 Location: NYC Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Dalla Corte Grinder: Mazzer Mini; Zass, Baratza... Vac Pot: Royal Balance Brewer (wanna... Drip: Various press and pour-overs Roaster: Heatgun, Dogbowl
Posted Sat Jan 24, 2004, 5:29pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
The following logic may simply be wrong, but it won't be the first time: I like the combo of dogbowl on the grill because it adds steady heat and mitigates inevitable minor fluctuations from the heat gun. Seems you'd need a very heavy mass bowl to perform that function. Cast iron seems the likliest candidate. But heating up an iron pan with a heatgun is no easy or quick matter. Just a ceramic bowl won't make much of a difference. IMO, heat loss from the metal bowl is not a significant issue and it may not be worth your while going to great lengths to avoid it with special materials or insulation. I've never roasted below 40 f, but my best guess is that the colder it gets, the less (not more) influential the bowl effect might get. Finally, I have roasted in wind, and wind does matter, even in my relatively warmer clime. My recommendation for cold weather roasting is go max depth of the beans in as small a bowl as will work(maybe cut the batch size some); grill top if possible, fast stir, strong heat, moderate cfm, protect from wind, dress warmly and drink plenty of fluids.
mearleg Senior Member Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Tumwater, WA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Nuova Simonelli Oscar Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: French Press Roaster: S/S Fondue Pot/Heat Gun
Posted Thu Feb 5, 2004, 3:51pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
Well, I can report first hand that the Craftsman Variable Temp Industrial Heat Gun works like a champ. Specs are 1500 watts, 2 different airflows ( 9.5 & 17.6 cfm), 6 LED's to indicate temperature (120, 210, 360, 650, 850, 1050 F), 30 oz. with 10 ft. cord. The temp is changed via a large round dial on the back of the gun. Instead of using a dog bowl I used a 2 quart stainless bowl that looks sort of like a fondue pot. It has 2 handles, one on each side. (Thankfully - that bowl got damned hot) The depth is 3.5 in., max width 6.75 in. and top opening size is 6 in. I used one cup of beans and roasted at 650 until the end of first crack, then speeded up the roast by dialing up the temp to 850. First and second crack were clearly audible and quite distinct in their beginning and end. Total roast time 12 minutes. No stirring utensile used, except the tip of the heat gun periodically. This was outdoors in 40+F weather. Chaff flew everywhere, but none burned. Some tried to clog the air intakes on the heatgun, but the air slots are too narrow for the large chaff bits to get inside the gun. I cancelled my preorder for the Hearthware I-Roast today.
heatgunroast Senior Member Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 360 Location: NYC Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Dalla Corte Grinder: Mazzer Mini; Zass, Baratza... Vac Pot: Royal Balance Brewer (wanna... Drip: Various press and pour-overs Roaster: Heatgun, Dogbowl
Posted Thu Feb 5, 2004, 4:23pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
mearleg Said:
Well, I can report first hand that the Craftsman Variable Temp Industrial Heat Gun works like a champ. Specs are 1500 watts, 2 different airflows ( 9.5 & 17.6 cfm), 6 LED's to indicate temperature (120, 210, 360, 650, 850, 1050 F), 30 oz. with 10 ft. cord. The temp is changed via a large round dial on the back of the gun. Mearle
Interesting. Great flexibility in the gun. Hard to communicate without comparisons, but what can you say about the feel of the weight, the noise, and vibration? High CFM with the 850 heat should cause less concern for beans getting a too-high surface temp with the gun tip submerged. Trying to keep an open mind, but still can't feel comfortable without stirring. Seems like when I get enough cfm to adequately move the beans, I either blow them out of control or dissipate the heat. The Sivitz gun arrangement is more popper-like with beans falling back.
Even many months after I'd been hg roasting, I pre-ordered the I-Roast almost as soon as it was announced. The logic? Finally, here's a roaster that promises to give me almost all of the control I have with the heatgun. Duh! Canceled the order after sitting with that logic for 2 wks. Martin
Posted Thu Feb 5, 2004, 5:20pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
Boy, both the heatgun and the roasting vessel sound cool. Did you buy the roasting vessel at a particular place? It almost sounds like a tiny stockpot, and I cannot recall coming across something like that before. I am quite the kitchen geek, so I am fairly familiar with cookware.
mearleg Senior Member Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 57 Location: Tumwater, WA Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Nuova Simonelli Oscar Grinder: Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: French Press Roaster: S/S Fondue Pot/Heat Gun
Posted Thu Feb 5, 2004, 7:09pm Subject: Re: Which Heat Gun?
The pot was found a a Good Will thrift store for $2.00 The Craftsman air gun is remarkable easy to handle and is not at all loud - unlike my wife's hair dryer. That thing drives crazy; I have to yell across the house to get her to shut the bathroom door when she runs the thing. I may suggest she use this new airgun on her hair and save our hearing. Anyway a couple of pictures are attached.
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