alsterling Senior Member Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 649 Location: Dana Point, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale S1 (Had Expo) Grinder: Macap M4 & Gaggia MDF Vac Pot: Not yet... Drip: Capresso MT-500 & Melitta... Roaster: Hottop Digital
Posted Sun Aug 24, 2008, 8:18am Subject: Hottop "Bean Load Point"
So it's been about 2 years of roasting Malabar Gold and Emerald Mist...and various SO's. When I mentioned to Dr. John that my MBG beans went into the Hottop at 150 degrees or so, and then got dumped around 3 to minutes left on the time...he felt I might be "baking the beans", not roasting them.
So here's what I started doing for the Malabar and all other roasts. I hear the 21 minute load warning when the roaster hits around that 150 F mark, and then the drum starts running. I don't put the beans in at "that start point per the manual".......I let the roaster continue until the countdown timer hits the 18 minute or 16 minute mark, depending on the size of the roast. By the time I'm at 18 minutes, the roaster is hotter, and the time the beans are in the roaster is shortened.
I'm in a routine, it works, but I'm wondering at a technical level as to what I'm doing and if there's a better method, without electrically modifying the unit? I never spent the time to "break into the board", so to speak. Maybe because I don't have the bench time or "think (?)" I have room to improve the roast. What am I missing...........if anything?
JGG Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 547 Location: Kentucky, US Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: PID Silvia; PID Alexia Grinder: Mazzer Mini E (A), SJ; Rocky... Roaster: Hottop D w/PID; Thermometric...
Posted Sun Aug 24, 2008, 4:56pm Subject: Re: Hottop "Bean Load Point"
The 150F indication might be a little misleading. On my Hottop D, the environmental temperature probe that I added reads over 300F when the alarm goes beep-beep (at around 165F on the Hottop readout). I am currently waiting until the temp hits 350F on my sensor before dropping the beans. This is usually a little over a minute from the alarm.
The sensor on the Hottop has a lot of lag, probably because it is not thermally isolated from the back wall of the roasting chamber.
alsterling Senior Member Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 649 Location: Dana Point, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La Spaziale S1 (Had Expo) Grinder: Macap M4 & Gaggia MDF Vac Pot: Not yet... Drip: Capresso MT-500 & Melitta... Roaster: Hottop Digital
Posted Sun Aug 24, 2008, 5:36pm Subject: Re: Hottop "Bean Load Point"
OK Jim. So what you're saying is that you too wait to load the drum. I've always regarded the digital temp readout as a relative value. And a couple years ago, not long after getting the roaster, I spoke with Ikecafe on the forum and over the phone regarding his mods. I just never took the time, because I was committed to other areas of specialty coffee. Even with the background and tools, the closest I got to temperature testing was to buy a thermalcouple meter at Harbor Freight Tools. But even with that, and doing some tests on the brewing temp of my S1, I quickly lost interest, as I was satisfied with the results of my brewing. I guess I've relaxed a bit and just roast and brew to taste. But I do respect the quantitative guidelines. So with the Hottop, I was hopeing that through "dumb luck", maybe I'm where I should be?
Do you think anyone dumps the beans into the unit at the 21 minute point? When I put them in, even at 18, I manytimes on a 255 gram load will "just make the 2nd crack + 15 seconds or so. My great fear is not reaching 2nd crack, and running out of time and ruining the roast. I could never figure out why the Hottop didn't have a "bump" button for repeated 1 minute adds beyond their 21 minutes?
JGG Senior Member Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 547 Location: Kentucky, US Expertise: I like coffee
Espresso: PID Silvia; PID Alexia Grinder: Mazzer Mini E (A), SJ; Rocky... Roaster: Hottop D w/PID; Thermometric...
Posted Sun Aug 24, 2008, 6:25pm Subject: Re: Hottop "Bean Load Point"
Hi, Al -
Yes, I wait for the environmental temp to read 350F now. I am still on the steep part of the learning curve when it comes to roasting, so I may yet find that a higher (or lower) temperature works better. So far, the 350F entry point seems to be OK. (This may not apply directly to your situation, though, since I use an external temperature controller for the heater in my Hottop).
Installing a temperature probe in the Hottop is really not that hard to do. Randy Glass has a nice solution posted on his site (www.espressomyespresso.com) for a bean mass probe.
And there have been several posts here on CG and on H-B showing good ways to mount a sensor through the rear wall of the roasting chamber. Since you already have a thermometer, adding a probe in the roasting chamber seems like it might be reasonable next step. I find that being able to see both the bean mass temp and the environmental temp is very helpful in pinning down roast profiles.
My D model timer can be bumped, BTW. When the timer is down below 30 seconds, you can hit the "plus" button and add extra minutes (not sure what the maximum bump is, but I think I added 2 once).
"Do you think anyone dumps the beans into the unit at the 21 minute point? When I put them in, even at 18, I manytimes on a 255 gram load will "just make the 2nd crack + 15 seconds or so. My great fear is not reaching 2nd crack, and running out of time and ruining the roast. I could never figure out why the Hottop didn't have a "bump" button for repeated 1 minute adds beyond their 21 minutes?"
Hi Al- I got the 8828P model several months ago. (not sure what model you have, but they are all upgradable on the hottopusa.com website). Sad to say, but I have not really ventured into the programming modes, as of yet. However, I noticed in the owners manual (page 31) that when using the "manual control" module, you can shut off the internal heating element, and extend the time between the first and second crack. About 8-10 pops into first crack, I lower the temp bar down about 3-4 notches. This shuts the internal heating element off, and extends the start to finish time of the first crack (depending on the bean). First crack usually happens somewhere around the next to last segment. After about 2 minutes, I increase the temp level (using the "+" button). Then I just wait for the second crack to start, before choosing an ejection point for the cooling cycle. If the machine is running out of time (beeping), I hit the plus button (as Jim stated above), until I reach the desired level of roast.
At this point, I suppose the reason I do not spend a great deal of time using the programming function is because I have yet to build up my supply of favorite beans; which would allow me to basically run the same profile repeatedly. Even then, this seems to be somewhat of a risk due to ambient air temp, humidity levels, etc. Also, with you being in SoCal area, I heard that maintaining constant voltage levels can be an issue with coffee roasters. A friend of mine purchased a Variac Voltage Regulator that he said fixes the problem.
Symbols: = New Posts since your last visit = No New Posts since last visit = Newest post
Forum Rules: No profanity, illegal acts or personal attacks will be tolerated in these discussion boards. No commercial posting of any nature will be tolerated; only private sales by private individuals, in the "Buy and Sell" forum. No cross posting allowed - do not post your topic to more than one forum, nor repost a topic to the same forum. Who Can Read The Forum? Anyone can read posts in these discussion boards. Who Can Post New Topics? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post new topics. Who Can Post Replies? Any registered CoffeeGeek member can post replies. Can Photos be posted? Anyone can post photos in their new topics or replies. Who can change or delete posts? Any CoffeeGeek member can edit their own posts. Only moderators can delete posts. Probationary Period: If you are a new signup for CoffeeGeek, you cannot promote, endorse, criticise or otherwise post an unsolicited endorsement for any company, product or service in your first five postings.
= No New Posts since last visit 