Posted Sun Jul 25, 2004, 3:08pm Subject: RK Drum Newbie
IJust ordered an RK Drum today.Can anyone using this setup give me a list of equipment I will need to have on hand so I'll be ready to get started as soon as it arives.
IJust ordered an RK Drum today.Can anyone using this setup give me a list of equipment I will need to have on hand so I'll be ready to get started as soon as it arives.
- BBQ Grill - gas for bbq - rotisserie rod - motor of some kind - some way to mount the motor on the side of the bbq - some way to connect the rotisserie rod to the motor - the best high-temperature gloves you can afford - some way of cooling the roasted beans - thermometer - beans
optionally - scales - valve bags
A look at my windscreen wiper bbq motor page will give you some ideas. Quite a lot of US based drum roasters use places like McMaster-Carr and use proper quick-release connectors and mains powered motors.
Maybe I'm slow, but handling a 260 degree C drum for 10-20 seconds in welders gloves was not pleasant. I got some kevlar foundry gloves off eBay. I'd recommend you look at Zetex gloves.
One thing I struggled with initially is heat. If you've got a thermometer in the top of the bbq lid, you can pretty much ignore it. I ended up getting a decent thermometer and drilling a hole through the grill lid. This gave me a much closer approximation of the bean temperature. Oh, and the temperature you set the grill to will depend on the weight of beans you roast. A small roast = cooler, large roast = hotter.
Good choice on the drum...I went through buzz and it was a nitemare. I got what looks to be the same motor that RK guy uses from surpluscenter.com...its a 57 rpm gear motor($21) its pretty stout and has nice threaded mounting holes on the front which I mounted to some heavy angle brackets I got at the hardware store. They make drive couplings and I got both halves of mine and the star that locks them together for $15...the nice thing about these are the fact that you can pull the drum off of the BBQ without too much problem and not having to fuss with unbolting anything from the motor...and when you want to roast again....the coupling just slides back together...to rest the "spit" on ( I didn't use a BBQ spit...I used some threaded rod) I drilled some holes in on either side of the BBQ and then used Kindorff (its the stuff they hang stuff from the ceiling in industrial apps) the Kindorff has holes already in it...so I cut two pieces to lenth and then cut the the ends of the holes out to make U shaped places for the spit...these were bolted into the holes drilled into the side of the BBQ. If you want more info on how I did mine I will try and get you some pictures...all in all it took me about 3 hours to get mine up and running...half of that was running back and forth to the hardware store.
George - I've now got two RK Drums and love them! One other thing you'll need is a good flashlight, to peer into the drum to check the color of the beans. That way you don't have to pull out the drum, open it and look to see if they're where you want them. Good luck!
Hi, I got my buzzroaster in and found that I have lost my rotisserie spit. So I'm planning to use a 3/8" threaded rod. Does it matter whether it's stainless steel or zinc?
Rawman the Expobarbarian.. AKA the Original Jon R.
Hi, I got my buzzroaster in and found that I have lost my rotisserie spit. So I'm planning to use a 3/8" threaded rod. Does it matter whether it's stainless steel or zinc?
Use stainless steel (unless you need extra zinc in your diet and you don't mind having slightly metal-flavored beans). Zinc has a much lower melting temperature than steel or stainless steel and it's much more likely to wear off in the heat.
In addition to the equipment list above, I would add needle nose pliers. It's a royal pain to have to remove that cotter pin from the door while wearing welding gloves.
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