Half pound capacity was a big draw for me. I wanted to roast at home, but not every day as some of the smaller roasters would require.
Negative Product Points
Can‘t visually see the roast and aren‘t supposed to lift the lid during a roast. If you can‘t peek, then your roast timing needs to be right. This takes experience to get the timing right since you can‘t see the roast. Get a good stopwatch or electronic timer.
Detailed Commentary
Purchased via Sweet Maria‘s for $270 including 8-1/2lb samples of green beans. If you are totally new to roasting on the Alp, spend some time educating yourself about roasting priciples to gain maximum satisfaction with this product.
I had zero experience, burned my first batch of beans by simply following the directions and thought the unit was defective. Depending upon how you like your roasted beans, the default setting of 8 as suggested in the instructions could royally over-roast your first batch.
With this unit, you must learn to listen for 1st crack and add time from there dpending upon how dark you like the roast. Don‘t place too much stock in the "settings" on the AlpenRost. They are simply a gauge of total roast time and you may find (as I did) that you will need to manually press the "cool" button at the point your roast is complete. If you are looking for a "set and forget" roasting solution, this is not the solution for you. For that matter, most home roasters require attention and possible intervention in the roast.
Don‘t kid yourself about needing adequate venting for the smoke wit the AlpenRost. This baby can easily fog your home if you don‘t have a very strong vent fan of some type. Also, home roasting smoke is pungent and the odor can hang around for several days.
Once you get used to roasting on the AlpenRost, it is a breeze and fun to use.
