****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
First time roasting Coffee Beans... I spent time setting up charts, reading books, studying online information and fretting over making this first foray, a success. Bought green coffee beans online from known and certified independent farms in Brazil (will be buying individually from around the world as I go). Guess what? After all that, the cooling appliance I also bought didn't work, so I set up a contraption including a perforated pizza pan over a small fan, with window screening, and it worked! More importantly, I intuitively used my eyes to determine the perfect time to stop the roast. I can't take all the credit because the beans clearly had a role in the "smooth as glass" taste. This Coffee Bean Roaster did everything it needed to do, and very well! If you are going to roast Arabica beans, expect chaff to build up on the underside of the lid, and thankfully so, as I prefer it stuck there over it running around with those perfect beans. For a newbee such as me, this is the perfect investment. I wanted to get this review up and online, but will surely follow-up with images.Pros: Mostly well built; Has smart feature like mixing arms are spinning after the timer shuts off the heater/ This prevents burning and makes for nice cooling; two simple nobs make it easy to set; provided an extra rubber nut for legs in case you lose one.Basically, it does the job, though you have to experiment to figure out settings.Cons: The spinning arms are so stiff that I couldn't adjust them. The mechanism that holds them is flimsy. Because of this, it drags the beans and isn't mixing them as good as it should resulting in uneven roasting;Hard to set temperature or time precisely, have to eyeball between coarse scale.The motor picks direction randomly, clock- or counter-clock which makes a difference in how it shuffles beans. It picks 4 ot of 5 times correctly. If it does incorrectly, just turn the switch off-on once or twice. Not a big deal, but for the price it could have been designed better (I am an electrical engineer and know what I am talking about).YOU MUST TAKE IN ACCOUNT THAT IT CONTINUES ROASTING FOR 5-6 MINUTES AFTER THE TIMER SHUTS OFF.My last successful setting was Temp=230 degrees (It's in Celsius for those who never heard of it), 25 minute, 3/4lb of raw beansThis is my third unit (not this brand but similar manufacture). The heating element went out in both previous units in less than one year. Stirring never-to-be heated cold beans is really depressing after spending over $100 a unit. My theory is that's easy to burn out the unit by overheating it (says so in the instructions buried somewhere too). It has an emergency shut off switch, but this is like gassing it for a toothy yellow light turning red in an intersection- better not to go there, stay safe in the first place.Two hints that I think may help save the heating unit: leave the cover off and don't turn it to high heat until the last few minutes (about 3/4 on the dial seems to work best for the remaining time). If you really want that shiny black, super dark roast, maybe do it in two runs (after a cool down)? Multiple roasts does not affect taste or the caffeine level according to the literature I've seen.Otherwise, no more than two cups green beans at a time, turn on and enjoy. I have done about ten runs so far on this unit and it is working great so far (fibers crossed). I am thinking good thoughts and hope the third time is my charm (coffee roasting unit). There is always the protection plan too should you be so inclined!El producto lo utilize para tostar caféGreat coffee roaster. Keeps the beans moving. But it goes faster than I need. You'll have to listen closely for first crack as it's a little loud with the beans moving so fast.I roast green coffee beans. This is the easiest way to do it and it makes a very flavorful coffee.Las aspas no están bien diseñadas y los granos de café se atoran lo cual hace que se pare el motor...
