Quick Home Coffee Roaster Comparison Chart
I
hope this quick comparison chart is useful. If you are selecting
a roast method for the first time, read all the additional information on each
of the appliance's
dedicated pages (follow the link). And Maria wrote something about choosing a
roaster here. My
hope
is
to
inspire
you
to
roast
your own coffee, not to sell you the fanciest roaster ...in fact, the priciest
model
(the
HotTop) is not good as a first-time roaster. Our most popular roaster is the Hearthware
iRoast 2. The FreshRoast is
a
fair price for a dedicated roasting appliance, but you can't beat the price of
a hot air popcorn popper! (Especially if you already have one in the cupboard
someplace). Check out our Roast Curve Comparison
page though it is a bit dated. I listed the green batch size and the corresponding roasted coffee produced. I am assuming an 15% weight loss - which is at the top end - a dark roast. With a lighter roast you can expect more like 12% weight loss. Also - be sure to see the Pictorial Guide to the Roast Process page - as it describes the roasting process you will see in any roaster. Tom
And I wrote something about the predicament of having very few of the popular small air roasters in stock for the holidays - check that out. Maria 11/16/09
|
Name |
Price |
Batch Size (by weight of green coffee) |
Roast Time |
Size LxWxH | Waranty/Life Expectancy |
Controls |
Roast Type: Heating Source |
Major Positive Features |
Major Negative Features |
Name |
HotTop KN8828-Programmable |
$920 | 9 oz/255 grams |
15 to 17 min. | 20" x 10" x 15" | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/parts availability from Hottopusa.com | Roast time, temperature, fan speed and heater power can be changed during the roast - profiles can be saved and replayed | Electric heating element in drum area. Perforated metal drum with vanes to move coffee. 110v/750 watts | Control features are very advanced, built in line voltage control, color LCD display, beans cool outside the drum for quick cooling, upgradable to Programmable model, very solid supportand out of warranty parts availability to keep the machine working for years. | Expensive | HotTop KN8828-Programmable |
| HotTop KN8828-Basic |
$720 | 9 oz/255 grams
|
15 to 17 min. | 20" x 10" x 15" | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/parts availability from Hottopusa.com | Roast time, temperature, fan speed and heater power can be changed during the roast | Electric heating element in drum area. Perforated metal drum with vanes to move coffee. 110v/750 watts | Control features are very advanced, built in line voltage control, color LCD display, beans cool outside the drum for quick cooling, upgradable to Programmable model, very solid supportand out of warranty parts availability to keep the machine working for years. | Expensive | HotTop KN8828-Basic |
| $495 | 8 oz/ 230 grams (=6.8 oz./190 grams roasted) | 15-20 minutes | 19 x 10 x 9 | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/the machine came out in May 2006 - so still too soon to really judge | analog; two control knobs for temperature and time | Convection, off-axis mechanical drum agitation. Roast combines better body of drum roasting with brightness of air roasting 110v, 1300 watts | The roast is easy to observe, and the controls make it easy to modify; change the roast time or roast temperature any time you like, and as much as you like. It features an oversized chaff collector that can deal with the most chaff-laden coffees. | Cooling is not as rapid or as effective as in HotTop. You need to stop roasts a tad short of where you want it to end up. Fairly new machine, introduced to US market April 2006 | Gene Cafe Drum Roaster |
|
Behmor 1600  |
$299 |
4 oz, 8 oz, or 16 oz/113, 230,or 460 grams(=3.4, 6.8, or 13.60/96, 190, or 390 grams roasted) | varies by weight | 17.5 x 12.5 x 10.5 | 1 year manufacturer's warranty | 4 pre-programmed roast times, 5 power level profiles | mesh drum in chamber with quart halogen heating element 120v, 60 hrz, 1630 watts | Only home machine that actually does roast a full pound, affordable price, some smoke reduction, self-cleaning cycle | Limited use for dark roasts beyond 20 seconds into second crack, not for use with small beans and heavily chaffed coffees, limited visibility | Behmor 1600 |
|
|
$179.99 | 5 to 6 oz/170grams (= 5./145 roasted) | 8-15 minutes | 12" x 7" dia. | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/ about 2 years* | digital with 2 pre-set profiles and up to 10 user-programable profiles, count-down timer | Fluid Bed Air Roaster: Electric Element, automated thermal roast control. 110v Note- not fully fluid bed - "fountain" agitation pattern aided by roast chamber central column |
LIke the i-Roast 1, the machine roasts very evenly. They made the programmable 5 stage roast "profiles" savable, and improved the fit of the chaff collector. Basically this is the i-Roast 1.02 - an improvement over the first generation. | Some problems with the i-Roast 1 were not addressed - namely, user interface could be better, programming could be easier, chaff collector should be bigger. Still not perfect, but better! Like other air roasters, roast can be much effected by ambient air temp. and voltage |
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|
|
$159 | 4 oz/ 90 grams (=3.5 oz/78 grams roasted) | 4-8 minutes | 11.5" x 7" dia | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/ about 2 years* | dial to adjust fan adjust fan speed. switch to set heat at high/,medium/low, digital timer | Fluid Bed Air Roaster: Electric Element, some control over heat and air flow, manual, not programmable |
Quietest air roaster, Roast easily visible, |
Roast not terribly even in first stages, best results obtained by manual stirring. Controls on heat and air flow are basic but serviceable. Some coasting as beans cool in the roast chamber. Like other air roasters, roast can be much effected by ambient air temp. and voltage |
|
|
|
$109 | 4 oz/ 90 grams (=3.5 oz/78 grams roasted) | 4-8 minutes | 11.5" x 7" dia | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/ about 2 years* | digital timer, no control over heat or air flow | Fluid Bed Air Roaster: Electric Element, no control over roast profile |
Quietest air roaster, Roast easily visible, |
Roast not terribly even in first stages, best results obtained by manual stirring. Only control is over length of roast. Some coasting as beans cool in the roast chamber. Like other air roasters, roast can be much effected by ambient air temp. and voltage |
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|
|
$149 | 4 oz/ 110 grams (=3.4 oz/95 grams roasted) | 18-30 minutes | 12" x 7" x 12" | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/ about 2 years* | digital: roast setting numbers | Screw-drive agitator in glass chamber -convective/conductive roast, no roast profile 110v |
Smoke-neutralizing catalytic converter is very effective, agitator very effective, innovative design, quiet. It produces a full bodied roast. It is very good for targeting lighter City roasts |
It produces a full bodied roast, but there is a middle range of the cup profile that is missing in the darker roasts, Full City+ and darker. The extreme delay between 1st and second crack and the ineffective cooling cycle might be the problem. This machine was formerly known as the Zach and Dany's roaster |
|
Stainless Steel Popper  |
$38.40 | 8 oz+, 225+ grams (= 6.8 oz/190 grams roasted) | 10+ minutes | 17" x 9" dia x 8" | No warranty/ you may need to make some adjustments to adgitator blades - but ought to last a long time | No timer | 100% Conduction roasting with manual agitation | Inexpensive way to roast 1/2 lb of coffee. | Fully manual, standing at the stove and cranking for 10+ minutes: no cooling, just a tad dangerous. More uneven roast results and more difficult (i.e. easier to have bad results) than other methods. Cranks can wear out over time, especially if you roast over a flame that is too hot. Keep roast temperature moderate and shoot for a 7-9 minute City roast. | Stainless Steel
Popper |
Stovetop Popcorn Popper (Whirley Pop)
|
$26.50 | 8 oz+, 225+ grams (= 6.8 oz/190 grams roasted) | 10+ minutes | 17.5" x 9" dia x 8" | No warranty/ |
No timer | 100% Conduction roasting with manual agitation | Inexpensive way to roast 1/2 lb of coffee. | Fully manual, standing at the stove and cranking for 10+ minutes: no cooling, just a tad dangerous. More uneven roast results and more difficult (i.e. easier to have bad results) than other methods. Cranks can wear out over time, especially if you roast over a flame that is too hot. Keep roast temperature moderate and shoot for a 7-9 minute City roast. | Stovetop Popcorn Popper (Whirley Pop)
|
Air Popcorn Popper (see our Coffee Library Page)
|
$14 new at K-Mart, $2 at Thrift Stores | 3 oz/ 85 grams (=2.55 oz/72 grams roasted)(Original Poppe (= ry is 110 grams) | 7+ minutes | No warranty/ using the popper for coffee roasting runs the machine longer than for popcorn, but a good popper can last years, even a trip or two to the thrift store |
No timer | Fluid bed, very fluid...110v, wattage varies from model to model | Inexpensive! Even roast, good cup results that rate with the dedicated roast appliances. Modifications possible (at your own risk). Yes, you CAN start roasting for next to nothing! | Fully manual, no cooling, just a tad dangerous -plastic hood gets hot and can melt a bit. Be sure you use the right type of popper! (see our Coffee Library Page) Like other air roasters, roast can be much effected by ambient air temp. and voltage | Air Popcorn Popper (see our Coffee Library Page)
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Your Own Home-Built Roaster
|
? | 1/2 to 5 Lbs! | 7-20 minutes | No warranty/ depends on how well you make |
It's Up To You | Build a homemade drum for your Barbecue | Roast a LOT of coffee! Depending on your skills, you could get near professional results either roasting by experience and intuition, or by getting high-tech |
We have a page with photos and links for Home Made Home Roasters! The downsides are also up to you and your design ... but there's quite a few people on our HomeRoast List doing this, and the best web sites of our home-roasting customers are Ed Needham's Homeroaster.com and Jim Gundlach's. Charlie Herlihy has a brick oven design, there's a BBQ roaster video by North Sullivan (AKA: JKG), and Doug Cadmus displays his version of the grill roaster. |
Your Own Home-Built BBQ Roaster
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$143 | 4.8 oz, approx. 136 grams | 6-14 minutes | 1 year manufacturer's warranty/some models were great and lasted a long time, others were duds and failed early (a big reason we don't sell them anymore) | manual spring-wound roast timer. roast setting numbers, with on-off switch | Fluid Bed Air Roaster -not as fluid as other methods -some roasting is conductive.: Electric Element, no "roast curve"110 v | Roasts evenly, over a wide range of roasts. Sturdy construction. Easy roast visibility. Larger batch size than Hearthware -but don't overload it! | Small and hard-to-clean chaff collector. Machine has the roast chamber built in, so the machine has to cool before you can dump out the beans, making it a bit hard to stop a roast, but not a major drawback. |
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| Aeroroast | $250 | 1 Lb. | 50 minutes!!! | Timer | Drum roaster like the Alpenrost | Roasts 1 Lb | Bakes coffee! This is not a roaster it is a coffee baker. It is built off a chasis for a Rottisserie electric oven - not really made to be a home roaster at all. | Aeroroast | ||
| Diedrich IR 12 K | $17000 | 24 Lbs Green | 9-18 minutes | Nearly infinite life span, plenty of parts available, like an old VW | No dial | Convective and conductive heat | Larger batch size, even roast, very controllable | Okay, this is not a home roaster, but since I have one and cup all the roasts versus the Diedrich, I thought I would toss it in the mix... | Diedrich IR 12 K |
