Developing profiles with Hottop roasters
Many of our customers use the Hottop roaster with Artisan connection (KN-8828B-2K+) as sample roaster to create profiles. It is important to you to have a drum roaster that behaves very similar to the production roaster in order to use the developed profiles in production as well. Since they work with 250 gram loads when working out the roasting profiles, the process only costs a few kilos of green coffee instead of having to use many kilos of green coffee (possibly even a considerable part of a microlot) to find the right profile.
Consistency and control
The strength of the Hottop roaster lies in the simple and very precise control of the roaster. The energy supply can be adjusted in 100 steps at any time during roasting, the airflow in 10 steps - simply by turning a switch on the roaster itself or in Artisan.
Two thermocouples record the temperature - one for the bean temperature and a second for the ambient temperature. Especially the curve of the bean temperature can be easily transferred to a production roaster and is very similar to the curve of a large drum roaster. It can also be used as a template for a PID controller.
Drum roaster with Artisan connection
The Hottop roaster is designed as a drum roaster. You can roast between 100 grams and 300 grams of coffee with this machine. 250 grams is about the 80% charge, which you probably also use in the production roaster. This means for you that you don't have to risk more kilo loads when working out the profiles, but in the worst case you have to dispose of a few 250 gram loads until you have found the perfect profile for your bean.
The roaster can be connected directly to Artisan via a USB port. This allows the curves to be fully documented (bean temperature, ambient temperature, rate of rise, roast development time %, energy supply, ventilation,...). You can also control the roaster directly from Artisan, set alarms or even perform a PID control.
The Artisan connection is twice as valuable for you if you are already working with Artisan in production anyway, as the bean temperature curve is similar to that of a large drum roaster.
Electric and gas
The Hottop roaster works with electricity. You can simply take the roaster with you and use it wherever a normal 230V plug is available. This gives you the flexibility to take the roaster with you to coffee producers or retailers, for example, or to develop the profiles directly with your customers.
The electric heating element is a bit slower than gas, so you usually change the temperature about 15-30 seconds earlier with a hot top than with a gas-operated roaster.
More questions? We're here for you.
Do you have any further questions about the roaster? I'm a trained roaster and a member of the Specialty Coffee Association and the Roasters Guild of Europe, working with the machine every day. Please contact me at any time.
Telephone +41 76 261 97 17 or Email ingo[at]roastrebels.com