Simple, easy, and it works

I've only been using mine for a few days now, but it's every bit as easy as I've read elsewhere, and mine hasn't even produced hardly any smoke. I haven't gone as far as a super-oily roast yet, so I'm sure that's why. But I've got several small jars of varyingly dark beans and they all smell great.

This thing really does not roast much in one session. Depending on how you make coffee you're looking at 1-3 pots at most from a single roast (I get two pots and have a tiny bit of leftover beans). But it's so easy to use this thing, even despite the recommended cooldown period between roasts, that I've been using it every day, so I've got no shortage of roasted beans to try.

Biggest disadvantage I've found so far is the urge to spend lots of money on green coffee bean samplers.

[Friday, November 17, 2006]

Best I've found so far... as long as you have ventilation!

I bought my husband one of these for a present in Christmas 2004. He is a total coffee addict and had been making all kinds of sounds like he needed a roaster. O got him this one because it seemed the cheapest and easiest to figure out. He figured out how it worked pretty easily and it didn't take long before he had figured out all the different "cracks" and which beans needed to go how dark. He has used this thing daily, sometimes even 2-3 times every single day, to make his own coffee in the morning, at night, he brings his own to make it at work, for friends, you name it. We went on vacation (road trip vacation) and it came with us. Twice. It hasn't burned out yet but the plastic top thing has come apart and it's kind of hobbling its way through. If there was a nontoxic epoxy that would stand the heat that I trusted, we would use it and carry on, but I think it's about time for a new one.

Pros - you can see the beans, it's very reliable, ours like I said has not burned out yet even after all the use its gotten. It makes really good coffee (I don't roast it but I do drink it).

Cons - it doesn't make enough, at least not enough for us. Now hubby wants to roast half a pound or more at once. Also, it gets very smoky. I love the smell of the coffee, but even with two commercial range hoods going in the kitchen (no exaggeration, one 36" 1200 CFM and one 60" 1800 CFM), the smoke detector on the first floor goes off. Before we had vent hoods we had to open up all the doors and windows and stand in front of the alarm waving a towel like some demented toreador. Drove the pooch nuts. But still - I'm going to buy this same one again because we like it, how it works and the coffee it makes.

[Tuesday, March 21, 2006]

Great when it works

I purchased this roaster, the FreshRoast Plus, a little over a year ago. In that year I used it roughly every two days and after a bit of a rough start had no problem getting just the roast I wanted. Thats not to say that you can just turn the dial and get the same roast each time. Slightly different amounts of beans or different types could require 2 to 3 minutes less to roast often because the first crack was so exothermic that it caused a very rapid second crack. Still, with some experience and good timing the variables were easy to adjust for.
Unfortunately, just days after the 1 year warranty expired, the fan on the roaster started making strange noises and a couple roasts later a small flame shot through the center of the roaster. Only being able to get a year's worth of roasting and risking a major fire in the process more than outweigh the initial savings. I have since bought an I-Roast as a replacement. It roasts more at one shot but is much louder and smokier.

[Friday, February 17, 2006]

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