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This Sonofresco roaster (also known as Syd & Jerry's or Coffee Kinetics) has some minor scratches/dents and doesn't come with a roasting chamber. The price for these roasters has fluctuated wildly from various vendors going for $1,495 and up. It has 9 pre-set roast profiles which are set by selecting 1 thru 9 but you'll likely only use numbers 4, 5, 6 or 7 which produce roasts from a light cinnamon to full city. It does about a pound of coffee in 20 to 30 minutes (depending on roast level, bean type and ambient air temp). So, this machine is great for home hobby roasters who don t need to worry about perfect consistency, aren t "tweaking" their roast levels and are used to the flavors produced by the hot air process ( Fluid Bed ) which works like a popcorn popper. As a matter of fact, it works exactly like the little Westbend Popcorn Poppers by blowing hot air through the beans. Since the heat transfer rate from fluid beds are slower than traditional drum type roasters, everything s a little different. Due to the thermal transfer characteristics of fluid bed units they are best used with large, high moisture content bean types. (the moisture aids in transferring the heat to the center of the beans). Without the moisture you get a bean that s torched on the outside and raw in the middle. It's for this reason that fluid bed roasters don't work well for doing darker roasts, decaf beans, lower moisture content beans or small beans like Tanzanian Peaberry, etc. On an environmental note, these units don t have afterburners to control pollution. And since nearly all of the heat generated is blown straight through the exhaust, they re obviously not as efficient and use a lot more fuel than a traditional drum roaster (up to 10 times more fuel per lb). Not a big deal for a hobby roaster doing a few pounds a week but it should be well noted for those who plan on doing more. It comes with a chafe collector (the metal part above the roasting chamber). The operator takes it off after each roast, disassembles the pieces, cleans the screen and fins with a metal brush then empties the chafe out into a garbage can. Manually dealing with the chafe is a messy business so having a dedicated shop vac will help the in the process. It measures about 12" wide by 24" deep by 28" high and weighs about 60lbs. As other owners of these units know all too well, all the glass roasting chambers break very easily and they re extremely expensive, a losing combination! We broke the first one while doing a test roast and the other one (as pictured) got cracked shortly after the pics were taken while cleaning so whoever takes it will have to purchase a couple new ones. (It s obviously a good idea to have one as an emergency backup for when breakage occurs). ***If you want to save some pretty serious cash on the roasting chambers, people replace them with bottomless #10 tin cans to permanently end the glass breakage problems. It works perfectly and saves a bundle! Other than breaking chambers, the key to maintenance and longevity with these roasters is religiously cleaning the thermo coupler, chafe collector, roast chamber and chafe screen after each roast. Eventually you'll need to have someone replace the blower motor, clean the blower fins, replace the gas valve or some other parts but the machine itself is extremely basic. The normal wearable/user replaceable parts are the thermo coupler $75, regulator $20 (propane models), chafe collector assembly $65, control module $150, chafe screen $25 and roast chambers $150. (Sonofresco / coffee kinetics 1LB coffee roaster was posted and is owned by: Marta Alexander) |
M_Alexander@chicagopartsnetwork.com (Marta Alexander) for more information.
