The FrogPad

Open Chat => Roasting => Topic started by: OuBallie on July 11, 2014, 10:40:53 AM

Title: Prima popper - modified
Post by: OuBallie on July 11, 2014, 10:40:53 AM
Hello everyone,
Thought I would post a link to the details of what I did to my Popper.
http://photobucket.com/albums/h322/Geoff_Halstead/Coffee

After being let down by a supplier, I realised that the only way to get consistent quality, and taste that suits me, was to roast my own.
The usual story of what turned into months of research, sourcing parts, stripping the popper, assembly, etc etc.
Burning out the 1amp PSU feeding the fan set me back whilst I searched for a more manly one, that turned out to be from a Laptop.

Did a couple of roasts on the stove, but electric hobs absolutely useless for heat control!
Then remembered I had a portable gas ring, and that was so much better.

I've now done seven roasts using the Prima, using six different kind of beans, and what a revelation it has been
Pun intended :-)
I use 100g green per roast, as any more would need a much higher fan speed, and I don't want to burn it out. That would really make my day.

I now decide on what I want!

Danny, you have produced a must-have App for us roasters.

Geoff - Experimenting every time I roast now.
Title: Re: Prima popper - modified
Post by: Danny Hall on July 11, 2014, 04:14:43 PM
Hi Geoff

You say "Months of research, sourcing parts, stripping the popper..."

I read "FUN!"

What a great setup, and the best part is you built it yourself. Now I want to go build something. I tend to burn my engineering creativity out in building the testing setups I use for Roastmaster's probe hardware, so my roasters are all pretty much stock, save for some creative dryer vent fittings, and thermocouples.

How long are your typical roasts? Just curious - the only popcorn roasting I've done is when I blew out my old Alpenröst, circa 2000, roasting back to back. You're right - stove hobs are awful. Even my gas ones were hard to control. I finally caved and replaced the thermal fuse so I could have good coffee again. :)

Thanks for sharing these photos - and for the kind words.
Title: Re: Prima popper - modified
Post by: OuBallie on July 11, 2014, 04:48:21 PM
Thanks for the compliments Danny.
The research was most interesting as you eluded to.

My roasting times have varied from 9'28" for 100g Kenyan Gatomboya I did this morning, stopping just into 2nd Crack, to 15min for Brazilian Fazendas Pantano Estate, but I didn't hear the 2nd Crack.
The fan noise is somewhat loud :-)
The shortest roast was 5min, and that was before I modified the popper.

Steep learning curve learning how temp effects flavour.
Beans have finished in colour from tan (City?) to nearly black and oily.
All, however, have been so much better than the bull manure available off the shelf from supermarkets.

It's been a well worthwhile project, just a pity I didn't do it years ago.
Next will be blending, as I do like Java/Mocha brew.

Interesting times ahead.

Geoff - NO summer this year again here in the UK. Cold, wet, overcast, so what's new? :-(
Title: Re: Prima popper - modified
Post by: Danny Hall on September 14, 2014, 12:48:12 AM
How's the popper running, Geoff?

This is one of the coolest mods I've ever seen. I just wanted to check back in and see how she is running.

Are your roasts still around the 10 minutes mark? I find myself roasting (what most would consider) short roast times on my Quest - 12 min. I've found, for my tastes, that with a good crack stretch I prefer short times for most beans - even for espresso, if taken a bit darker. I like the clarity it gives. Quite a contrast to that Alpenrost I mentioned, which would run for 23 or 24 minutes. Worked well for espresso, but I've become quite the fan of shorter roast times with the right profile.

Let me know how she is doing.