Notes from the first four weeks with the Toastess tcp-388

[davecormier]

Well... I've roasted about forty batches of various beens (I got the 8 lb starter and have already gotten another order) with the TCP-388. It's been a great starter, but I'm hoping to upgrade. It sounds like it's having a heart attack everytime I start it up . Going to go wandering around my little city looking for used ones.

General setup

Get a big mouthed bowl. It spits chaff everywhere.
Put it on something that has some friction. It will run around a ceramic floor.
Get a glove, it's hot when you dump it out.
Use two bowls. One to catch the chaff, one to dump the beans in (collander better for dumping) it will spit out some seeds and not others (My brazillian diahmanta's fly all over the place)
Don't trust the time exactly, hang around it after 3.5 minutes

Roast time
I get to first crack in a little under 4 minutes THE FIRST TIME... and it then wanders out to second crack somewhere in the 5 1/2 minute range. The funny thing is, those times drop by about 30 seconds if i roast a second or third batch. When the machine is heated, it roasts quicker.

The arctic cold
I live on the east coast of canada, and have discovered that i can't get passed the first crack outside in the winter. If it's colder than about 5-10 degrees celcius (say 40 degrees) I get a few first cracks and then nothing. On my semi-heated front porch, which is more like 45-50 degrees, it pops just fine. And, of course, anywhere warmer than that.

The melting lid
My lid melts anytime i move out to Full City. Anything before that, the lid doesn't melt.

Proper amount of seeds
I've experimented a fair deal with the amount of seeds it can take. The best guess is a little under a butter dish and a half or just above the line that is in the inside of the tcp-388

Hope that's useful to someone!

[Derek]

Very useful, thanks!
(we do get occasional Toastess-specific questions for sure)

[renfros]

I just received my Toastess and started my first few batches. Roasted in kitchen, outside its 10 degrees F.
Placed popper in kitchen sink, side by side. It followed the instructions/guidelines from Tom, etc. Started with room temp popper,
added 80grams Sumatra Mandheling.
Went 5:25 to hear first crack
6:30 to hear faint 2nd
Probably concentrating on listening more than anything

2nd roast - 15 minutes after 1st roast
84grams Sumatra Mandheling
really had trouble hearing first crack maybe 6:00 min
let it keep going until 8:00 no burning smell other then maybe new popper
figured this could be the first full city-vienna roast

3rd roast 15 minute after 2nd roast
75 grams Sumatra Mandheling
warmed up popper for 45 seconds before adding beans
first crack 4:17 sec
second crack 5:05
stopped roast at 5:30 go just beyond full city

notes I think warming helped
less seemed to allow first crack to be more noticed
second crack was really hard to hear, trying to determine if you can tell by looks of bean while roasting
maybe not concentrate on 2nd and find different way to guage

letting sit, will check out tonight.

[bfris]

I'm on my second Toastess TCP-388. Amazon sells them for about $20. To get free shipping you have to find something else to get you to the $25 threshold.

I destroyed the first one by trying to hot rod it. To get the price down, they don't come with power switches. Also, it's nice to add a second switch to one of the heating elements. When you turn off the heating element, the fan starts to cool the coffee. No colanders or cookie sheets. Sweet.

But the case on this thing is too small to fit a beefy switch (you need one if you want to handle 1200 Watts!) and I think I shorted out the switch.

So I bought Number Two. I'm using it unmodded so far. Well almost. This one I had to hotwire to disable the thermal switch. Once you get into the case, disabling the switch is pretty easy. But you'll need at least one jeweler's screwdriver (or maybe a safety pin) to pry off the small metal tab in the switch. When this tab heats up, I think it expands less than the rest of the arm, and causes the switch to open and heat to be cut.

To open up the case, you need to get off these funky triangle head screws. I used a small triangular file that I ground down a little to get it into the screw head. No fun. I replaced them with philips head screws.

Clear plastic lid isn't looking so good. I'm not sure if it will last long. But if it fails, I'll either patch it up somehow (maybe silicone) or go to a soup can chimney.

[JPDyson]

As an alternative to the soup can, you can usually get one from an oil lamp pretty cheap (and it's transparent, as long as it's clean).

[jfutral]

Boy. My Toastess must have just been a fluke. Or maybe it is because I am in the South. I've never been able to get a roast to go longer than 4 minutes. Sometimes the 1st and 2nd crack over lap, it seems. The pops end and I already hear the snaps of second crack. The only beans that did have a noticeable separation of 1st and 2nd was a Kona and an Ethiopian.

I've had to adjust my technique to pauses and stir in the early roasting to get it to 6+ minutes before the second crack. Better tastes, but my roasts are still uneven when I pause the roast.

You can get replacement tops for about $7 from Fox International in Ohio. Part number TCP388-4, if I am reading my order form right. I ended up just cutting the melted louvers/slats off and putting 1/4" hardware cloth in its place. That also helped slow the roast times by about 30 seconds.

I ordered a Poppery II to see if it does much better. I'm debating a Nesco, or just go al out (at least for my wallet) with a Behmor. but that is down the road a bit, yet.

Joe

[jamie]

I rodded my toastess. (see in hot rod board)

I find it gets way too hot.

But from the sounds of it, some may come out of the box super hot, and some may come out too cool.

I roast 80 grams every time for consistency.

So I'll either have to dim down the heater with a PID, or upgrade the fan to roast a greater capacity.