Hottop Roast Experiences

[asfolks]

Sam, thanks for the profile in your original post! It made my first few roasts less intimidating and gave me a good starting point that I could take off from. The year I spent with the popper has been invaluable, but I'm glad I stepped up to the Hottop. My first few roasts have been great!

[Sam21]

Sam, thanks for the profile in your original post! It made my first few roasts less intimidating and gave me a good starting point that I could take off from. The year I spent with the popper has been invaluable, but I'm glad I stepped up to the Hottop. My first few roasts have been great!

I'm happy to hear that. Keeping it simple has been the key to my best roasts as simple is repeatable. Enjoy your Hottop!

That second roast of Pulcal where I delayed my drop to 50% power until first was fully active an about to slow is fantastic. Enjoying my first cup now and am amazed at how much more forward the orange acidity is in the cup. The finish is shorter and a bit drier and there is a lingering tang at th edges of the tongue. Comparing the roasts, the first roast which was around 30 seconds longer had a longer and deeper sweetness. The change in roasts came down to allowing the second roast to enter first crack at a faster speed and slowing it down a bit after first. That 30 second difference brought out a good deal more acidity and condensed the sweetness. I could have seen the first roast performing well in a press pot where as this roast is destined for pour over!

[Sam21]

The Pulcal roast above ended up being incredible in the Aeropress. I used Heart Roasters method and was in heaven. So juicy and sweet with bright orange acidity. I just used the same approach to roast the Ethiopian Kochere to City+. 2:15min of development time from start of first to end of roast - I hit 410 on my BT probe - for those without a BT probe, I dropped to 70 percent about 45 seconds before 1st crack, dropped to 50% at rolling first, and let it ride straight through to the end. This bean roasts a bit faster than the Pulcal, but the end roast was the same. I look forward to trying it in the V60 and Aeropress. I'm sure it would sing in the Kalita as well, but time will tell!

[Sam21]

Here is an update to my profile depending on desired roast level:

Drop beans in at 215 on display (~270BT)

100% power, no fan until end of drying. I run the fan on 100% for 30s as drying ends and then drop down to 50%

For a City, I drop the heat to P7 at 350ish (same BT as on display), then P5 a 30-60sec before 1st. This allows for a nice slow progression through 1st crack. If you still find the beans progressing quickly, you could try dropping to P3 at start of first.

For City+, I drop to P7 about 60 sec before first, drop to P5 as first starts, and let it develop for a short amount of time after first.

You can see where it goes from here. For darker roasts, wait to drop the heat until later. So, for a Full City I would likely go to P7 right before first begins, P5 as first ends, and right before second starts or at the first rouge crack. This is just what I do, but it has worked very well for me. I have never seen numbers on my added temp probes that would indicate a stall, so these general guidelines are safe for those using the HT display as a guide. For the record, 300 on the display and on my BT probe is about the same. The numbers are similar right up until first crack where the BT probe shows the temps continuing faster and higher than the display. They are definitely correlated to an extent, so they work as a guide for sure!

Happy roasting.

[asfolks]

Sam, thanks for the additional info. I was especially curious about the display temp versus the bt/et probe temps. I am considering installing the probes, but I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the information available on the topic. I'm enjoying the roaster so much that I'm hesitant to risk damaging it. Do you have any recommendation on placement or technique?

[Sam21]

Sam, thanks for the additional info. I was especially curious about the display temp versus the bt/et probe temps. I am considering installing the probes, but I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the information available on the topic. I'm enjoying the roaster so much that I'm hesitant to risk damaging it. Do you have any recommendation on placement or technique?

Hi asfolks,

It's my pleasure to share my experiences. The display and probes definitely correlate to an extent making the display a useful tool for repeatable results. Yes, there is A LOT of information our there on adding probes and much of it is very technical. I was back and forth on adding them through the back as well as through the bean chute. In the end I had an individual with much more know-how and the right tools to add the probes. Let me say that I was getting excellent results BEFORE adding the probes. Adding probes was not a solution for an issue or shortcoming with the roaster. Rather, I wanted to learn more about the roasting process and the actual temperatures of the beans in relation to the display, etc. 300 on the display/end of drying is almost identical on both. It's as the beans begin rolling through first that the display continues going up by 2 degrees and the beans are going much faster.

With that in mind, you can easily manipulate the controls to get a great roast using nothing but the factory controls and your senses. Your senses are definitely the most important tool that you have. Also, your first crack will likely be right around the same temp on the display every time, making the display even more useful.

I personally think that you can get equally great results from the machine without probes that you can with the probe for brewing roasts. There are also many that get great espresso roasts. Having probes just gives the user the upper hand at reacting to a much more dynamic temperature readout that goes up in tenths of a degree. If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of adding probes and are getting great roasts as is, stick with it! I only went for the probes because I had a fellow home roaster very close by who was more than willing to help me out!

I hope my post is not confusing to you. I love my probes, but am just trying to express that they are not necessary to get good coffee from the Hottop. Rather, they add another level of detail and data. If you have any questions at all feel free to PM me. I'm always happy to talk roasting and hand brewing.

Also, how has the Sakaro been? I've been window shopping and those two Ethiopian DPs look very enticing, as do the Centrals.

-Sam

[asfolks]

Sam,
To be clear, I am extremely happy with roasts I getting. It's more a desire for more information, more knowledge, more of all things coffee! I will probably hold what I've got for awhile, until I just can't stand it anymore. With this coffee obsession I am finding that usually comes sooner than later.
I only have one roast of the Sakaro under my belt, but it seems to compare favorably to some of the other Naturals floating around. I would put it in the "fruit bomb" category.
Between the Hottop and some new brewing techniques (the Tiamo "Wave" is the latest) and all of the great coffees available, my coffee addiction is in full swing.
Thanks again, Alan

[Sam21]

Sam,
To be clear, I am extremely happy with roasts I getting. It's more a desire for more information, more knowledge, more of all things coffee! I will probably hold what I've got for awhile, until I just can't stand it anymore. With this coffee obsession I am finding that usually comes sooner than later.
I only have one roast of the Sakaro under my belt, but it seems to compare favorably to some of the other Naturals floating around. I would put it in the "fruit bomb" category.
Between the Hottop and some new brewing techniques (the Tiamo "Wave" is the latest) and all of the great coffees available, my coffee addiction is in full swing.
Thanks again, Alan

You sound exactly like I did! That was exactly why I went forward with the probes. Outside of that mod, there are many others, but I've kept it as simple as I can and love what I roast. In watching the probes go in, I can say that a good cobalt drill bit did the trick and then files smoothed it out. JB weld is holding them in place along with some zip ties. For those with tool experience, it's a simple process, but there was no chance of me making it happen lol.

Enjoy the journey! You'll learn a lot with the Hottop using your senses, although you may have gained much of that through using a popper before that.

[Swosanity]

So finally I was able to do my first roast today. Roaster arrived day before having surgery so roasting has been on hold. I would like to thank Sam, et al for this informative thread.

I was previously using an i-roast 2 and upgraded to this roaster. Needless to say I have a steep learning curve.

But wow I have only completed 2 batches and I have exceeded my longest ever roast times. The beans look amazing and looking forward to tasting the results.

Again thanks for this thread.

[Sam21]

I'm so happy to hear that this thread has been useful to some. I tried explaining my personal approach (one of a million ways to approach roasting with the HT) in a way that was doable for everyone. While I do have added probes in my machine, it is actually pretty easy to communicate temperature based on what I now know about the display and actual bean temp. The display temp definitely gives an accurate reading, as it will be consistent batch to batch. Someone once described it as being consistently inconsistent in that it does not give you a bean temperature, but the various parts of the roast will always happen at the same general temps on the display depending on the bean.

I'm still roasting with the same approach, although I definitely don't roast as much as some here. I'm only on roast #48!