Choosing between Gene Cafe and Hot Top

[mldavis2]

Thanks for the replies so far. The jury is still out. Seems like owners learn their respective machines and stick with them. I'm in no hurry, so I'll continue to use my iRoast2 and soak up the comments on the others.

[germantown rob]

I've had my Gene Cafe for a couple of years, and other than replacing a CPU recently, it's been a great machine. The new machines have a CPU now which will tell you when you are at the one minute mark.

Besides the endless control you have with the time and temperature, there are two other points I can think of which makes the Gene Cafe a little better than the Hot Top. The first of course is the price (300 bucks difference at least), and the second is that big chaff collector which I attach a dryer exhaust duct and run it out my kitchen window. No coffee is too chaff heavy for this.

I have not worked with the Hot Top enough to make an accurate assessment, but I was impressed with it's construction and it's ability to quickly cool the beans. If you do not have a good ventilation though, you might want to consider the Gene Cafe or Behmor for alternative larger capacity home roasters.

It is really just a $235 difference between the Gene And the HT B.

The endless control on the Gene is at the mercy of a thermostat that has the heating element on or off. The HT B adjusts the wattage to the element from full power adjustable down by 10% a click to 0. This is a huge difference in the two machines and a very good reason to mod the Gene. The HT is very good at cooling and isn't that the next important thing after the roasting itself?

The HT and the quest M3 are the closet things you can get to a commercial roaster but I agree that the Gene has many advantages for smoke control (the quest as well) and really the simplicity of just a single temp knob is rather nice. There are exhaust mods that can be done to the hottop but it will always be slightly smokey.

I will never say not to buy the Gene but I won't stand by and let it be said that the Gene is Better then the Hottop. That is like saying the HT is better then the Toper Cafemino or the Diedrich IR-1 because it is thousands of dollars less and can do the basic same thing.

Just another rant...People spend much more money on their espresso setups then they will on their roaster, this makes no sense to me. Why drink inferior roasts in the best brew equipment.

Sorry for the ranting.

[mldavis2]

No offense, I don't 'do' espresso. Too expensive to get set up, wasteful of precious coffee throwing out 'sink shots.' My roasting is drip, FP and Aeropress. Price is not really an issue. I'll continue to lurk. Thanks for the feedback. All opinions are welcome.

[Homebrewer]

Has anybody used the default roast setting that comes with the Hot Top?
What level of roast did it take you to before dumping the beans?

[RiverDog]

I suggest reading the manual for the Hottop B and P. http://www.sweetmariascoffee.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=808&p=3992#p3992

This may be the best way to see the difference of the 2 models. I also made my decision after reading many posts at CG from experienced HT owners which changed my mind from spending more on the P to getting the B. There is one poster (I can't remember who but I trust what they said) at HB that has the P and loves it for it's ability to have involved profiles that can be created before a roast which means you have to know what you are trying to achieve.

FYI it is not just the control panel that is part of an upgrade from the B to a P but the main circuit board as well for a cost of $420, at least that is how I understand it.

If you are upgrading from one of the original Hottops then you must buy both the panel and the main circuit board, but if you have the B model then all you need is the control panel to upgrade to a P. Good luck with your new roaster, whichever one you end up with!

[Voripteth]

Has anybody used the default roast setting that comes with the Hot Top?
What level of roast did it take you to before dumping the beans?

The furthest I've gone with the default setting is two minutes before the end. At that point I was into second crack and wanted to stop the roast before I got charcoal. My guess is I'd end up with a very dark French roast if I let it go to the end.