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Looking for heat gun alternative
frankvw
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Posted on 04/17/2021 4:16 AM
Hi everyone!

I've been roasting, on and off, for almost ten years now. I started with an unmodified popcorn popper. It worked fine, until it burned out after a few months. The next popcorn popper had an over-temperature safety, which prevented the air from getting hot enough to roast the beans.

Then I switched to an electric heat gun, roasting the beans in a stainless steel pot (pointing the heat gun at the beans to direct the hot air through the pot). This works well, except the heat gun is also struggling: the back pressure impedes air flow through the barrel which triggers the over-temperature safety every now and then. I'm struggling to get my roast into the second crackle.

Of course neither popcorn poppers nor heat guns were designed for this sort of thing. So I'm looking for something better. I've seen a number of fluid bed roaster designs, all based on heat guns. Gas powered roasters tend to be drum roasters. The only gas powered fluid bed roaster design I've seen is the amazing contraption by RoasterRob, but from the photos I'm not entirely sure I can build it. Are there drawings available somewhere? Also, RoasterRob seems quite competent at engineering while I'm not that good at it.

I'm thinking more along the lines of a gas powered heat gun: a smaller, hand-held replacement for the electric heat gun. I've seen commercial gas-powered heat guns but only very small ones, working off a tiny gas cartridge and intended to heat shrink tubing on electrical wiring, so that will be completely insufficient.

So I'm looking for design suggestions. I'm thinking of using the blower salvaged from an old electric heat gun, and a blow torch or something like that.

Does anyone have ideas on how to construct such a beast?

Tnx!

// FvW
 
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renatoa
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Posted on 04/17/2021 6:06 AM
Welcome !

Try a turbo oven (halogen) lid setup, there is a dedicated subforum here:
https://homeroast...rum_id=136

Also, using a hotgun you can build a machine like Dieckman Roestmeister, with bigger basket, up to 500g maybe.
On mine, when power is 100% I can go even up to 450 C degrees for short time, and there is no safety trip.
I am limiting usually the power in the 65% ballpark, to have 300 C at gun exit and roast the right way 300 grams, the capacity of the factory basket.

LE: You can find such build here:
https://homeroast...ad_id=1025
As a side note, the title is a bit misleading, making this valuable thread rarely appear in searches, because imo there is nothing hybrid in that design, the mesh basket is not a real drum, used for heat transfer, as in drum roaster... such design it's a hot air roaster with mechanical agitation, same as a bread machine/flour sifter/etc.
Edited by renatoa on 04/17/2021 6:19 AM
 
frankvw
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Posted on 04/17/2021 7:20 AM

Quote

renatoa wrote:
Welcome !
Try a turbo oven (halogen) lid setup, there is a dedicated subforum here: [...]


Hmmm... ThumbsUp Not what I had in mind, but worth looking at! I'll see what I can find here. Such gadgetry is not in abundant supply here in South Africa, but there should be something on the market somewhere.

That said, I'm still thinking about gas, also because the electricity supply here is becoming increasingly unreliable.

Tnx!
 
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snwcmpr
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Posted on 04/17/2021 3:54 PM
Does this help?
https://homeroast...ad_id=3174
--------------
Backwoods Roaster
"I wish I could taste as well as I wish I could roast."

As Abraham Lincoln said "Do not trust everything you read on the internet".
 
Koffee Kosmo
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Posted on 04/17/2021 8:15 PM

Quote

frankvw wrote:

Quote

renatoa wrote:
Welcome !
Try a turbo oven (halogen) lid setup, there is a dedicated subforum here: [...]


Hmmm... ThumbsUp Not what I had in mind, but worth looking at! I'll see what I can find here. Such gadgetry is not in abundant supply here in South Africa, but there should be something on the market somewhere.

That said, I'm still thinking about gas, also because the electricity supply here is becoming increasingly unreliable.

Tnx!


I sold a KKTO that I built, to mad keen coffee lover in South Africa
So far I have approx 18 variations on the turbo roaster build - and yes I have a design that can work with gas as a heat source, but it?s more for commercial use

I suppose it can be scaled down but it?s a build that needs a high degree of manufacturing skills

???????-
Now to something that I?m sure you will have easy access to
Use an old but smaller gas BBQ and manufacture a drum for it
Connect it to a motor and you have a large capacity roaster

Long live Sugarman in South Africa ( Yes I have the Cold Fact LP )
KK
I home roast and I like it. Designer of the KKTO
Roaster Build information
https://homeroast...ad_id=1142

https://docs.goog...lide=id.i0
Blog - http://koffeekosm...gspot.com/

Bezzera Strega, Mazzer Robur Grinder, Pullman Tamper Convex,
(KKTO) Turbo Oven Home Roaster.
 
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frankvw
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Posted on 04/20/2021 4:22 AM

Quote

snwcmpr wrote:
Does this help?
https://homeroast...ad_id=3174


Yes it does!! Thank you!!
 
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frankvw
Top  #7 Print Post
Posted on 04/20/2021 4:28 AM

Quote

Koffee Kosmo wrote:
Now to something that I?m sure you will have easy access to
Use an old but smaller gas BBQ and manufacture a drum for it
Connect it to a motor and you have a large capacity roaster
Long live Sugarman in South Africa ( Yes I have the Cold Fact LP )
KK


I'm looking into that as well. I've done some experiments on the weekend with open pan roasting which, unsurprisingly, did not go all that well since it relies on conduction only to heat the beans, so I ended up with a mix of under-roasted and burnt beans, but I do see what people mean when they talk about differences in aroma between fluid bed roasted beans and drum roasted beans. Still a little iffy about the burnt husks that I'm not used to) but I'm sure I'll work that out.

I'm totally with you on the Sugarman thing, BTW! Grin
 
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