Welcome to the CoffeeCrew forum for registered users. - feel free to make yourself at home. This forum is dedicated to coffee and espresso based issues.
Forum spammers, link referrers, link placement, scam artists, confidence artists, crooks and obvious commercial shilling is discouraged. Violation of this one simple rule will result in you and your immediate geographical region being banned from the site so do not post ads or links to your site here unless approved by me! Violators of this one simple rule will find their firm, employer, and your pitiful self invoiced $1000 per violation of this simple rule. Enjoy!
The coffeecrew guestbook and forum has been alive for more than 10 years! Please consider it your one-stop resource for finding out about all things coffee, espresso, specialty coffee and all associated gear and equipment.
We welcome long posts - there is no word limit in fact. Keep in mind that you can only type for 15 to 20 minutes in the forum-post submit window (session timeout)- so consider composing your posts or responses in a text editor - then cut and paste! Thank you and enjoy the forums!
Re:do NOT fear the roaster ! - 2007/06/26 10:37colin wrote: Coffee is at or near the flash-point when it is nearing completion. It is not a case of if, but when.
I think the flash point of coffee is 492 F whereas my roaster has a maximum temperature of 482 F. If the machine is properly maintained (ie. chaff removed, etc.) and properly used (ie. not unattended, etc.) I don't see why or even how a fire would occur. Are you really saying that fires from a high end home roaster like the HotTop or GeneCafe are "not a case of if, but when"? In my research I haven't encountered this view before.
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
java
User Junior Barista
Posts: 6
Karma: 7
Re:do NOT fear the roaster ! - 2007/06/27 19:05I cannot speak to the home roaster, I do know that professionally speaking roaster fires happen. When i attended a roaster maintenance workshop in May, roaster fires was a topic of in-depth discussion. Roaster fires happen, it just a fact. Having your roaster well maintained will be key in cutting down your risk. Smaill fires can happen, and almost go unnoticed. Distractions happen....Be prepared...Be aware...Knowledge is a good thing
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
caffiend
User Senior Barista
Posts: 27
Karma: 5
Re:do NOT fear the roaster ! - 2007/06/28 12:35Are you really saying that fires from a high end home roaster like the HotTop or GeneCafe are "not a case of if, but when"
DUring the second roast ever in my Gene Cafe, I had a chaff fire that started in the roasting cylinder and proceeded ino the chaff collector. There were flames and everything. Fortunately I was watching intently and was able to stop the roast ASAP and dump out the smoldering beans/chaff prior to any permanent harm to the Gene Cafe or anything else (save the wasted ashen coffee). To this day, the steel chaff screen on the roast chamber is tinted black/brown. However, the ABS plastic and steel the machine is made from seems quite chaff-fire resistant (moderate chaff fires anyway).
The fire was due to my own inexperience (trying to roast just a little too much of a particularly chaff-laden bean at once.
The moral of the story: If you are unsure of how "chaffy" the beans are, err on the side of caution and roast less.
That said, the event of a chaff fire definitley does not spell imminent doom, given a couple of minor precautions (ie, making sure there is a place to dump fiery ex-coffee and perhaps and oven mit to cover the task of handling an extremely over-heated roasting cylinder safely). I've had worse fires in the kitchen over the years from cooking.
So go ahead and roast away. Just don't let your six-year-old do it unsupervised...
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
colin
Admin Admin
Posts: 773
Karma: 19
Re:do NOT fear the roaster ! - 2007/06/28 13:21caffiend wrote:
During the second roast ever in my Gene Cafe, I had a chaff fire that started in the roasting cylinder and proceeded into the chaff collector. There were flames and everything. Fortunately I was watching intently and was able to stop the roast ASAP and dump out the smoldering beans/chaff prior to any permanent harm to the Gene Cafe or anything else
Thank you for that. Again, I do not want to leave everyone with the impression that roasting coffee at home is a totally bad idea - it's not. I just need everyone to know the inherent hazards that they do not come after me when something goes haywire.
The bottom line is - roasting coffee generates smoke, chaff and heat... lots of heat. And we all know what they say about smoke. A home roaster must have several things: -Ventilation -A method of chaff removal or filtration -A dry fire extinguisher suited to a kitchen fire that is rated for electrical fires. The tiny baby-bottle sized units are useless. You must get one that can combat any fire for a minimum of at least 15 seconds, ideally more.
I have roasted several hundred pounds of coffee without incident - I have not (to the best of my knowledge) been close to flash-point with my roasts.
Be prepared.Colin is the Senior editor and creator of the CoffeeCrew.Com Website
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
CAmper
Visitor
Re:do NOT fear the roaster ! - 2007/07/16 21:12caffiend wrote:
The fire was due to my own inexperience (trying to roast just a little too much of a particularly chaff-laden bean at once.
The moral of the story: If you are unsure of how "chaffy" the beans are, err on the side of caution and roast less.
I think I recall seeing that in the manual!
| | Forum posting/replies are available to registered users.
You need to keep in mind the actual number of people that still buy espresso pre-ground and in (shield your eyes!) brick packs!
Yes, it is pretty nasty ass - but this is what people do.
I have s...
For espresso I'd even say an hour is WAY too long. It should go from the grinder to the pf. After 30 seconds I consider my espresso old and dump it. There's just too many chemical changes happening...
GROUND coffee is fresh for about an hour.
Ditch the pre-ground coffee and grind it yourself.
Your espresso is never going to be right if you use pre-ground.
Sad reality....
Milano claims one of the only 11 bean blends for espresso. Colin, any tasting thoughts on their beans? The opening claims live music and 7 different blends to taste from 3 full bars running! The machi...
yes the espresso is preground, but in the store in front of me. I keep it in an airtight container (mason jar) I don't think I'm getting the same taste from my stovetop machine. I'm hoping that some u...
Vancouver's first Espresso tasting lounge and cafe ...
Really?
And the Elysian Room, JJ Bean or 49th Parallel are not espresso tasting lounges too? ;-)
Looking fwd to this newbie....
Even Winnipeg is entering the realm of better coffee - Good thing. When you think about those cold winter days and bracing winds; nothing warms you up like a great cup of coffee....
Any operating instructions for any similar pump powered espresso machine will get you in the groove - other than the placement of buttons, they are all the same.
I have a Proteo Grande right here o...
