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Date: 11 Nov 2006 00:42:24
From: stereoplegic
Subject: SC/TO + cooling in one unit
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sorry in advance for the long intro, just wanted to give a little b/g
before i get to the point.
ok, so i started off w/ a white poppery ii w/ clear top, got ok roasts
w/ a few that were really good (esp guat. san marcos finca maria elisa
mix of city+/light full city with french, and bolivia organic peaberry
de montana full city...wow!), but thanks to the wealth of info online
(mcKoffee, jeff mielke, felix dial, many others), i got the mod bug
something fierce. my pii has hex screws, so i opted for a salton and
followed mielke's plans (mostly; used two black and one white ext cord
female ends on ctrl box and same male ends on salton to keep
interchangeability but w/ color coding & no DIN plug
bottleneck/hazard). also, plastic top on salton started to melt on
first run (fan's much stronger than my pii) so i just did a batch w/ an
extra long chimney i made from a can of scrubbing bubbles (i know,
toxic, but it's a perfect fit and i washed it extra thoroughly after
cutting open). extended this batch to 4oz from my usual 3 and it
struggled to get moving-clipped my 8" large-dial thermometer on the top
rim-probably blocked too much airflow, but i didn't want to ruin my
super tall, perfect fit chimney by hammering (no drill) a hole for the
thermo (guess i'll have to for the results i want from it though).
lucked into a 1400w popcorn pumper ($3.99) and perfect-fit glass
chimney ($.75) at local thrift stores (wish i had looked there before
hitting up ebay for my first 2 poppers). haven't hacked the pumper yet,
but my control box will soon have another dimmer and white female ext.
cord end for mcKoffee's variable ac fan controller mod.
now, getting to the point as promised, the mod bug has bitten me again.
at the store where i found the 1400w pumper, i also picked up a $1.99
stir crazy. bigger batches! that's what i want. i've done a lot of
reading up on the SC/TO, sounds like a fairly easy and fun mod. one
problem, though. cooling. worked out the control box on the air poppers
so i wouldn't have to do the old collander dump routine. the thrift
store where i found the poppers had mostly crap, but a few appliances
which caught my attn. two of said appliances were ice cream/frozen
yogurt makers.
my question is, how hard would it be (and how effective) to combine the
ic maker's cooling element with the sc's motor/stirring arms (and
obviously the TO's convection top, but that's been covered... also
obvious, i'd still have to remove said top to release heat/begin
cooling). any suggestions? has any one else done anything of the sort?
thanks in advance.
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Date: 20 Nov 2006 01:51:25
From: Chris Staley
Subject: Re: SC/TO + cooling in one unit
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On 11 Nov 2006 00:42:24 -0800, "stereoplegic" <stereoplegic@aim.com >
wrote:
> two of said appliances were ice cream/frozen
>yogurt makers.
>
>my question is, how hard would it be (and how effective) to combine the
>ic maker's cooling element with the sc's motor/stirring arms (and
>obviously the TO's convection top, but that's been covered... also
>obvious, i'd still have to remove said top to release heat/begin
>cooling). any suggestions? has any one else done anything of the sort?
>
>thanks in advance.
So these are the type of ice cream makers that weigh about 45 pounds,
and have built in compressors and freeze the bowl? Or is it the type
that has to be put in the freezer first? If it's the former, those
are really expensive units (and well worth having around the house for
making ice cream).
Regardless, I think that it wouldn't work. The best cooler for hot
beans is rapidly moving air. The heat itself has to go somewhere, and
that's best done with a medium that rapidly absorbs heat and pulls it
away. About the only way I think you could modify the SC/CO setup, is
to have a fan mounted underneath, much like the cooling tray of a
commercial roaster. Of course you would have to figure out having
holes in the base, and not loosing all your heat during roasting, etc.
etc. I haven't been paying much attention to roasting news lately,
so maybe someones already figured a way. But honestly I think it's
probably easier to just get used to dumping them in a colander, and
shaking it over a fan. Or build yourself a mesh box that goes over a
box fan. the thinner the layer of beans, the faster they cool.
Chris
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Date: 20 Nov 2006 20:22:50
From: IMAWriter
Subject: Re: SC/TO + cooling in one unit
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I "can't" type either
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Date: 20 Nov 2006 20:21:52
From: IMAWriter
Subject: Re: SC/TO + cooling in one unit
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Hi...I roast just under a # of beans in my CO/UFO (Salton)
combo....yields around 12oz by weight, give or take...with just a
simple 3 speed fan , colander placed on top, a little stirring, I have
cooled beans (barely, if even warm to the touch) in less than a
minute....in fact, I often stretch the process a wee bit, especially
when I'm roasting lighter (city +), just to let the bean roast itself a
touch...
Seems to me there is way to much Geeking about this...it's just dump
and cool...and the beans retain their proper moisture as well...I think
finding ways to monitor the temp of your roast is far more important
than searching for esoteric ways of cooling the final product. And, to
be truthful, I sort of like the old fashioned hands on stirring,
shaking thing...gets me in touch with my inner caffeine.
Rob(IMAWriter cause I cna't do anything else)Jason
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