Converted to an Original Poppery

[jgbutler]

Mad Dawg and Spiny Norman got me hooked on fresh roast and fresh roasting years ago...............:lots ocoffee:....

After they both bombed me with bags of roasted goodness and I tasted true coffee for the first time I was hooked for life. I had bought a cheap blade grinder and a french press but had no roaster. I picked up a Poppery II on eBay for cheap and was all set for starting my latest obsession! That Poppery II has lasted me about 8 years roasting once to twice a week and is still going strong. I got to thinking the other day while roasting a batch what would I do if my faithful popper was to give out.

What I did was hop out on eBay again, watch a few Original Poppery's sell to see what they were going for and then finally put a bid in on one. Wound up paying more than I wished I had.....BUT....after roasting about 5-6 batches through it I'm real glad I did! I do have some comments though as well as questions for you guys that also use the Original Poppery.

My Poppery II would have beans to first crack in 3 minutes and hitting second crack usually around 5.5 to 6 minutes. Through all of the batches so far in the Original, first crack starts around 4.5 to 5 minutes and second crack doesn't come around until close to 9 minutes. I know the new popper is a higher wattage so I figured the times would at least stay close to what the Poppery II was producing. The only thing I think is probably affecting the time is the sheer force of the fan and air circulation. The beans are tumbling hard as soon as the power comes on where in the II they would move but not tumble big time until the heat had lightened the beans some.

Could that be the reasons for the times being extended?
What kind of timelines do you guys see with yours?
Could the heater just be weak or possibly the thermostat just set to low?

Just curious to see what you all have to say.

I will say that the roast it is turning out is a much better roast than I was getting with the Poppery II. All of the batches so far (Konga, Bob O' Link, Nic Maragogype and Ethiopian Yirg Chelektu) have been amazingly better coming from the new popper. The flavors and nuances that made the beans special seem to be stepped up another notch completely! The Konga has been much much better and the Nic is like drinking a completely different coffee than it tasted coming out of the Poppery II. Not sure what is causing the rise in taste quality in the cup but I'm liking it!!

[big ben]

Originally Posted by jgbutler

The only thing I think is probably affecting the time is the sheer force of the fan and air circulation.

This is exactly the reason.

In just a few roasts with my PopperyII I have noticed the volume of beans greatly affect the roast times. Not nearly as so with the Original Poppery.

The OP can handle 1/2 to 3/4 cup with little difference in roast times or speed at which the beans spin.
The Poppery II took forever to reach second crack with 1/2 cup or less, but if I add enough to where they were barely spinning second crack came on too quick,about 6 min.

Mark

[BigJohn]

On that note, I'm in love with the behmore... love. Did three roasts today. Dam good coffee!

[jgbutler]

I figured that was probably the reason Mark but I was just wondering what you guys had to allow. I had read posts from Doug and others about slowing first crack down and with this popper the time to finish first crack is much more extended than with my Poppery II. That might be what is generating the much better taste and subtleties in beans.

Originally Posted by bigjohn

On that note, I'm in love with the behmore... love. Did three roasts today. Dam good coffee!

I like my Behmor as well John but the only time I really use it is in the winter when it's just to cold to roast with the Poppery. To me the Poppery just produces a more superb roast and better tasting press of coffee. I'm kind of the same way about my french press, that's what I started with and still using daily. I've tried drip makers, even bought a Technivorm, but nothing matches the cup of coffee that comes from my press!

[gumby]

I find that with my Poppery the first batch takes about the times you mentioned and then subsequent batches roast much quicker and with a shorter time between forst and second crack. I've just assumed that it was due to the heat generated by the prior batches.

[Mad Dawg]

Congrats on the acquisition, James.

Poppery II to Original Poppery is an apples-to-oranges comparison. They are utterly different machines, in many different ways.

The problem I've run into with the Poppery IIs I've used is that some will never get beans into second crack, others will charcoal them in under 4 minutes. I've never, ever seen that in an OP.

Nine minutes to second crack is about right for ambient temps in the low 40's, James. Summer months, temps in the low 90's, I'll go about half that. Once you get it dialed in, you'll find the time-temperature correlation to be very consistent.

The OP has a thermostat, but I've never monkeyed with them in mine. Three reasons for that. First, you have to pretty much tear the thing all the way apart to get to it as it's attached to the heating element, which is all the way underneath the fan. Second, I've never had to, because the heat has always been right where it needed to be to get the job done. Third, I have forgotten about roasts that I had going, more than a few times. After 45 minutes, you have little bean-shaped bits of charcoal, but what you don't have is a melted OP...or a fire.

One suggestion to get a faster roast: use more beans. I never weigh my roasts, I just fill the chamber on the OP to the top of the metal, plug it in, and slowly add beans until the circulation is very slow. As the beans lose mass (water weight), they'll speed up. More beans in the chamber to start with gets the heat up faster.

I think slowing first crack is going to prove to be very difficult in full summer if you're working with the standard OP rewire (fan on all the time, heater controlled with switch). I'm going to have to give the Variac a try. I'm also going to try the Variac in Colorado. I already know the roast goes way faster up there, probably because of the lower boiling point of water, so I'm going to need to drop the temp even farther.