Here is the new coffee roaster. I have been using it for months, but it is better than ever because I modified it over the weekend a little. The gem is the one on the left of the picture. It is a WestBend "Poppery" air air popcorn popper from the 80s. These things have a cult-like following among coffee roasters. If they are the Caddy of roasters, then I just pimped mine out.

The first thing I had to do was raise the thermostat temperature by backing the thermostat screw out a bit. It did not get nearly hot enough for a good roast. Then I split the power into two parts: fan motor and heat coil. Each is on one plug, but that is because it was the fast and easy things to do. The heat coil is hooked through the switch into the wall. The fan is hooked in through an X10 lamp dimmer module, so I can control the fan speed. This adds a ton of control to the roasting process. You need a lot of air at the beginning of the roast when the beans are dense...and they need time to dry out before the temperature gets really high. Toward the end of the roast, the beans are large and light, having expanded and lost their moisture--and they should be exposed to a higher temperature than at the beginning. So decreasing the fan speed once the beans are mid-roast is a big help. Anyway, independent control of the fan and heat rocks.

Stop by for some coffee. I am really excited about using the machine, but I am overcaffeinated!