
Hello, Ron:
Just to let you know that I finally got my cooling stand put together, burned in the drum and did my first roast this evening on the patio. I was concerned about being able to hear the cracks (coming from using an iRoast2 that was an issue for me). I had my wife standing by to make sure I didn't miss the sounds. I needn't have worried. The sounds of First Crack were loud enough to be heard on the other side of the back yard. I backed the temp off a bit and let her coast. The first time trying to control the temperature is kind of like trying to back up an 18-wheeler but we managed just fine. I was going to pull at the first sign of 2nd crack and I overshot a few seconds but oh, well. The cooling stand worked great and for the maiden voyage of my RK Drum, I am very pleased. The rest will come with experience.
Thank you, Ron. We're off and running. Now if I could only find someplace I could lay my hands on some more of that Brazil Fazenda Ipanema "Dulce" that Tom and Maria had!! A number of my friends just rave about that one and I have only a small amount left. I'll know better next time to lay in a good supply when I find a great bean like that one. Of course, SM has many great beans.
George Steinert
Sacramento, CA
Got the new clip, and pop riveted it on. Must have taken me all of 2 minutes!
Just completed roasting 20 pounds of various beans, and I LOVE the new clip!!!!
No more fiddling around with the pin, just pop it out, flip the clip, dump the beans, and on to the next batch.
As you mentioned in your review, a bit less noise, and much faster turnaround times between roasts.
Still regret not going with the 6 pound drum.
Best Wishes,
Jay Michels
Just finished roasting a 9 lb batch of Nicaragua Dipilto... It was flawless!!!! Thx again!!!
Only 31 pounds to go;)
The roast is perfectly even throughout the entire batch... Fabulous!
My first 5lb roast was all over the place, but I leveled the drum (not the BBQ), and it came out perfect
Justin Collins
I owe you a big thankyou for your advice Shane! That drum is really starting to work for me. Some time in the future I will have to send you a documented time and temperature profile on what is working for me with that srum. One of the bigger hurdles is the barbeque. It doesn't regulate it's heat very well but I have put a bank of 4 thermometers on the front of my barbeque that I use to moniter the heat. This helps me keep an even roast along the full length of that long drum. Your suggestion of preheating the barbeque to 600 has really helped, I also am preheating the drum a little. What really has helped is the times that you projected for me. When I followed those times I started learning when the second crack was happening. this has made the difference. -Jason
Your drum is awesome! I just roasted my first batch of beans on my new
RK drum and they came out great. I feel like a kid at Christmas! Oh
yeah, it is Christmas and this is my present to myself! I roasted 1 1/4
pound on my first try and chose a bean that I do not really care for so
that it did not matter what happened. My grill did a great job of
getting to temp fast and I was able to maintain temps even in the 45
degree weather with a little breeze blowing. I hit first crack at 9:11,
cranked back the heat some and