Katherine Murray

Shane, got the roaster up and running this past weekend, did a burn in and
two batches on Sunday (1 pound and 2 pound) and then had to hurry off to
other things.  Last night i put the the roaster to work and roasted 15
pounds in about 2.5 hours!  however i had to take about  20 minutes to make
some adjustments to the rotisserie rod, it must have been off center because
it was clicking pretty loudly.  the largest batch i did was 3 pounds, wow i
am loving this thing already, and once i bump it up to 4 pounds things will
move much quicker.  give me a few weeks of using this and i will write a
complete review you can share with others, i went to bed last night feeling
great that i had roasted a weeks worth of orders in a little over 2 hours,
and the coffee was packaged, labeled and ready to go to the store, and i
don't have to think about it until next week.  Thanks for a great product
and excellent support.

My search for "larger quantity, more control" has ended. The smallish popper batches were getting bothersome. I tried HG/DB, but the gun I had did not move enough air and my roasts were flat. But, the quantity was nice.

Given the investment in a better gun, this would be a great method. But I
went for the RK drum.  It arrived today. I quickly cleaned, prepped and rushed to the gas grill 
to "burn" some UGH! My old Charbroil 3 RPM motor is pretty clunky, but I couldn't wait. I did order Ron's motor, but it is not ready to ship. I roasted 4 test batches of 150 gr. each; Ethiopian Harrar FC+, Java Estate Prince FC+, Guatemala Huehuetanango FC+ and SM Donkey V. I wanted the
Harrar at FC, but just wasn't quick enough getting the drum off and  emptied!
Practice! Practice!
 
 I am very happy with the roast control. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hear the cracks. Not a problem!! Now to let the coffee rest & taste!! My stash has been diminished by the simple capacity of the drum!! The drum is a work of industrial art! It is truly a pleasure to use!
 
 Cheers,
 Geary

It's been a week since I received and put together my new 6Lb DIY combo and in short, I'm thrilled!  I had a few small challenges with the installation but engineering the solutions was part of the fun.
With this 10 year old Weber grill, the square tubes were about 3/4 inch too low for the base plate-motor mount combo at the highest position so I cut a pair of 1x2 shims to sit between the base plate and the tubes and got some 3-inch bolts for the muffler clamps--just right!  The rotisserie cutouts in this grill were tiny and wanting to avoid using the Charbroil mounting brackets, I used my Dremel to cut those slots in the grill deep enough to accomodate some extra bearing-bushings that I bought at a grill parts supplier.  Now the rotisserie spit is strongly supported on each side of the grill and I think it makes the motor's job easier since the spit and drum aren't hanging on the coupler.  By the way, the motor , motor mount and baseplate is very well made and I especially appreciate the holes being pre-threaded for the electrical boxes.  I chose to mount an unswitched duplex outlet on the back position to give me a place to conveniently plug in a fan to blow on the motor when I start doing big long roast sessions.  To make the grill more efficient on gas, I blocked off about 70% of the rear vent with a piece of carpet threshold that fit perfectly and already had a slight bend which makes it press against the grill base nicely when the hood is closed.

Enough tech-stuff--forgive me, I'm an engineer--the drum is a work of art and the motor and mounts are terrific and the whole kit is well thought-out and it makes GREAT COFFEE!  I've done several roasts using your
suggested profile for 1lb batches and I'm getting the hang of it!  I will graduate to larger batches when I decide what kind of beans I want to order in quantity.  The only bad thing about this setup is that I want to roast all the time and you need lots of beans in your inventory to have all that fun!  The picture attached is Guatemala--Villa Herminia at a very even roast...delicious.

Thanks for your great products, and even more for your superb customer service!  Keep up the good work!

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

I bought one of Ron's drums years ago.   It is drum #7  .  Out of curiosity, do yo know (ballpark) how many of these have sold so far?

I checked on the "reviews and found an old post dated 2003. See below.

"This was a unsolicited post on Sweet Marias forum by Adam Jahiel on 11/2/03"

Just wanted to check in. My roaster has been sitting outside for close to 6? years now here in Wyoming, sometimes covered with snow and ice. Can't believe how well it has held up.

Adam Jahiel.

-Wyoming