Jun
13
Lee Fike - Cooler Review
In 2010 I had the desire to open a coffee bean business and in pursuit of that I of course needed the tools and turned to "RK" for those tools. I purchased the 6# drum roaster kit and the "RK cooler". Of course for the cooler I had to wait I try to be a patient person but I bugged Shane I'm sure, Shane is great to deal with and I finally got the "RK cooler".
You probably have heard of the saying: "good things come to those who wait". Let me tell you it was worth the wait. Before getting this cooler I was trying to cool 2# or so of coffee with a oblong shape strainer and a mop bucket using compressed air to cool the beans. the chaff would fly every where, good thing I have a good size back yard, in addition to that problem it was just a pain to do and I was only doing 2# of coffee. There was no way that I was going to try to do 6# of coffee that way.
When I unpacked the "RK cooler"
I was impressed by the quality of the unit and I now have had this unit for a year doing about 6# of coffee twice a week and this cooler is well worth it. To be able to remove the drum roaster from the BBQ and empty it in the "RK cooler" and the beans are cool within 50 sec to the touch I will still leave it running and rub the bean between my hands to get the more chaff off. But I now have to best of both worlds it cools the beans very quickly and I don't have chaff blowing everywhere. Sure its not cheap but for a small business like myself it fits my needs.
In a way I'm glad its not cheap because in alot of ways you get what you pay for. In using this I never have experienced any problems it sits outside covered under the eve of my house next to my coffee roaster bbq and I only have ten rust spots and that is where the wheel mounts attach to to stainless drum and where other spot welds are. I live in the central valley of california where is gets alot of damp fog in the winter. I can probably get rid of those rust spots by rubbing with steel wool and then clear coating it or just by waxing it.
If you are roasting a pound or more of coffee a week I would definitely consider the "RK cooler" is sure saves time, clutter (of having to drag out several different things to get the cooling done) and it is just plain convenient.
