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Friday, 18 May 2012
Hello All,
I just wanted to take a moment and explain to you my experiences with the RK Drum. I am currently using a Fiesta 36,000BTU setup. I also have Ron's Gear motor setup as well. I must tell you that the combined setup does extremely well. I have now probably roasted two 70 Kilo sacks of coffee through the RK Drum and I always get consistent reliable results. The coffee always cups very nicely and my customers are pleased. I am actually starting out as a roaster and found the entry level costs on roasters to be quite prohibitive. I would recommend this solution to anyone. Due to our increasing volume, I am thinking about building another setup. The only drawbacks I can think of is that it is slightly cumbersome removing the pin from the drum door when it's hot and you're trying to cool the roast in a hurry. However; it only takes a couple of roasts to get the hang of it and you can usually pull the roast, get the pin out and get it into the cooling tray within about 10 seconds. As to construction, the drum is really a very fine piece of work. Not a single complaint on its reliability or sturdiness or design. It really should last a lifetime. Highly recommended!
Shane Lewis
Old Spanish Main Coffee Company
Flowery Branch, GA
Craig Jensen:
(Posted at www.coffeegeek.com)
I have been looking at coffee roasters for well over a year, but have been disappointed by the current options. Basically, most of the current crop of home-use roasters (with possibly the exception of the Behmor) seem somewhat flaky and poorly constructed. I looked at more than a few of them, and they just didn't seem likely to last out the year. It seemed to be stretching things to pay the amount of money that many cost if I wouldn't get that much use out of them. Also, all of the posts about voltage problems in houses with these roasters had me pretty alarmed. I read posts about people needing variacs and line voltage problems with the roasters, and that combined with the construction problems I had seen were just too much of a red flag. So I put off getting any of the roasters.
But then I noticed www.rkdrums.com and it seemed like a very good solution. The drums looked well built and unlikely to fall apart in a year. Also, since it used a propane grill, no worries about voltage issues. My only concern with rkdrums was assembling the thing. This was solved very easily though when Shane Lewis (see buying experience below for more details) agreed to assemble one for me.
I have done 6 roasts with the unit so far, and that seems to be enough at least to get a review started I think. Using the unit is very easy:
Just roasted a pound of that Colombian peaberry you sent with my order (thanks btw :) ) .....this roaster rocks!!! I am still waiting for my buddy to get my a 2x1 sheet of 20gage to use as a heat diffuser, but I had to try her out anyways. Man that was very easy!!! Very impressed with your product. I'll send you pics of the setup in the next couple of days.
Cheers,
Ryan
Hello All,
What I love about the RK drum is what I think scares most people away. At first look, an RK drum with a BBQ looks like you have no controls. The opposite is true! With a RK drum setup you have total control! It is the only home roast system that I know of where you have the power and control to roast from 4 oz to 4 pounds of coffee. Where people get in trouble is not realizing the flexibility of this system of roasting because they don’t go beyond the first look. After 20 years of homeroasting using every type of roaster from the new commercial home models to roasting over fire with an antique popcorn popper, I think I am qualified to say the RK drum is the best home roaster you can buy for less than $1,500.00. I have not found a limitation to my RK system yet. After spending $150.00 on a commercial machine a few years ago, it only took me a month to go back to my $3.00 popcorn popper.
The RK drum reminds me of roasting over fire with the popcorn popper except it gets rid of those dimensions that need to be consistent for a good roast every time. The RK drum moves the beans at a consistent rate. The RK drum keeps the beans at the right place to receive the heat they need to roast. The RK drum gives you a way to control the heat. So, instead of five dimensions to control, the RK takes care of three and leaves the roaster with the two most important dimensions to control, time and temperature. It lessens the
