July 17,2004 Allen M
Brian Bircher
I've been meaning to write but I've been too busy roasting! The drum is working great and you were right, once it gets seasoned and "settled in" it just keeps getting better. I've also become more adept at controlling the heat and of course the movements of getting the drum in and out
quickly become more second nature as you go along. I've been turning out some excellent roasts and have been able to hit the roasts just where I want them whether it's for a dark roast or a beautiful City+ or Full City on an island coffee.
Taking the ceramic briquettes out madeall the difference in the world as far as being able to reach roast temps faster, bring my roast times down to where they should be and to better control temps during the roast. It's funny since I had thought it would be easier to do all that with the briquettes. I haven't gotten the steel plate made yet and am still using the cookie sheet. It's working fine so I may just leave it.
(This a review by Thomas Owen from Sweet Marias. I sent Tom 3 sample roasts, roasted in a gas grill, with the RK Roasting Drum. Below are Toms remarks.)
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 thin.g 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!
Thanks for your great products, and even more for your superb customer service! Keep up the good work