this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Coffee

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Roasting with the Itop Skywalker roaster. This is a level of control I'm not used to lol.
The auto charge didnt work so accidentally hit the button too late.
Also I have no idea how to get rid of the notes.
How's it look?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Oh no. Oh, nonono.

I'm using a (nearly) 20 year old Behmor. There's so much guesswork involved, especially if you're someone like me and rarely buy the same beans. I roast my own coffee, but after 20 years I still barely know what I'm doing. I like what I get, but still; it's a lot of trial and error, and guesswork.

The SkyWalker looks fantastic. It has all the features I wish I had on the Behmor: the sample tray thingy; temperature control; multiple gauges - there's not even a thermometer in the Behmor; an automatic mode? I mean, I'd like to have either a sampler or an auto mode on the Behmor, but this has both?? A proper chaff tray, to get the chaff out of the oven so it doesn't burn‽ A smoke filter or proper chimney to direct the exhaust‽‽

<groan> I don't need to spend any more money on this hobby.

What's that software (and device) you're using to get the results profile?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Artisan. Its the standard for roasting software. You will have to splice a USB cable on to an Arduino, or just buy a usb to dupont cable but its super easy.
If that sounds like a hassle 1. I read that the next version of this roaster will have artisan support built in and 2. The built in profiles are pretty good

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Dammit! Stop making it better!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

How’s it taste? That’s the most important question! Did you cup the roast at all? I don’t remember where the settings for those notes are but I can look at mine and see if I can find them.

How do you like the Skywalker roaster?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Gonna wait a few days to degas before tasting!
I really like the roster so far. Done about 20 roasts so far with their built in profile tools. Getting to to connect to artisan is pretty easy but it does talk either soldering or cable crimping knowledge. You'll be soldering a usb cable to an arduino so no chance of bricking the roaster

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

FWIW I always cup my beans ~12 hours off roast. I’ve taken quite a few classes from commercial roasters and they’ve always been consistent in that but obviously this is quite often more art than science so if it works for you then that’s great!

How do you brew your coffee typically?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Ooh nice. I still use a popcorn popper, and no bean probe or nothin', but I like my results well enough. But I see something like this in my future because I like nerding on this stuff. I agree with almar, how's it taste? Have you been having good results with the Skywalker?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yup! Loving the skywalker so far, the built in roast profiles are solid.

If i really had to nitpick a complaint I wish the bean cooler was a bit better. Its no where near as poweful as the one attached to my bocaboca. Oh well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Very cool! Glad to hear it. I've always imagined I'd move on to a FreshRoast after my popper kicks the bucket (or when I get tired of it), but, I'll do a little more research on this one too. Looks relatively affordable for the feature set.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I started with the fresh roast, good starter roaster but once you go over 250g, even with an extension tube its rough.
I really liked the bocaboca but for the price the Skywalker kinda blows it out of the water