Just wondering whether we could have a thread where owners/users of the little Damian Amazon can post experiences of their roasts.
You will have noted that the Amazon is a new toy for me, although I have lots of experience of roasting at-home, but based on machines with fewer manual inputs (HotTop for about 8 years followed by a Gene Cafe for the last 3, or is it 4).
The Amazon has been a bit of an eye-opener and so far I have completed 4 roasts, the firs three with a Papua New Guinea bean and the fourth with a Brazil (Vale do Sol) bean.
After those 4 roasts I sat sown and read the more detailed DaveC manual to try and determine why I was seeing what I was seeing (pretty short roast times and 'odd' temperatire measurements). Subjective tests of the effects of the 2 dampers (I don't have access to an air flow meter) suggest that I get fill fan flow with either one of the 2 dampers open, ie opening the second whilst the first is open has negligible effect on air flow. Closing both results in a vastly reduced flow. To me this means that I have either (a) a fairly leak tight machine where the air flow is dominated by the inlet resistance (high) (b) the ducting is limiting the airflow, ie the ducting resistance is high. I suppose I should emove the ducting to find out which it is, but that will blow chaff everywhere (and yes the tray is clear!).
Anyway onto the results of the roasts (temperature/times are quoted as time bean (air)
PNG 1; 0 190 (190), 2 147 (167), 4 151 (153) [sD open to 1cm], 6 164 (170), 8 176 (179), 10 186 (191), 11 192 (198)
First crack at 9:15, beans dumped at just under 12, a little late, but this rot was bound for the rubbish bin as per the notes supplied with the machine.
I then allowed the machine to cool completely before undertaking some back-to-back roasts
PNG 2; 0 180 (196), 2 147 (167), 4 151 (153) [sD open to 1cm], 6 163 (167), 8 173 (177) 10 184 (191), 11 187 (195)
First crack at 9;50, dumped at 11;50; a little over-roasted (for me)
PNG 3; 0 196 (218), 2 159 (178), 4 162 (164) [sD open to 1cm], 6 172 (178), 8 184 (189) [sD open to 2cm], 10 194 (204), 11 198 (210)
First crack at 9;40, dumped at 11;10; better looking roast
BVdS; 0 183 (210), 2 163 (186), 4 170 (172) [sD open to 1cm], 6 180 (180), 8 192 (197) [sD open to 2cm at 7m], 9 195 (200)
First crack at 8;30, dumped at 10;10; better looking roast
The earlier crack for the BVdS was no unexpected based on my roasts on the GC, but each bean was cracking around 4m earlier than the GC!
I do not see air temperatures getting anywhere close to the heater trip setpoint.
You will have noted that the Amazon is a new toy for me, although I have lots of experience of roasting at-home, but based on machines with fewer manual inputs (HotTop for about 8 years followed by a Gene Cafe for the last 3, or is it 4).
The Amazon has been a bit of an eye-opener and so far I have completed 4 roasts, the firs three with a Papua New Guinea bean and the fourth with a Brazil (Vale do Sol) bean.
After those 4 roasts I sat sown and read the more detailed DaveC manual to try and determine why I was seeing what I was seeing (pretty short roast times and 'odd' temperatire measurements). Subjective tests of the effects of the 2 dampers (I don't have access to an air flow meter) suggest that I get fill fan flow with either one of the 2 dampers open, ie opening the second whilst the first is open has negligible effect on air flow. Closing both results in a vastly reduced flow. To me this means that I have either (a) a fairly leak tight machine where the air flow is dominated by the inlet resistance (high) (b) the ducting is limiting the airflow, ie the ducting resistance is high. I suppose I should emove the ducting to find out which it is, but that will blow chaff everywhere (and yes the tray is clear!).
Anyway onto the results of the roasts (temperature/times are quoted as time bean (air)
PNG 1; 0 190 (190), 2 147 (167), 4 151 (153) [sD open to 1cm], 6 164 (170), 8 176 (179), 10 186 (191), 11 192 (198)
First crack at 9:15, beans dumped at just under 12, a little late, but this rot was bound for the rubbish bin as per the notes supplied with the machine.
I then allowed the machine to cool completely before undertaking some back-to-back roasts
PNG 2; 0 180 (196), 2 147 (167), 4 151 (153) [sD open to 1cm], 6 163 (167), 8 173 (177) 10 184 (191), 11 187 (195)
First crack at 9;50, dumped at 11;50; a little over-roasted (for me)
PNG 3; 0 196 (218), 2 159 (178), 4 162 (164) [sD open to 1cm], 6 172 (178), 8 184 (189) [sD open to 2cm], 10 194 (204), 11 198 (210)
First crack at 9;40, dumped at 11;10; better looking roast
BVdS; 0 183 (210), 2 163 (186), 4 170 (172) [sD open to 1cm], 6 180 (180), 8 192 (197) [sD open to 2cm at 7m], 9 195 (200)
First crack at 8;30, dumped at 10;10; better looking roast
The earlier crack for the BVdS was no unexpected based on my roasts on the GC, but each bean was cracking around 4m earlier than the GC!
I do not see air temperatures getting anywhere close to the heater trip setpoint.