I watch another video of this machine and the owner had some beans that came in different sizes. The smaller beans went through the drum holes and he lost the roast. After cleaning out the machine, the beans he had purchased were about 30% of the 150 grams he was roasting. For me, you can keep this roaster for that price. My FreshRoast SR800 with extension tube will kick its ass.
Hi Michael, Thank you for this review, I found it very informative and insightful....Would you recommended the Hottop to someone looking to break into the roasting business.
Sorry I'm late in finding this question. I'm sure the answer is no longer helpful to Vincent, but for others here is my answer: No, I would not recommend the HotTop to start a business with. The volume you can roast with it is just too small and with enforced cool-down periods after each roast, the volume/time is further reduced. But it is a great hobby roaster or a good lab roaster as well. And having said that, when I started, I experimented with 'business activities' with the HotTop, such as packaging, testing profiles with friends and families, etc. It can be useful to help start a business, just not as your primary, production roaster.
Hey Michael, awesome review. I am seriously considering the 2+, having watched your objective assessment of the unit. I was deep into the Gene Cafe and almost pulled the trigger on it until I saw the 2+ with its connectivity and graphs. I love the unique design of the Gene but for an extra $900, I believe the 2+ is a good value. Question if I may, did you buy those extra thermocouples from hottop directly and are there available termination points at the board. Please share your instructions. thanks. alex
I did not get the thermocouples from HotTop. I got them separately. I wrote up exactly how I installed them and where I bought them here: oilslickcoffee.com/hottop/how-to-install-hottop-et-bt-probes/ It's an older article but it should still be quite useful to you. As for termination points on the board; I'm not sure. It's easy enough to open the HotTop and take a look at the board. You can look for terminals that might be labeled "TC" that don't have anything connected to them. (do let me know what you find, I'm curious too!)
G’day Michael. Great video mate, loved it !! Hey my apologies if you’re asked this question often. Can you hack the early version of this machine (non-USB model) to connect a laptop and utilise the artisan software or similar software ? I have just purchased a 2nd hand early model and can’t find anything online. Many thanks 🙏 Jason ....from Australia 🇦🇺
Sorry for the late reply! You can hack the earlier models. I have what was originally an 8828-P-2. I have since upgraded the control panel to an 8828-B. Then I installed thermocouples connected to a data logger, and finally I installed an HTRI board that provided control via USB connection to a laptop. I did write-ups of all of my upgrades/hacks on my website and they can all be found here: oilslickcoffee.com/hottop/ I hope that helps and stay healthy over there in Oz!
Hey Michael, Thanks for the video, it was very informative. So, as you say, with the heating element lag, do you have a gas supplied home roaster that you would recommend for a beginner roaster, I have the sr800 air roaster now, but I am trying to dive deeper into field with learning and also consistency. I dont want a stove top as I rather vent it outdoors. Thanks again for your review
That's a tricky one because I don't have a lot of experience on sub-kilo gas roasters. I have used a Huky on one occasion and enjoyed it. If you want to talk to someone about the Huky I'd recommend you reach out to Chris Wade: instagram.com/chris7wade/ He is very approachable and uses a Huky at home (take a look at his Instagram feed).
Hi Michael, Thank you for this great overview. I have the same roaster but I am experiencing a sort of new issue. as I am getting sparks in all of my roasts specially at the beginning. Have you got this issue ? or do you know why ? . Thanks
Hi Michael C. Wright, thanks for your great review is this USB mode required to use this machine or I can just rost like directly with the electricity without using the smart mode?
Hi Michael! Luckily I just stumbled on your blog/videos. I've got one of those new 2k+ Hottops and like yourself the flick/crash is something I'm still working on managing. I'd love to pick your brain on what you mean by "best performance" when choosing 130g of greens to roast. Out of curiosity how often do you replace/clean that rear filter? Thanks for your videos!! If I figure anything out I'll report back and if you are interested in sharing alarms/alog files lemme know :)
TL;DR: if you increase the mass of unroasted coffee you increase the amount of work required for your heating element to reach a specific time/temp target. Now for the long explanation: the best performance of your HotTop is both subjective and objective. Objectively, the HotTop drum could physically hold a lot more than 300g of green beans. However, the more mass you add to the roaster, the harder the heating element has to work to increase the temperature of that large mass in a sufficient amount of time. There is an upper limit of where the small heating element can effectively increase the temperature of the beans within an acceptable amount of time Subjectively, to attain a specific profile of temperature over time, you can play with the amount of mass you add: less mass added means the heating element can increase the temperature of the mass quicker, using less power. This leaves the operator with some untapped power (what I call 'head space') to utilize if needed. If you have to use 100% power to achieve a time/temp goal, you don't leave yourself any reserve power. For example; f you look at one of my profiles (link below), you'll see that at charge I dropped power to 50%, then thirty seconds later I increase the HotTop power to 90. Setting the power to 90 for the entire first phase and often half of the second phase is largely what sets me up to reach first-crack around the 8.5 to 9-minute mark. Using less heat at that point, say 80, but with the same mass of beans, would mean the ramp up to FC would be less-steep and reaching FC would take more time. That tells me that in order to reach FC within 8.5 to 9 minutes and still have a bit of "head space" to increase the power of the element, I need to charge around 130g of coffee because my roaster can heat 130g to the temperature I want in the time I want. Watch 30 seconds of this video to see what I mean by 'head space': ua-cam.com/video/UrvEKCGedts/v-deo.html&start=185 In short; if you increase the mass of unroasted coffee you increase the amount of work required for your heating element. To find your sweet spot on your roaster, you can start with 80% of the maximum charge amount; 240g. See if you can apply your desired roast profile at that mass. If you can hit your target temps within your desired times, then 240g is a good weight for your profile. You could experiment by increasing or decreasing your charge rate and see how that affects the performance of your roaster (each roaster performs differently). Keep in mind bean density plays a role here too; 130g of denser beans requires more work to heat to a specific time/temp target. I hope that helps clarify what I mean by 'best performance!' Regarding the filter on the top; I rarely change it. In fact, I only have once and thinking back, I didn't need to. You could alternately replace it with some insulation to help retain heat if you'd like, per this forum discussion: www.home-barista.com/home-roasting/hottop-top-filter-t25804.html
MR. Michael I have other questions is you can help please what about the smoke, is it annoying when I rost inside the home? last things... what's your advice I am confused between two choices (Hottop and the Aillio Bullet R1) which one is better?
The smoke can definitely be an issue and for that reason I roast near an open window. You can also place fan between the window and the roaster, pointing out the window to pull the smoke out of the room. I've never roasted on the Bullet but would love to try one. They are great-looking machines!
The HotTop has an enforced cool-down period. I shorten it by leaving the shoot-cover off and the fan filter out to increase airflow. I have read where others open the front faceplate as well, but that gets chaff everywhere and the knob gets very hot. If you are looking to do serious volume roasting, the HotTop may not be appropriate.
WeBuild4Life in the picture linked to below, the original probe is the circular button-looking thing on the right side of the back plate. You can see by the charred surface of it, that with my typical 130g load, the probe isn’t in contact with the bean mass. blog.oilslickcoffee.com/2016/03/15/how-to-install-hottop-htri-control-board/#gallery-9
Thanks! The beeping was a show stopper for me.
Thanks for sharing!
Glad it helped
I watch another video of this machine and the owner had some beans that came in different sizes. The smaller beans went through the drum holes and he lost the roast. After cleaning out the machine, the beans he had purchased were about 30% of the 150 grams he was roasting. For me, you can keep this roaster for that price. My FreshRoast SR800 with extension tube will kick its ass.
Hi Michael,
Thank you for this review, I found it very informative and insightful....Would you recommended the Hottop to someone looking to break into the roasting business.
Sorry I'm late in finding this question. I'm sure the answer is no longer helpful to Vincent, but for others here is my answer:
No, I would not recommend the HotTop to start a business with. The volume you can roast with it is just too small and with enforced cool-down periods after each roast, the volume/time is further reduced.
But it is a great hobby roaster or a good lab roaster as well. And having said that, when I started, I experimented with 'business activities' with the HotTop, such as packaging, testing profiles with friends and families, etc. It can be useful to help start a business, just not as your primary, production roaster.
I like to see more factual educational videos on growing coffee and what shade trees have the best symbiotic partnership with coffee trees
Well alrighty then
You can check out World Coffee Research. They have some good information on shade trees for coffee:
worldcoffeeresearch.org/work/shade-catalog/
Great video.. thanks for a great job
Thank you too!
Dime michi estoy muy enteresao por tu vidio pero conto es su precio gracias
Puede obtener el último y mejor HotTop de Sweet Maria's por $ 1,800: www.sweetmarias.com/roasting/drum-roasters/hottop.html
Hey Michael, awesome review. I am seriously considering the 2+, having watched your objective assessment of the unit. I was deep into the Gene Cafe and almost pulled the trigger on it until I saw the 2+ with its connectivity and graphs. I love the unique design of the Gene but for an extra $900, I believe the 2+ is a good value. Question if I may, did you buy those extra thermocouples from hottop directly and are there available termination points at the board. Please share your instructions. thanks. alex
I did not get the thermocouples from HotTop. I got them separately. I wrote up exactly how I installed them and where I bought them here: oilslickcoffee.com/hottop/how-to-install-hottop-et-bt-probes/ It's an older article but it should still be quite useful to you.
As for termination points on the board; I'm not sure. It's easy enough to open the HotTop and take a look at the board. You can look for terminals that might be labeled "TC" that don't have anything connected to them. (do let me know what you find, I'm curious too!)
great review!
G’day Michael. Great video mate, loved it !! Hey my apologies if you’re asked this question often. Can you hack the early version of this machine (non-USB model) to connect a laptop and utilise the artisan software or similar software ?
I have just purchased a 2nd hand early model and can’t find anything online.
Many thanks 🙏
Jason ....from Australia 🇦🇺
Sorry for the late reply!
You can hack the earlier models. I have what was originally an 8828-P-2. I have since upgraded the control panel to an 8828-B. Then I installed thermocouples connected to a data logger, and finally I installed an HTRI board that provided control via USB connection to a laptop.
I did write-ups of all of my upgrades/hacks on my website and they can all be found here:
oilslickcoffee.com/hottop/
I hope that helps and stay healthy over there in Oz!
Hey Michael,
Thanks for the video, it was very informative. So, as you say, with the heating element lag, do you have a gas supplied home roaster that you would recommend for a beginner roaster, I have the sr800 air roaster now, but I am trying to dive deeper into field with learning and also consistency.
I dont want a stove top as I rather vent it outdoors.
Thanks again for your review
That's a tricky one because I don't have a lot of experience on sub-kilo gas roasters. I have used a Huky on one occasion and enjoyed it. If you want to talk to someone about the Huky I'd recommend you reach out to Chris Wade: instagram.com/chris7wade/ He is very approachable and uses a Huky at home (take a look at his Instagram feed).
Hi Michael, Thank you for this great overview. I have the same roaster but I am experiencing a sort of new issue. as I am getting sparks in all of my roasts specially at the beginning. Have you got this issue ? or do you know why ? . Thanks
Sparks? What do you mean by sparks and where to you see or experience them?
Hi Michael C. Wright, thanks for your great review
is this USB mode required to use this machine or I can just rost like directly with the electricity without using the smart mode?
You can certainly use this without a laptop at all. Just plug it into power and you can control the roast from the control panel.
@@MichaelCWright
thanks a lot , thats realy help :)
Hi Michael! Luckily I just stumbled on your blog/videos. I've got one of those new 2k+ Hottops and like yourself the flick/crash is something I'm still working on managing. I'd love to pick your brain on what you mean by "best performance" when choosing 130g of greens to roast. Out of curiosity how often do you replace/clean that rear filter? Thanks for your videos!! If I figure anything out I'll report back and if you are interested in sharing alarms/alog files lemme know :)
TL;DR: if you increase the mass of unroasted coffee you increase the amount of work required for your heating element to reach a specific time/temp target.
Now for the long explanation: the best performance of your HotTop is both subjective and objective. Objectively, the HotTop drum could physically hold a lot more than 300g of green beans. However, the more mass you add to the roaster, the harder the heating element has to work to increase the temperature of that large mass in a sufficient amount of time. There is an upper limit of where the small heating element can effectively increase the temperature of the beans within an acceptable amount of time
Subjectively, to attain a specific profile of temperature over time, you can play with the amount of mass you add: less mass added means the heating element can increase the temperature of the mass quicker, using less power. This leaves the operator with some untapped power (what I call 'head space') to utilize if needed. If you have to use 100% power to achieve a time/temp goal, you don't leave yourself any reserve power.
For example; f you look at one of my profiles (link below), you'll see that at charge I dropped power to 50%, then thirty seconds later I increase the HotTop power to 90. Setting the power to 90 for the entire first phase and often half of the second phase is largely what sets me up to reach first-crack around the 8.5 to 9-minute mark. Using less heat at that point, say 80, but with the same mass of beans, would mean the ramp up to FC would be less-steep and reaching FC would take more time. That tells me that in order to reach FC within 8.5 to 9 minutes and still have a bit of "head space" to increase the power of the element, I need to charge around 130g of coffee because my roaster can heat 130g to the temperature I want in the time I want.
Watch 30 seconds of this video to see what I mean by 'head space': ua-cam.com/video/UrvEKCGedts/v-deo.html&start=185
In short; if you increase the mass of unroasted coffee you increase the amount of work required for your heating element.
To find your sweet spot on your roaster, you can start with 80% of the maximum charge amount; 240g. See if you can apply your desired roast profile at that mass. If you can hit your target temps within your desired times, then 240g is a good weight for your profile. You could experiment by increasing or decreasing your charge rate and see how that affects the performance of your roaster (each roaster performs differently).
Keep in mind bean density plays a role here too; 130g of denser beans requires more work to heat to a specific time/temp target.
I hope that helps clarify what I mean by 'best performance!'
Regarding the filter on the top; I rarely change it. In fact, I only have once and thinking back, I didn't need to. You could alternately replace it with some insulation to help retain heat if you'd like, per this forum discussion:
www.home-barista.com/home-roasting/hottop-top-filter-t25804.html
MR. Michael
I have other questions is you can help please
what about the smoke, is it annoying when I rost inside the home?
last things...
what's your advice I am confused between two choices (Hottop and the Aillio Bullet R1)
which one is better?
The smoke can definitely be an issue and for that reason I roast near an open window. You can also place fan between the window and the roaster, pointing out the window to pull the smoke out of the room.
I've never roasted on the Bullet but would love to try one. They are great-looking machines!
can you roast back to back or do you need a cool down period
The HotTop has an enforced cool-down period. I shorten it by leaving the shoot-cover off and the fan filter out to increase airflow. I have read where others open the front faceplate as well, but that gets chaff everywhere and the knob gets very hot.
If you are looking to do serious volume roasting, the HotTop may not be appropriate.
You can short cool-down period by hair dryer with cold air. Just open beans bunker and flow into roaster with it.
Where do the standard thermocouple fall inside the rooster? Without the extra?
WeBuild4Life in the picture linked to below, the original probe is the circular button-looking thing on the right side of the back plate.
You can see by the charred surface of it, that with my typical 130g load, the probe isn’t in contact with the bean mass.
blog.oilslickcoffee.com/2016/03/15/how-to-install-hottop-htri-control-board/#gallery-9