If you are not familiar with the Hottop, it is larger than it might appear in photos. The Bean Roaster is about 19" deep, 14" tall and 10" wide. It weighs about 19 pounds. The machine is substantial and heavy, and has the feel of something professional. When you pick it up it seems like something commercial in nature and generally unlike many appliances designed for home use. So many appliances today feel light and flimsy- this is not the case here.

     There are some changes to be found:

- The tip of the shaft which rotates the stirring arm in the cooling tray is now tapered making it a lot easier to replace the cooling tray. You had to look under the old tray to get the drive socket of the arm engaged, or fiddle about until it dropped into place. The new one goes on quickly with little effort.

- The drum is all stainless steel (including the support/drive shaft) and it now features a rear support welded between the drum and the central shaft. It is located far enough away from the bean chute so as not to be a problem. In the past, the rear of the drum simply floated and drum alignment depended solely on the front support for proper position. Some users found that the drum could become mis-aligned even during shipping, but this addition should eliminate that problem. Beyond that, the tip of the drum's axle where it rides in the front bearing support as well as the bearing support has been redesigned to change how the axle rides in the dimple. it was done toi eliminate the squeaking problems some users reported.

 

     - The motor mount is different and the motor is larger and more powerful.

     - The power cord is still ungrounded but they have added a strain relief inside the roaster to hold the power cord in place.

     - The old beeper that some users had difficulty hearing has been changed to a louder one.

      but the biggest change is....

The control panel that use to just feature some buttons and LED lights now has a digital display. The graphics of the new model (left) are about the same as the original model. I still l think that something more in tune with the rest of the design, such as a stainless surround and a gloss-black panel would look quite impressive as in this artist's conception on the right.

     1) With the roaster plugged in, press "START"

     2) Select the amount of time to roast. Repeatedly pressing the "Time" button allows you to choose the number of minutes to roast. The choices are 17 through 21 inclusive. Additional seconds from 1 to 59 can be added by pressing or holding "Plus". In this way up to 21:59 can be used as a programed roast time.

     3) Press "Start" to begin the roasting process.

     At this point the roaster preheats. It takes about five minutes to reach the starting temperature. The machine beeps to tell you that the time is right to add the beans, and it is at this time that the timer begins it's countdown (the timer does not run during the pre-heat cycle).

     If you wish, you can add beans without waiting for the start signal so you don't have to wait for the beeping. Be careful, because if you are doing back-to-back roasts, the machine goes through a cool-down period before being ready to roast again. During that time the ejection chute is open and the beans will simply pour through the roasting chamber and into the cooling tray.

     During the roasting process, pressing "TEMP" displays the temperature as registered by the thermal sensor at the rear of the roasting chamber. Pressing and holding the "TEMP" button allows the user to switch the default to either Fahrenheit or Centigrade measurement.

     The temperature displays for two seconds and then the display reverts back to the time. There is currently no way to make the temperature display as the default.

     4) 40 seconds before the roast is scheduled to end, the machine begins a series of warning beeps. At this time, if you so choose, press "PLUS" to add 30 additional seconds. This can be done up to five times for an additional 2:30 in roasting time. Maximum roast time is 21:59 + 2:30 = 24:29. That's a very long roast in just about anyone's book.

     5) At any time during the roast you may press "EJECT" to end the roast, or simply wait until the machine ejects the beans automatically. At that time the cooling process begins and the readout will alternately flash "COOL" and then the remaining amount of time for the cooling procedure on its display- a nice touch. The cool down time is six minutes.

Here is the new control panel as seen from the inside. They are thankfully still using mechanical switches on the board instead of membrane switches which tend to wear out. Once the board is removed from the machine it is an easy matter to change chips if updates come along.

     Note the 17 minute roast- I added all 5 "pluses" to the roast to get it into second crack as a test to see if it would make it. It seems that adding the pluses actually caused it to run a bit hotter than the 23 minute roast without the pluses. The 17 minute roast ran to the end of the total amount of time possible- about 19:30 (17 minutes plus 2:30 additional with the pluses). The 22 minute roast was ejected before the end of the roast time- a total roast time of about 19:30. Both roasts went to full city- just a few specks of oil on the beans upon ejection.

     Compared to the curves of the first series of Hottops, these seem quite a bit flatter- more linear than the profile from an earlier machines as seen here:

     Looking at the first graph above, comparing the long to the short roast times, what we see is a repeat of the early model's programming design. Comparing the two 'curves' (17 minute vs. 22 minute) we see they are virtually identical (if we disregard any operator error in registering the temperatures). The machine, once again, has a single profile and the user, by choosing a desired roasting time, chooses at which point along that programmed roasting profile to cut the roast off. Experienced roasters will most likely just set the machine for 21:59 every time and stop the roaster when the desired roast level is reached.

Q: What is missing from this roaster?
A: Programmability!

      The new unit offers a digital display that shows the remaining time and current temperature and allows the user to program a roast time between 17:00 and 21:59. At the end of the programmed roast time you can add up to 2:30, thirty seconds at a time. You can add beans whenever you like, and you can eject the roast any time you like. Other than that you have no direct control over the process.

     Even with digital electronics in place the Hottop Bean Roaster does not afforded the user any ability to input a roasting profile or make any changes to the programming other than selecting a total roast time. So what is the point of the display and temperature readings? Let's take a look at this logically. The machine has a sticker on it right above the control panel states that the roaster never be left unattended while in operation, and a similar warning is in the owner's manual. Since the manufacturer is adamant about not leaving the roaster unattended when roasting (good advice with any coffee roasting device) it brings the following questions to mind:

     Why have the ability to program ANY part of the process at all? Why not just have a START switch to turn it on, and then use the PLUS and EJECT button as needed to get the proper roast? You are supposed to sit there the entire time anyway, what's the point of programming the roast time?

     The answer that comes to my mind is that there is a sector of the market which likes to enjoy fresh-roasted coffee without the hassle of monitoring every last detail. These folks would prefer to pick a time, measure out an amount of beans, start the process and then just wait for the roasted beans to hit the cooling tray, all the time knowing that the outcome for this roast will be fairly close to the last roast. Nothing wrong with that. Even some of us who are competent, experienced roasters have moments when we are out of coffee early in the morning and with half-shut eyes need an easy way to roast a batch. Start the Hottop at 19 minutes, put in 250 grams of Colombian, and relax. "Beep Beep." Out comes coffee, ready to grind. Nothing wrong with that.

     But what about all the other times when enthusiasts want more control over the roasting process? What can be done? There are things the experienced user can do such as modify the amount of beans used, add beans later than the designated time, change the position of the filter, or open the bean loading chute to lower the temperature at various moments of the roasting process. Still, these are second-best methods for controlling a roaster that could easily offer so much more with the addition of one "Program" button and one memory chip to hold three or four profiles.

At times, the roasting chamber seems to hold on to a good amount of chaff. Here is the roasting chamber with the drum removed after one or two roasts.

     This seems to happen with larger batches (in the 300-310 gram range) or with beans that throw a lot of chaff.A blast of air will remove any stray chaff. A small air compressor, a vacuum cleaner's exhaust, or canned air will quickly do the job, albeit, while blowing chaff about- not an indoor job!

This picture is looking up into the roasting chamber through the opening normally occupied by the chaff tray. As you can see, the chaff buildup is not casued by clearance problem- there is plenty of room between the drum and the wall of the roasting chamber. Because chaff buildup constitutes a fire hazard, it is important to make sure that the roasting chamber is cleaned after each batch.

     One of the things I tested was back-to-back roasts in 43 F. weather and 98% humidity (it was raining). Without doing anything other than starting a new roast as soon as the last one finished the cool-down routine. I just programmed the time and hit "Start." It took a full 16 minutes before the "Add Beans" beeping commenced. Putting that all together, it means that from the beginning of one roast until the beans are cooled down after the next, two roasts (about one pound of coffee)can take about 1:10-1:15 to full-city, and that was in cold weather. Figure that the cool-down will probably take longer in higher temperatures.

     Another test was done to see how short of a roast could be done. I started the roaster normally with a programmed time of 21:59, but I waited to add the beans until only 11:00 minutes of time were left. At the end of the roast I used all five pluses for a total roast time of 13 minutes. With 300 grams of coffee it took this batch of beans to just short of second crack. There was only a slight, momentary drop in temperature when the beans were added showing that the temperature control system seems to work quite efficiently in this new design. The temperature readings comparing these two different roasts seemed to indicate that the control system used to regulate temperature works quite well indeed.

     -The design of the roasting drum is excellent. The agitation of the beans as the drum turns is fluid and even, the beans spilling over themselves in a continuous waterfall. I did notice that some small amounts of chaff got caught between the drum's inner surface and the round rod that winds itself inside the drum (the "ejection snake"), but it was of no consequence and the burnt bits brushed away easily. There are also some places where beans like to stick. It is best to open the front of the machine and clear these out after each roast or they will burn. Chaff also gets caught between the glass viewing window and the window retaining panel inside the front of the machine. Thyis causes no real problems and can be easily removed.

     -This version, like the last, is impressively quiet. Except for the heat, you could easily have a conversation standing right next to it, and except for the sound of the tumbling, cracking beans, you would hardly know it was running. The tumbling of the beans all but drowns out all the other noises the machine makes, which are few. Properly adjusting the gold knob, just the sound of the drum's drive mechanism is about all you hear. Those who have been using air-driven roasters will be very happy if not ecstatic when they turn this thing on for the first time. The near-silent machine makes hearing the cracks an easy matter, even for a beginner doing their first roast.

     -To achieve consistent results from one roast to the next, particularly when depending on the timer, it is important to use the same mass of beans each time. An accurate scale to weigh the beans is an important accessory with this roaster. This is particularly important when depending on the automatic ejection of any selected roast level.

     -This is an outdoor device, to be considered in the same general class as a BBQ or hibachi. If you choose to use it indoors be prepared for the smoke alarms to go off and the house to smell of roasting coffee for quite some time. The smoke comes from a number of openings and vents, and the machine is so tall that a downdraft vent won't work very well at all. You might try using it under an overhead vent hood, but be prepared to open windows in a hurry, just in case.

     That was not a rhetorical question. After using this particular machine for a week I only have two major complaints and they are related- The lack of programmability and the long roast time. Coffee can roast in this machine for as long as 24:29 (21 + :59 programmed + 2:30 Plusses) and that is an unnecessarily-long amount of time for coffee to be roasted. Some folks might like coffee from a roast that can take well over 20 minutes to reach full city. I would like a choice. Sure, I can do a fancy dance to get this machine to do anything else to find out if there is another roast I like better. I can use less coffee and/or add coffee later in the cycle, but why when there is a better solution so readily available to the designers? With some of the simplest and most common appliances like bread makers which are programmable, and even the sub-$200 iRoast2 from Precision giving the user control over the process through some level of programmability, it seems like high time that Hottop incorporated the same into their coffee roaster (if for no other reason, before someone else beats them to it!). It has been over three years since the beta units got into the hands of consumers, and in that time it seems reasonable to expect that an appliance that sells for just under $600 which is designed to roast coffee should have full programmability.

     I'm scratching my head at this point, and feeling quite disappointed over the lack of programmability. Is it possible? Sure, and it has been done. Jeffrey Pawlan sells his highly modified Hottop (the Computer-Controlled Roaster - CCR) that comes with a custom, software interface that allows complete control of the machine from a computer or laptop, at a price. Please feel free to E-Mail me and inform me otherwise, but it seems like a gaping hole in what is otherwise a well-designed machine. It is a shame, really. In my opinion it would seem that a large portion of the available market is being ignored by not including programmability.

     I suppose we shall have to wait for the next model before programmability (or possibly a parts upgrade, like a new control panel and board) comes to the serious home hobbyist or professional looking for an affordable sample roaster. In the meantime, don't worry about trading up to this model if you already have a Hottop- yours should continue to serve you admirably as mine has.

      This is a new model, designated as the KN-8828D and is selling for $685.00. (the older model, KN-8828 is still available for $585.00).

      Beyond all that, there still may be some folks who would like to update their older Hottop. If so, the digital control panel is available as an upgrade for $100 (presumably, plus shipping). Contact Hottop for more details, but I have been informed that it is a direct, plug-in conversion with no modifications necessary to the machine.

     While we wait, roast another batch of delicious coffee, and wait with me.

If you have any comments or questions that I may be able to answer as I continue further testing of the Bean Roaster, please feel free to send them to me: espresso@cncnet.com.