I have a (relatively) long, personal history with Hearthware. My first "real" purchase of coffee equipment late in 2000 included Silvia, Rocky, and a Hearthware Precision coffee roaster. The Precision was the most advanced home coffee roasting appliance available at the time, but it lacked any sort of control (other than time and an end-the-roast button) and it had a small capacity. Over long-term or repeated use it also could demonstrate a short lifespan. Some independent 'research' showed that the design of its thrust bearing was more appropriate for a motor designed to be operated horizontally and not vertically. Still, it served a lot of people for a number of years (and continues to do so in many homes). Later I also purchased the "Gourmet" model as a backup. The design of the Gourmet predates the Precision. These two roaster were used by me until early 2002.      As the home roasting crowd became more educated they required more from their roasting appliance. Some (but not all) found that, while the Precision made a decent roast for drip and other similar "gentle" methods of extraction, the short roast cycle was too brief to produce a smooth espresso. This points to the fact that no one roasting profile in any given roasting appliance is likely to please all coffee drinkers. A controllable or programmable roast cycle was needed if a roaster is to meet the roasting needs of a wide range of coffee drinkers.      In 2002 I visited the Hearthware booth at the Anaheim SCAA show and at that time I saw the prototype for the roaster that I am reviewing herein. Without sharing all the minute details of why it took four years, in January of 2006 I received a review sample of Hearthware's newest incarnation of that roaster, the iRoast2. It is an update of the original iRoast, and the changes and updates make it a very desirable home coffee roasting appliance.       Physically, the upper half is similar to the Precision although numerous updates and improvements have been made. The roasting chamber is heat-resistant glass with a handle on the side for removing the assembly from the base and to protect the user from the hot glass when handling the chamber. The chaff collector removes from the top of the roasting vessel to allow for cleaning and also for loading the beans into the roasting chamber.

     The most exciting updates and improvements have been made to the base- more accurately, IN the base! The first clue that this is a different roaster is the LCD display and buttons on the base. The iRoast2 gives the user the ability to program the roaster with their own roasting profiles. Each of these profiles allows up to five temperature/time pairs (the original iRoast only allowed three and the Precision offered no programming whatsoever). Each temperature setting can be programmed in the range of 320º-485º F in five degree increments (the metric version sold in Asia and Europe has a range of 160º-250º C in two degree increments), and the time can be programmed for each step in one second increments up to a total of fifteen minutes for the entire roast cycle. Once a program is entered it can be saved in rewritable, non-volatile memory under one of ten numbered memory areas for use at a later time. Be sure to make a record of each roast profile as there seems to be no way to review a profile's specifics or to change one part of a profile without having to input the entire profile, step by step.

     The instructions for programming, while being accurate, could be better organized or assembled in some other way. They are organized in such a way as to make it difficult to just "glance" at them to remind yourself of how the programming works, but fortunately, it is not terribly difficult to remember the process, so after one or two attempts you thankfully should have the procedure memorized and further reference to the programming methodology should not be necessary. Advanced instructions and sample programs are available on the Hearthware website, and I am told that a new version of the manual is in the works and should appear there as well.

     In actual use the machine is generally quite easy to use. Measure two portions of beans with the included measuring cup (or for greater accuracy weigh them), pour them into the roasting chamber, twist on the chaff collector/lid to its locked position, program in a profile (or select an existing profile from the memory), and start the roaster. The stated capacity is 150 grams which is enough for about one and one-half, ten-cup pots of coffee (depending on how you make it- the manual states that one batch is good for "up to" 24 cups).

     You will immediately notice that this thing is loud, but sounds solidly-made with no stray rattles or buzzing noises when all the various parts are properly secured. The fan speed changes at various times during the roast (not controllable by the user) changing the decibel level, but fast fan or slow fan, loud it remains. Even with five years of home-roasting experience behind me, the only way I could discern the cracks was to carefully lean over with my ear to the side of the hot-air blast, right next to the chamber's exhaust openings on top of the chaff collector. First crack is fairly easily recognized in this way (if you know what to listen for), and becomes more recognizable with experience. Second crack is only barely audible. Part of this seems to be caused by the way the roasting chamber and chaff collector assembly is designed- it seems to muffle much of the sound of the roasting process. Add the fan noise and knowing the actual bean temperature becomes quite important, particularly for newbie roasters.

Fortunately, the roasting chamber is large enough to give an excellent view of the beans so visual clues become the primary way to judge roast level for the new user, and eventually, with some practice the sounds should become more apparent. Watching the beans as the roast progresses, it is clear that the designers have done a lot of work since the Precision. The bean agitation, as seen here, is excellent with the beans flowing from the center, up and over to the other edges of the chamber, then down towards the center in a flowing motion.

     I am so accustomed to roasting larger amounts of beans that it seems that there is nearly no smoke at all coming from the iRoast2. If you roast inside without proper ventilation you will shortly see that this is not quite the case. The volumes of air pushed through the roaster by its fan disperse the smoke, but there is smoke so if you intend to use this device indoors, be sure to place it so that the smoke will be vented out of the structure. Thoughtfully, Hearthware supplies an adapter that allows the user to easily attach a 4" vent pipe to the top of the roaster. The hose (not included) can be placed through an open window or up (or down, as the case may be) to the kitchen vent fan in the smoke hood.

The chaff collector has gone through some design work since the early Precision roaster, and this new design seems to do a good job of capturing the chaff, allowing the air to pass through during the roast and still be easy to clean. Turn the lid over, open the top, and the chaff collector is right there, ready to be emptied. A small brush is supplied to clean the screen on the top lid- dump, brush, brush, and you are ready for the next batch.

     Speaking of the "next batch," the machine is intended by the manufacturer to be used for home use only, and for no more than seven batches a week (it says so on a sticker applied to the outside of the machine). Taking it's one-year warranty in mathematical account, it would seem they stand behind the device for the equivalent of about 365 roasts. You are also requested to wait at least two hours between roasts to allow the machine to cool off.

During the roast the default display is the remaining time in the total profile. Indicated here you see there is a "dot" at the "III" which indicates which portion of the profile is active at this time. I, II, and III represent the first three stages, and when there are dots above "I" and "II" simultaneously it represents level 4, and dots above "I" and "III" represent level 5.

In order to quantify my testing procedures and personal progress with the iRoast2 I had purchased a data-logging digital thermometer. I modified the iRoast2 to accept a 6" stainless, grounded probe (Omega KMTSS-125G-6 for $24.00) rough its chaff collector so that the tip where the temperature is measured would be in the bean mass. So now I had three levels of data- the roasting profile I programmed into the roaster, the temperature the iRoast2 itself reported throughout the roast, and the bean temperature as measured by the thermocouple probe.

     While two of the temperature data groups will occasionally coincide during a roast, they rarely agree with each other for very long. This is to be expected. To be able to control bean temperature based on the user's input is a very difficult thing to achieve requiring a good amount of programmed fuzzy logic, fast-reacting temperature sensors in the bean mass, and a fast-reacting heating element. As shown here I have compared the three sets of data all taken from one roast. It demonstrates how difficult it would be to develop profiles without bean temperature data.

     The other side of this disagreement of temperature readings is that the average user will have a very difficult time creating roast profiles from scratch. Without a knowledge of the roast process and some way to monitor the beans directly, a user ignorant of the roasting process's intricacies will be playing a guessing game and going through a lot of beans learning how to roast coffee. The owners' manual that came with my roaster was for the first generation of the iRoast (the predecessor to this model) and had an insert with the programming details for the iRoast2. The earlier model only had three steps for the roast and did not have the ability to save roast profiles. There are no "sample" programs to even assist the new user in getting started with the iRoast2 other than the two profiles in the roaster's permanent memory.

A readout of the heated air temperature as it is about to enter the roasting chamber is available during the roasting process, but a button must be pressed, and the temperature only displays for about one or two seconds and then the display reverts to its countdown timer. Repeated presses of the temp button are necessary to monitor temperature. For those who wish to monitor the roast's temperature this will become an annoyance in a short time. Still, the displayed temperature is not a very good indicator as to what is happening. I used a digital thermometer to learn how the roaster was operating and to try to create a profile that was to my liking.

     The countdown timer was a minor annoyance to me. I suppose it is just how my head works, but when I create a profile I am counting "up." The first two minutes is this, and then the next two minutes (three and four) I program as that, and so on. So I am thinking that my time is cumulative, counting up. Then, when the roast runs, it counts down, so it makes it difficult to compare to your profile. To avoid that, when you create a profile, record it on paper as a count down:

     An early roast of Colombian with a preliminary, experimental profile was drinkable, but totally unspectacular. I had one cup and that was enough. I flattened the curve out a bit and extended the time and roasted a subsequent batch of "sweep" (mixed Arabicas, literally swept up from spills at a commercial roastery). Although these "test" beans are old and approaching a time when they will be off to visit their dead relatives, the cup was smooth, well balanced, and although not worth a chapter, made for a drinkable cup of coffee.

     So right away I was able to get a better balance in the cup than I had with previous air roasters. But the real challenge is when making espresso. Sip an espresso, and the emperor is immediately wearing no clothes and all is revealed.

     For this test I roasted three batches of the same blend. Two batches of 150 grams were roasted in the iRoast2 using two different profiles, and one batch of 220 grams was roasted in the Hottop. I tried to end each roast at the same roast level- the one I normally use for espresso.

     Above are the three profiles of the actual bean temperatures I recorded throughout the roasts. Profile 8 lasted 11:15 and Profile 10 lasted 14:30, right at the edge of the longest roast time the iRoast2 can accomplish (15:00). The Hottop roast, the longest, lasted 19:15. Here are the two profiles I entered in the iRoast2 to accomplish these profiles:

     It would seem that using this Profile Ten that I am pushing beyond the limits of what most would agree is the maximum length of time that coffee should be roaster. That, clearly has a lot to do with how you get there. The Hottop has shown that a longer roast can be achieved with decent results, but that is not to say that better results could not be achieved with a shorter roast time. That is why I worked at achieving a long roast time with the iRoast2 in order to create a roast that mimicked the coffee produced with the Hottop as closely as possible (I am using the Hottop to compare because that has been my roaster of choice for the last three years).

      Taste testing on a home set up can be difficult. To be able to compare various blends is not terribly difficult, but to compare the same blend at various roasts, particularly when the profiles are similar, is really difficult to do well. With the disclaimer out of the way, I taste tested the three roasts a few moments ago. They were about 36 hours old at the time. The Program 8 roast (the shortest one) necessitated grinding three clicks finer than the other two. The Hottop roast (the longest roast time) was a bit more astringent than the other two. Of the three, I think my favorite was the Program 10 roast (the middle of the three roast lengths). The differences were subtle and all three were drinkable though.

      Generally, the three were very similar overall, and it will take some long term adjustments in programming to tune the taste or even adjust the blend to match a favorite profile, but the fact that this roaster allows the user to do so is the point. I will also add that when you are accustomed to having one double in the morning, when you have finished the best part of your fourth the effects of caffeine can be felt!

     Here is a graph with two roasts using one of my programmed profiles superimposed (with the programmed profile behind them). The ambient air temperature was different but you can see that the iRoast2 was able to duplicate the roast with fairly good success and accuracy. Whether or not this is a roast you would want to duplicate is debatable, but the fact remains that when you do find a roast you like you can be fairly certain that it can be attained again at a later date.

     It also seems that using a temperature probe in the beans that the repeatability is at a level that would allow roasting to temperature. This would necessitate using a probe that was in the bean mass. I found throughout my testing that first crack always started right around 400 degrees F and second started right around 450 or so. If your probe was accurate and responded fast enough, roasting to a given temperature for any given profile will yield repeatable results. The iRoast2's temperature display was not as dependable for such use. If they would have built a short probe into the bottom of the roasting chamber floor that electrically engaged when the chamber was locked onto the base it would have been a huge favor to those who wish to roast to a specific temperature. For now, the user can purchase an inexpensive digital thermometer like This One for $20 and add the appropriate probe to the roasting chamber.

      One factor that has been reported by users that I am unable to test is the variability in operation between units. Users have reported that a profile on one machine yields different results on another machine. I am being repetitious, but once again I need to state that this points to the need for the user to add some temperature monitoring device for best results and total control. It is not necessary, and the average home user will get along fine without the data from an added thermocouple, but the enthusiast will benefit from the additional information.

     The home user has now been offered what some far more expensive roasters have been unable to give you- programmability. The folks at Hearthware have created a machine that is programmable to an extent that was previously unavailable to the home roaster. Now, even small changes in a roasting profile can be made and repeated by the home roaster with little difficulty. Time will tell what sort of lifespan the machine will have, but for under $200 (the original iRoast is currently on sale for $169) it supplies the home roaster with a lot of control over the roasting process.