Roast Off - Kaleido M6 - Cormorant - Aillio Bullet Coffee Roasters 

They are a very nice all metal build quality. I agree that the components are fairly standard and easily replaceable!

@@EspressoOutlet By the way: Cormorant can be bought with phidgets pre-installed by Johan - at a very reasonable price upgrade. And where I live gas is a huge cost advantage. I tend to get 70-80 roasts form a 5kg gas bottle.

A lot of even big roasters getting away from gas. The other two roasters are much smarter and just as easy to repair.

The kaleido roasters using Artisan, you can easily set it to whichever temperature you desire. IE 73

In our opinion the hot top is much more limited, and much less user friendly to use. Something like the M1 or M2 can do 250g with ease per batch.

Yes, they can all easily do dark roasted coffee. Most of the home roasters are wanting the light to medium roast specialty coffee. The darker roasts are much easier to do.

Hard for me to say. I would be more biased to the M10 because its what I have used the most.

Sonofresco and Artisan might make that big. Sonofresco has lost popularity past few years.

Think it was V2

@@EspressoOutlet thanks!

You people

To get the same roast profiles with all the same information the software gives you would take a little more than just jotting down bean temp every 15, or 30 secs. That would give you the bean temp per 30 secs as the roast progresses, but what about the ROR (rate of roast) which declines as the bean temp increases and gives important roast info? Then there's all the gas changes and air changes which are recorded in the software graph. Jotting down bean temp is one thing, but gas changes, air changes, as well as trying to graph out ROR ? If you get a roast you really like with a particular bean, it can be reproduced because you have all the gas and air settings recorded as well as the ROR, bean temp and environment temp. I agree with you that technology isn't always the answer, but, sometimes it is a better way especially when you get an improved result. I think most professional roasters would agree that the software, when used properly, can improve roast results. As someone who has been roasting for 20 yrs and has done it both ways, I much prefer the more detailed extra info I get from the software. Not only can I record many details of the roast, I can reproduce roasts pretty closely. I can also pre-plot roast graphs which is helpful. My roasts have improved with the use of the software too, so why go back?

As an old time photographer, as I read your comment I couldn't help but think back to the introduction of the digital camera. It turned everyone with a phone into a supposed "photographer". I feel the same way about digital roasting. Sure it will help with consistency but to me, it somehow takes the "soul" out of the process. I've been delaying an upgrade from my Behmor because of this very subject. I guess I'm just an old school guy at heart.

The tech does not eplace skill. It supplements it.

@@LightZone9 I hope this doesn't come off as snobby, but roasting on a gas roaster where you're controlling the gas and air settings yourself, as the bean reacts to them, is MUCH more hands on than roasting on a Behmor. It's somewhat like the metaphor you used. It's more like digital roasting than hands on roasting with a gas drum roaster. A Behmor is a handy machine for those that want convenience, but very much mostly hands off roasting. With that machine you press a button or two to set the profile, press a button as the roast goes along etc. When I switched from a Behmor to a small gas roaster, it was like learning roasting all over again. I knew about first crack, smells etc, but had no idea how the bean reacts so much to different heat or air settings. I went from basically watching the roast, to making the bean react to my input. So it took a fair bit more skill. Software aside, it put the soul back into roasting for me. The software simply tracks what you put into the roast, it does't control the roast at all. Your skill as a roaster decides how your roasts turn out. Not the software

ok, if you say so.