Hi,
I'm just getting interested in roasting coffee and have yet to roast my 
first batch. I've been casting around some on the internet (that's how I 
found this list) and have settled on the dog bowl/heat gun method. Is that 
a good place to start, do you think?
Anyway, I could use some advice on heat guns. I've been checking on eBay 
and noticed that 2-setting heat guns have quite a range between low/high 
settings, from something like 400/750 degrees up to 500/1000 degrees or hotter.
Is there any consensus regarding what heat range is desirable? How about 
brand names?
Thanks for any help.
Brian

Brian,
If you go with the heat-gun dog-bowl method you will be in a very
exclusive club. However - any way is a good start.  You will be
delighted to find that you will almost immediately produce better coffee
than you can buy anywhere.  The satisfaction of making real coffee makes
all the mess worth it.  
John - HotTop, FR, FR+, WOK, Rosto, and soon Jet Engine/Cement truck 
On Sat, 2004-01-31 at 18:15, Brian Kamnetz wrote:
<Snip>

Check out the other numerous homebuilt or modified roasters others have made
and used to roast wonderful coffee.  Dog bowl/heat gun would be a decent
place to begin though, if it suits your style.
***********************************************
Ed Needham
To Absurdity and Beyond!
"Nunc Aut Nunquam"
homeroaster ... d.o.t ... com
***********************************************

Brian, 
John's right, it's a good place to start, but it's not quite so exclusive as it was.
 Up until a few months ago, "good place to start" was all that could be said for it,
since I was the only one posting about the method, and I'd had no experience with
anything else (still don't).  However, there's been a "ground(s)swell" of far more
experienced roasters who are leaving their off-the-shelf and modded roasters for the
heatgun. (And if you haven't seen Michael Lloyd's HG/DB Primer, be sure you do. It
addresses issues like heat range and other specs. For now, let me say that hotter is
better, IMO)  These experienced roasters report greater satisfaction doing the roast
as well as roasts that are at least the equal of their previous methods.  They
especially like being able to do 4 0z or 8 or 1 lb without the considerable expense
of the iffy Alp or even pricier Hottop.  Even the occasional poster who says, for
example, that his variac'd FR+ is occasionally more precise for him, acknowledges
that this view might change with more experience.  I have to say that I haven't
heard from anyone with a drum/BBQ or Hottop switching, and I can understand their
resistance if I were a) happy with my batch size and quality, and b) had put that
kind of investment and/or effort into a roaster only to store it on a shelf in the
garage. So the fact that hg/db is surprisingly friendly for newbies doesn't mean
that it won't remain as their roaster-of-choice as they gain experience in the craft
of roasting.  I estimate that 1 lb or a bit more gets to the upper limit of batch
size, and it seems the only sensible place to go from there for larger batches is
the BBQ/drum (which doesn't seem satisfactory for my typical smaller batch needs). 
When it comes to exercising "operator" judgement and skill and building on roasting
experience, hg/db probably most resembles the BBQ/drum method.  If I ever felt the
need for frequent roasts of more than a pound, I'd give myself that option.
Good luck on your progress and be sure to report back.
Martin 
--- John Abbott  wrote:
<Snip>
=====
Martin
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it!http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/